short stories

Houston health cos. sweep at competition, startups announce new deals, and more innovation news

Several Houston startups claimed the top prizes at a recent competition — plus more Houston innovation news you may have missed. Photo courtesy of TNVC

It's been a busy season for the Houston innovation ecosystem, and for this reason, local startup and tech news may have fallen through some of the cracks.

In this roundup of short stories within Houston innovation, a consumer packaged goods startup is now on shelves across Texas, a Texas energy company gets fresh funding from Houston VCs, Texas Medical Center Innovation companies sweep at a recent competition, and more.

Houston health care startups sweep recent competition

Houston-based Starling Medical took home the top prize at a recent competition. Photo courtesy of TNVC

At the 2021 Texas A&M New Ventures Competition, several Houston companies claimed top prizes — essentially sweeping the competition. The top three winners were all member companies of Texas Medical Center Innovation:

  • First Place Finalist: Houston-based Starling Medical – $50,000
  • Second Place Finalist: Houston-based Ictero Medical – $35,000
  • Third Place Finalist: Koda Health – $25,000
Other Houston-area award winners included:
  • Fourth Place Finalist: Microsilicon – $15,000
  • Sixth Place Finalist: CodeWalker – $5,000
  • Elevator Pitch First Place: EmGenysis – $5,000
  • Elevator Pitch Fourth Place: TYBR Health – $1,00
Click here to view more details on the 2021 award results.

Houston CPG company scores Central Market placement

Central Market now carries this Houston startup's baked goods. Photo courtesy of ChipMonk Baking

As of this month, Central Market shoppers in Texas can purchase Houston-based ChipMonk Baking products products. Additionally, the company announced it has added added 1,100 square feet to its existing 2,300 square-foot facility.

Founded by David Downing and Jose Hernandez, ChipMonk Baking, is a local, mail-order bakery that makes cookies, brownie bites, and other snacks using monk fruit and allulose, a low-calorie (0.4 calories per gram) rare sugar that's found naturally in foods such as raisins, dried figs, and kiwi.

The nine open Central Market locations throughout Texas will carry all nine flavors of ChipMonk's Keto Cookie Bites.

"Here in Houston, ChipMonk is the healthy option — there is nothing else like our products being made in a city that's known around the world for food," says Downing in a press release. "When you consider Houston's diversity and international culinary reputation, the lack of local health-food representation and production just doesn't make sense. We love this city and are working to change that."

Houston Methodist doles out $2.5 million in grants

Houston Methodist has contributed a couple million dollars to Houston nonprofits. Courtesy of Methodist Hospital/Facebook

Houston Methodist announced a couple weeks ago that it has awarded nearly $2.5 million in community grant investment to 37 Houston-area nonprofit organizations, according to a news release from the health care organization.

Over 177 Houston nonprofits applied for the Houston Methodist Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Grant Program, a program created last year to address the social determinants of health that lead to health inequities within racial, ethnic and social minorities.

"We continuously strive to build and maintain a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment both within our hospital walls and within our communities," says Arianne Dowdell, vice-president, chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at Houston Methodist, in the release. "The grant program and all the deserving organizations awarded funds are critical in shaping our community, which Houston Methodist has proudly supported for decades. We look forward to fostering the growth and development of meaningful programs that will benefit underserved and underrepresented groups in Houston."

The program, which includes both DEI Grants and Social Equity Grants, is funded by a $25 million fund established by Houston Methodist to be doled out over five years to support underserved communities.

Innovative energy company receives funding from Houston venture capital

Houston-based Cottonwood Venture Partners and Chevron Technology Ventures have again invested in this Austin-area energy company. Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Two Houston venture capital groups recently went in on Round Rock, Texas-based Infinitum Electric's $40 million series C funding round. Houston-based Cottonwood Technology Fund and Chevron Technology Ventures — both existing investors for the company — doubled down on their support in the new round led by San Francisco-based Energy Innovation Capital.

The fresh funds will allow the company to scale production of its ultra-high-efficiency, lightweight motors and "expand production of the company's IEs Series motors for commercial and industrial applications and complete development of its IEm Series motors for the rapidly growing electric vehicle market," according to the company's news release.

"We're excited to ramp production of our motors after seeing significant demand in the commercial HVAC and industrial markets, as well as the growing interest from electric vehicle suppliers who see the potential a highly efficient, lightweight motor can deliver," says Ben Schuler, founder and CEO of Infinitum Electric, in the news release. "Partnering with Energy Innovation Capital, Rockwell Automation and our existing investors allows us to scale and power machines more efficiently and sustainably."

