Now Trending

5 most popular innovation stories in Houston this week

Houston was named a top city for minority entrepreneur success, a coworking space snags deal with Chevron venture arm, innovators to know, and more are this week's trending stories. Photo by PeopleImages

Editor's note: This week's news has hit all industries — from locally-sourced meal kits to a new digital home buying and selling platform entering the Houston market. Check out this week's most read stories.

Houston named a top city for minority entrepreneur success

The Bayou City has been named the top Texas metro for minority entrepreneurial success. Photo by Zview/Getty Images

Houston reigns as the top major metro area in Texas for successful minority entrepreneurs, a new study shows.

The Houston area ranks No. 11 in the study, done by lending marketplace LendingTree, with Dallas-Fort Worth at No. 17, Austin at No. 29, and San Antonio at No. 34. In all, the study measures the success of minority entrepreneurs in the country's 50 largest metro areas. Continue reading the full story here.

Chevron venture arm enters partnership with West Houston coworking space

Chevron Technology Venture will have an office in the new, 120,000-square-foot coworking space The Cannon is expecting to open this spring. Courtesy of The Cannon

As corporate venture grows as a presence in oil and gas, more and more startups have access to funding from large corporations. Aware of the corporate venturing trend, The Cannon, a West Houston coworking space, has formed a partnership with Chevron Technology Ventures, Chevron's venture arm that's currently based in Downtown Houston.

CTV will have an office and regular office hours in The Cannon's new, 30-acre campus that is expected to open this spring. Continue reading the full story here.

Houston nutritionist introduces new, locally sourced meal delivery business

The Bayou City has its own Blue Apron-style startup with locally sourced produce. Courtesy of The Blonde Pantry

Marla Murphy, a local entrepreneur and nutritionist, has helped Houstonians make healthy decisions with her food blog and consulting company for years, but she wasn't sure she was doing enough.

"I didn't feel like I was making as big of an impact as I could have," Murphy says.

Murphy took this feeling and ran with it. She decided to relaunch her company, The Blonde Pantry, in March of last year she says to create the only local meal delivery service for the greater Houston area. Continue reading the full story here.

3 Houston innovators to know this week

From a former astronaut to growing software company leaders, here are three innovators to know. Courtesy photos

This week's set of innovators to know are familiar with pivoting careers. All three had successful careers — from energy finance to space exploration — before jumping into a new field. And each set of prior experience prepared them for what they are doing today. Continue reading the full story here.

Digital home buying and selling tool expands to Houston market

A growing digital home sales platform has moved into town. Courtesy photo

A Phoenix-based real estate company has expanded to the Houston market and opened a new office in town.

First launched in 2015, Offerpad is a tech-enabled home buying and selling solution. As of October, Offerpad had expanded to 534 cities with access to an estimated 6.7 million home-owning households. Continue reading the full story here.

Trending News

Building Houston

 
 

This week's roundup of Houston innovators includes Gaurab Chakrabarti of Solugen, Sandy Guitar of HX Venture Fund, and Cameron Owen of rBIO. Photos courtesy

Editor's note: In this week's roundup of Houston innovators to know, I'm introducing you to three local innovators across industries — from synthetic biology to venture capital — recently making headlines in Houston innovation.

Gaurab Chakrabarti, the CEO and co-founder of Solugen

Gaurab Chakrabarti shared his entrepreneurial journey on the SXSW stage this year. Photo courtesy of the Greater Houston Partnership

Houston doesn't have too many unicorns — startups valued at $1 billion or more — in its innovation ecosystem, but Solugen, a sustainable chemicals company, is among the elite group. Gaurab Chakrabarti, the CEO and co-founder of the company, joined Houston House by the Greater Houston Partnership, to share his story on the SXSW stage.

“You do make your own luck, but you have to be putting in the work to do it," Chakrabarti says, adding that it's not an easy thing to accomplish. “There are things you can be doing to increase your luck surface area."

He shared several lessons he learned on his founder journey in the discussion. Read more.

Sandy Guitar, managing director of HX Venture Fund

Sandy Guitar shares some lessons learned from the fallout of Silicon Valley Bank. Photo via HXVF

Following the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, there's one thing Sandy Guitar can say has changed for Houston innovators: Bank diversification is going to be a must.

“We didn't think we needed one last week, but this week we know we need a resilience plan," she says, explaining that bank diversification is going to be added to "the operational due diligence playbook." Read more.

Cameron Owen, co-founder and CEO of rBIO

San Diego-based rBIO moved to Houston to take advantage of the growing ecosystem of biomanufacturing and synthetic biology. Photo courtesy of rBIO

Founded in San Diego, rBIO recently relocated to Houston and has big plans for settling in the city, says Cameron Owen, the company's co-founder and CEO.

“Companies from California like us and the coastal areas were converging here in Houston and creating this new type of bioeconomy,” he tells InnovationMap.

He shares that Houston wasn't originally on his radar, until it was. A visit turned into a relocation, and it's just the beginning for the biotech startup that's focused on using synthetic biology for pharmaceuticals. Read more.

Trending News