Who's who

3 Houston innovators to know this week

This week's Houston innovators to know include Dakota Stormer, founder of Footprint; Jonathan Wasserstrum, founder of SquareFoot; and Spencer Randall, co-founder and principal of CryptoEQ. Courtesy photos

Technology can make a huge difference, and Houston innovators are tapping into tech to disrupt various industries from real estate to sustainability.

This week's Houston innovators to know all have a focus on using tech tools to move the needle, whether it's to demystify cryptocurrency, track your ecological footprint, or find your next office space.

Dakota Stormer, founder of Footprint

Dakota Stormer created the Footprint app to help users be more conscientious of their personal contribution to climate change. Photo courtesy of Footprint

Dakota Stormer firmly believes that individuals can make a difference on climate change. And, maybe more importantly, individuals want to try to make that difference. So, he created an app to help. Footprint's algorithm calculates an annual carbon footprint, then averages it out to a per-week measure. This way, users know their goals — and the app sends them suggestions and challenges, like "meatless Mondays," to help reduce their emissions.

"For one person, it doesn't seem like there's much that you can do," Stormer says. "But the number of people across the world that care about climate change — it's actually a majority, at this point."

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Jonathan Wasserstrum, founder and CEO of SquareFoot

SquareFoot — a real estate tech company with Houston roots — is entering the Houston market. Courtesy of SquareFoot

In 2011, Houston native Jonathan Wasserstrum founded SquareFoot to use tech tools to improve the commercial leasing experience in New York. Now, almost a decade later and fresh off of the closing of a $16 million series B funding round, SquareFoot is set to expand. First on the list of places to grow — Wasserstrum's hometown of Houston.

"Houston, in addition to being a leading market for business, is a city in transition," Wasserstrum says. "We've witnessed a growing trend of smaller companies cropping up, with startups showing that they're here to stay. I want SquareFoot to be a major part of the city's growth and evolution."

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Spencer Randall, principal and co-founder of CryptoEQ

Cryptocurrency doesn't have to be a big, confusing risk with this Houston startup's technology. Courtesy of CryptoEQ

Spencer Randall got sucked into the cryptocurrency world. He found it all fascinating, and started attending — and even organizing — meetups in Houston. But he and his friends started realizing something that would turn into him co-founding CryptoEQ.

"There really wasn't a go-to resource (for cryptocurrency," Randall says on the most recent episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast. "What we wanted to do and what our mission today is to be the most trusted and intuitive analysis for cryptocurrencies."

Click here to read more.

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Building Houston

 
 

With Clutch, connecting brands with creators has never been easier and more inclusive. Photo courtesy of Clutch

An app that originally launched on Houston college campuses has announced it's now live nationwide.

Clutch founders Madison Long and Simone May set out to make it easier for the younger generation to earn money with their skill sets. After launching a beta at local universities last fall, Clutch's digital marketplace is now live for others to join in.

The platform connects brands to its network of creators for reliable and authentic work — everything from social media management, video creation, video editing, content creation, graphic design projects, and more. With weekly payments to creators and an inclusive platform for users on both sides of the equation, Clutch aims to make digital collaboration easier and more reliable for everyone.

“We’re thrilled to bring our product to market to make sustainable, authentic lifestyles available to everyone through the creator economy," says May, CTO and co-founder of Clutch. "We’re honored to be part of the thriving innovation community here in Houston and get to bring more on-your-own-terms work opportunities to all creators and businesses through our platform.”

In its beta, Clutch facilitated collaborations for over 200 student creators and 50 brands — such as DIGITS and nama. The company is founded with a mission of "democratizing access to information and technology and elevating the next generation for all people," according to a news release from Clutch. In the beta, 75 percent of the creators were people of color and around half of the businesses were owned by women and people of color.

“As a Clutch Creator, I set my own pricing, schedule and services when collaborating on projects for brands,” says Cathy Syfert, a creator through Clutch. “Clutch Creators embrace the benefits of being a brand ambassador as we create content about the products we love, but do it on behalf of the brands to help the brands grow authentically."

The newly launched product has the following features:

  • Creator profile, where users can share their services, pricing, and skills and review inquiries from brands.
  • Curated matching from the Clutch admin team.
  • Collab initiation, where users can accept or reject incoming collab requests with brands.
  • Collab management — communication, timing, review cycles — all within the platform.
  • In-app payments with a weekly amount selected by the creators themselves.
  • Seamless cancellation for both brands and creators.
Clutch raised $1.2 million in seed funding from Precursor Ventures, Capital Factory, HearstLab, and more. Clutch was originally founded as Campus Concierge in 2021 and has gone through the DivInc Houston program at the Ion.

Madison Long, left, and Simone May co-founded Clutch. Photo courtesy of Clutch

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