Houston nanotechnology startup scores distribution deal

Houston-based NanoTech, currently housed in Halliburton Labs, has a new distribution agreement. Photo via halliburtonlabs.com

NanoTech has announced a new distribution agreement with Warrior Ace Hardware, a supplier of specialty products for the commercial and residential building industries. NanoTech uses material science to create NanoShield, a fire-proofing and insulation product.

The new partnership offers a key opportunity for NanoTech, which recently closed a $5 million round of funding.

"Ace Hardware has close to 100 years of distribution and retail experience. We are excited to partner with such a respected brand to get us one step closer to saving a tremendous amount of lives, protecting infrastructure, and reducing energy consumption," says Mike Francis, CEO of NanoTech in a news release.

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DivInc's newest accelerator based in Houston will support Web3 companies with a social impact. Photos courtesy of DivInc

A Texas-based accelerator focused on helping BIPOC and female founders on their entrepreneurial journeys announced the inaugural class for its newest accelerator.

DivInc's DWeb for Social Impact Accelerator, a 12-week intensive hybrid program sponsored by Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web, will mentor nine companies, all of whom integrate Web3 technologies into their impact entrepreneurship. Participating startups will have access to the Ion’s resources and receive a non-dilutive $10,000 grant to use during the course of the program.

Cherise Luter, marketing director at DivInc, says the Austin-based development program instead chose Houston to host this inaugural cohort because they have a secure partnership with the Ion and other premiere partners in the area, including Mercury, JP Morgan, and Bank of America.

“The team that we already have in place in Houston is so strong, we thought, this would be a great place to launch this concept and then from there determine if we want to launch it in Austin,” Luter says.

Amanda Moya, director of programs for DivInc, says this accelerator will truly be hybrid, enabling entrepreneurs from around the country to benefit from quality virtual mentorship and four weeks of in-person training.

“We want to really engulf them in the Houston innovation ecosystem, to let them know that this is also a landing pad if they are ever to move or travel around and come back to Houston,” Moya mentions.

One Houston-based startup, CultureLancer, will be participating in the program. A career-focused platform that matches students from HBCU with companies looking to hire in the fields of business development, data analysis, marketing, and operations, CultureLancer provides students with project-based learning opportunities.

Brianna Brazle, CultureLancer founder and therapist, says after discussing with friends and family members their struggles to get hired post-graduation she uncovered an underserved market of people in need of career guidance.

“That’s a problem that has been existing and then after doing more research I learned historically about 56%, year over year, of college graduates find themselves unemployed or underemployed,” Brazle explains. “My first solution to this problem was a hybrid marketplace.”

The rest of the inaugural cohort includes one to two entrepreneurs from the following companies:

  • Craftmerce, based in Dallas, is a B2B technology platform that brings African artisans and mainstream retail partners together through distributed production, enterprise management, and financing tools.
  • Instarails is working to simplify cross border payments through their app which provides the option to make instant global payments regardless of currency.
  • Looks for Lease, a Los Angeles based wardrobe rental company is combating the carbon emissions brought on by the fashion industry through their circular consumerism business model which operates on an AR platform.
  • Motherocity is an app that allows postpartum moms to track their mental and physical health through personal insights, experiential data, data science, and artificial intelligence, all the way through the first year after giving birth.
  • Salubata combines sustainable fashion and tech through their shoes made from old plastic bottles and integrating an NFT component that allows access to new shoe designs for customers.
  • Seed At The Table is a crowdfunding platform connecting marginalized founders with non-accredited investors, founded by a former Goldman Sachs investment manager.
  • Tribe is a mental health mobile app aiming to make mental healthcare affordable and accessible to black people through their directory of black therapists whose patients can directly book appointments within the app.
  • Subler, which was founded by a Los Angeles high school board member, is a digital marketplace that allows schools to rent out their unused spaces to local community groups.

The program will run from Sept. 18 until their demonstration day which is scheduled for Dec. 7 at the Ion.

DivInc, which runs several accelerators across Texas, originally partnered with the Ion in 2020. The organization introduced its new DWeb program earlier this year.

Last month, DivInc also introduced its inaugural cohort to another new diversity-focused accelerator. The 2023 Clean Energy Tech accelerator program sponsored by Chevron and Microsoft is currently ongoing.

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