money moves

Houston smart bus platform raises $26M to expand operations in Mexico and beyond

This Houston company has rolled out its expansion plans following a $20 million series A. Photo via ridekolors.com

A Houston-based company that's using tech and data to provide its intercity bus network has announced $26 million in funding.

Kolorshas announced the close of its $20 million series A financing round led by UP.Partners with participation from Maniv Mobility, Toyota Ventures, K5 Global, Mazapil — plus contribution from existing investors Tuesday Capital, Garret Camp's Expa, Chris Sacca's Lowercase, Moving Capital, MGV, Brainstorm Ventures, Bling Capital and Amplifica. The round, which brings the company's total investment raised to $26 million, will allow Kolors to grow in Mexico, expand into new Latin American markets, and enable cross-border US travel.

The company has created a "smart-bus-platform," which is defined as being a combination of airline and ridesharing style technology. The service includes attendants superpowered by technology, according to a news release.

"Kolors is redefining the experience of intercity travel. We are thrilled to see Kolors advancing in Mexico and bringing its phenomenal service to other parts of Latin America in the coming months this year," says Ally Warson, partner of UP.Partners. "Kolors is thinking about the next phase for intercity bus travel and intends to design an ecosystem that prioritizes the passenger while providing more profitable and climate-friendly outcomes for bus operators."

The company's business model doesn't include owning its own fleet of vehicles, instead partnering with small and medium-sized bus operators. These partners are only responsible for driving the bus — Kolors does everything else, including route optimization, virtual stops, scheduling, pricing, marketing, sales, customer service, and more.

"Kolors is disrupting a mode of transportation that's often overlooked but relied upon by billions of people worldwide," says Jim Adler, founding managing director of Toyota Ventures, in the release. "There's a huge opportunity to advance intercity bus travel with higher efficiency, cleaner energy , and superior passenger experience. Kolors is at the forefront of this transformation."

Service is at the forefront for Kolors, says Rodrigo Martínez, founder and CEO of the company. Passengers can expect on-board WiFi services and snacks and drinks — plus a completely redesigned in-cabin experience is in the works, per the release.

"As a third-generation bus operator, I know intercity bus travel is the lifeblood of LATAM," says Martínez in the release. "The opportunity to provide our passengers with an elevated bus platform will bring a better and affordable travel experience. Our buses run on data and our learnings have already enabled us to devise an effective strategy to address and reduce emissions across the global intercity transportation industry."

Efficiency is also on the roadmap for Kolors, which was founded by Martinez and Anca Gardea in 2020 amid the pandemic. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 85 percent of transportation sector emissions are related to the surface transportation system, the release states. Kolors is working toward a fleet of electric vehicles.

"We have followed Kolors since the beginning, and considering they started at the height of the pandemic, the growth they've had is astounding. Transporting millions of passengers in such a short period of time speaks volumes about their tenacity and potential as a team and company, says Jake Wieseneck, principal at Maniv Mobility, in the release.

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Building Houston

 
 

Baylor College of Medicine's Lillie and Roy Cullen Tower is set to open in 2026. Rendering courtesy of BCM

Baylor College of Medicine has collected $100 million toward its $150 million fundraising goal for the college’s planned Lillie and Roy Cullen Tower.

The $100 million in gifts include:

  • A total of $30 million from The Cullen Foundation, The Cullen Trust for Health Care, and The Cullen Trust for Higher Education.
  • $12 million from the DeBakey Medical Foundation
  • $10 million from the Huffington Foundation
  • More than $45 million from members of Baylor’s Board of Trustees and other community donors, including the M.D. Anderson Foundation, the Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation, and The Elkins Foundation.

“The Cullen Trust for Health Care is very honored to support this building along with The Cullen Foundation and The Cullen Trust for Higher Education,” Cullen Geiselman Muse, chair of The Cullen Trust for Health Care, says in a news release. “We cannot wait to see what new beginnings will come from inside the Lillie and Roy Cullen Tower.”

The Baylor campus is next to Texas Medical Center’s Helix Park, a 37-acre project. Rendering courtesy of BCM

The Lillie and Roy Cullen Tower is set to open in 2026. The 503,000-square-foot tower is the first phase of Baylor’s planned Health Sciences Park, an 800,000-square-foot project that will feature medical education and research adjacent to patient care at Baylor Medicine and Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center on the McNair Campus.

The Baylor campus is next to Texas Medical Center’s Helix Park, a 37-acre project that will support healthcare, life sciences, and business ventures. Baylor is the anchor tenant in the first building being constructed at Helix Park.

“To really change the future of health, we need a space that facilitates the future,” says Dr. Paul Klotman, president, CEO, and executive dean of Baylor. “We need to have a great building to recruit great talent. Having a place where our clinical programs are located, where our data scientists are, next to a biotech development center, and having our medical students all integrated into that environment will allow them to be ready in the future for where healthcare is going.”

In the 1940s, Lillie and Roy Cullen and the M.D. Anderson Foundation were instrumental in establishing the Texas Medical Center, which is now the world’s largest medical complex.

“Baylor is the place it is today because of philanthropy,” Klotman says. “The Cullen family, the M.D. Anderson Foundation, and the Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation have been some of Baylor’s most devoted champions, which has enabled Baylor to mold generations of exceptional health sciences professionals. It is fitting that history is repeating itself with support for this state-of-the-art education building.”

The Cullen Foundation donated $30 million to the project. Rendering courtesy of BCM

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