what's trending

5 most popular innovation stories in Houston this week

A roundup of business events to attend this January was among this week's top trending InnovationMap stories. Photo via Getty Images

Editor's note:Another week has come and gone, and it's time to round up the top headlines from the past few days. Trending Houston tech and startup news on InnovationMap included Houston innovation events, startups starting the year with fresh funding, and more.


7 can't-miss Houston business and innovation events for January

Check out these seven innovation events in Houston this month. Photo via Getty Images

It's a new year, and it's time to look at what's on the agenda this month for Houston innovators.

Here's a roundup of events not to miss this January — like workshops, summits, meetups, and more. Read more.


Houston biotech company closes IPO in $15.25M deal

A Houston biotech startup focused on developing therapeutics for neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases has closed its IPO. Photo via Getty Images

A clinical-stage biotech company based in Houston has announced the closing of its $15.25 million IPO.

Coya Therapeutics, now trading under the ticker COYA, announced this week that its IPO — previously disclosed in December — has closed its initial public offering of 3,050,000 shares of its common stock and accompanying warrants to purchase up to 1,525,000 shares of common stock, per a news release.

The company is developing proprietary therapies to enhance the function of regulatory T cells to target systemic inflammation and neuroinflammation. Read more.

10 Houston startups start 2023 with fresh venture capital funding

Here are the 10 Houston startups that closed venture capital investment in the fourth quarter of last year. Photo via Getty Images

Houston startups saw a busy last quarter when it came to funding in 2022. From seed to series C, 10 Houston startups wrapped up the year with investment round closings.

In case you missed some of these headlines, InnovationMap has rounded up these 10 deals based on previous reporting. Scroll through to see which Houston startups are catching the eyes — and cashing the checks — of investors. Read more.

Texas population shatters records with massive new number milestone

We're welcoming more and more new Texans every day. Photo via Getty Images

The adage "everything's bigger in Texas" has never been more apropos than with this news: For the first time ever, the population of Texas officially reached 30 million.

Or 30,029,572 in July 2022, to be exact, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Vintage 2022 national and state population estimates, released on December 22. Read more.

Houstonian and serial entrepreneur plans to scale nonprofit fintech tool

The sky's the limit for DonateStock, Co-Founder and CEO Steve Latham says. Photo courtesy of DonateStock

Donating stock can be a smart way to offload assets and optimize a donation — but Steve Latham thought it was so cumbersome a process that it didn't even feel worth it.

"It was such a hassle that I never did it again," says Latham on the Houston Innovators Podcast.

That opportunity for innovation stuck with Latham as he advanced his career in AdTech in New York before moving back to Houston a few years ago. A serial entrepreneur, Latham was an early co-founder of the Houston Technology Center.

His latest venture is DonateStock — a tech platform that simplifies stock donation for both the donor and the beneficiary. The early version of Latham's vision was to clear up the lack of communication the original process had — nonprofits receiving stock donations were never notified about who made each donation. Read more.

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Building Houston

 
 

At its annual Activation Festival, the Ion hosted a conversation about the relationship between corporates and startups. Photo courtesy of the Ion

Hundreds of innovators from Houston and beyond flocked to the Ion Houston's annual Activation Festival, and one of the topics discussed at the series of programming was the relationship between corporates and startups.

One of Houston's points of pride is having the third most Fortune 500 companies headquartered here, but how can the city's innovation ecosystem take advantage of that market? And, on the other side of it, how can corporates make the most of Houston innovators?

At a panel on May 17 entitled "Corporate-Startup Partnerships: How to Build Them, Sustain Them, and How They’re Key to Fast-Tracking Innovation and Growth," three corporate leaders explained how they navigate relationships with startups and how cultivating these opportunities is key to the future of business.

Here are a few of the discussion's highlights.

“Investing in the startup community generally, you’re never going line of sight of where that value is going to come back. You can expect it — I’m not saying it’s altruism, it just comes back in forms that you might not appreciate.”

Scott Gale, executive director of Halliburton Labs says, explaining that corporate contribution doesn't just have to be financial.

“Ask for advice, don’t ask for money. Show up. Be curious. If you think a corporate is the right potential customer for you, spend the time to try to understand what the people are, who the champions are, what motivates them, and what they need to do to be successful.” 

Tom Luby, director of TMC Innovation says, noting that it's tried-and-true advice, but still important to remember.

“The person who takes the most risk is the lead adopter — the lead user. That person puts their assets and their name on the line.”

Nazeer Bhore, global manager, tech scouting, innovation and ventures at ExxonMobil Technology and Engineering, says. “What we bring to the table for startups is all the resources we have — technical resources, assets, use cases, testing facilities, and, of course, funding. Irrespective of what stage you’re in, or how many adjacencies you are, we’re always happy to engage with you," he explains. "The key is for us is to be a lead user.”

“The opportunity for us is to be generalists across a lot of different spaces and then work with our specialists to take a deeper dive. We listen to the market and try to find things our corporate partners or entrepreneurs are interested in and then surround the with the type of things they need to be successful. In many case, talent and expertise are top of that list.”

Luby says, explaining the nature of the TMC's various programs, from creating startup tech directly and supporting them through their accelerators and even seeding them through the TMC Venture Fund.

“What startups bring is a lot of different ideas — but startups are temporary organization that’s looking for a scalable and repeatable business model. And we’re not just interested in just the technology, but the business model.”

Bhore says about what ExxonMobil looks for.

“The flywheel is spinning here in the city of Houston. The next five years are going to be incredibly exciting.”

Gale says, explaining how much has changed in the past few years in Houston's innovation ecosystem.

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