Ustream Founder Back in North Texas for 2nd Startup Innovative designs and configurations make Linear Labs' electric motors more efficient and more powerful.

Linear Labs is pioneering new electric motors that produce more power and take up less space. Photo: iStock

Ustream co-founder Brad Hunstable is cited as a Dallas success story, having created a prominent internet video startup that recently was bought by IBM for $130 million.

Hunstable and his partners founded San Francisco-based Ustream in 2007 and the video streaming service reaches more than 80 million viewers and broadcasters.

HUNSTABLE GOES FROM USTREAM TO LINEAR LABS

Now, Hunstable, 37, is back in his Texas, at home in Aledo, and working with his father, Fred, 63, on his second startup, Linear Labs.

The goal of Linear Labs is to make more efficient electric motors through innovative designs and configurations.

The Dallas Morning News reported that the idea for Linear Labs was born on the front porch of Fred Hunstable’s home in Granbury, where Brad grew up.

Financial backing for Linear Labs wasn’t easy to get, despite his earlier success with Ustream, Hunstable said.

He put up some of his own money and received some money from angel investors in Silicon Valley.

“I like businesses that not only make money, but do something good for the world.”

Brad Hunstable

And, according to the Morning News, Linear Labs may be on to something.

It reported that Babak Fahimi, a research scientist and professor of electrical engineering at the University of Texas at Dallas has tested the electric motors for Linear Labs.

Fahimi, who researches renewable energy and vehicle technology, said the Lab’s electric motors can can generate more power while using fewer materials and taking up less space. Fahimi told the Morning News that the motors could disrupt the automotive industry by saving on the costs for materials.

Linear Labs is in the process of patenting its innovations.

One patent is for a method of producing an electric current, and the other the is for a method of producing an engine stroke cycle.

Despite his international success, Hunstable told the Morning News that wants to create jobs in North Texas.

“For me, it’s a passion. I like businesses that not only make money, but do something good for the world.”

Want to read more about Hunstable and Linear Labs? Go here.

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