For the second year, Curtis Jackson's program supported Houston student entrepreneurs. Photo courtesy of G-Unity

The 50 Cent-backed high school entrepreneurship program wrapped up its second year of operation after helping over 100 Houston-area students build their small business plans.

G-Unity Business Labs, sponsored by Curtis James Jackson III — better known as 50 Cent — and Horizon International Group, allowed participants to build their own small businesses from the ground up. This year's cohort featured a variety of businesses, from a Caribbean hot dog food truck to a financial literacy course on personal finance.

In its second year, the program encouraged innovation and taught business acumen to entrepreneurial-minded high school students, culminating in an opportunity to create their dream companies. During this 28 week entrepreneurial internship program, around 150 students from Madison, Worthing, Yates, Kashmere, Booker T. Washington, and Wheatley high schools learned how to transform an idea they were passionate about into a full fledged product they can pitch to investors.

The after-school program consists of three stages – the first 20 weeks are about getting familiar with business concepts and building connections with peers and teacher volunteers. The next eight weeks are spent in the incubation phase as students are split up into teams and local entrepreneurs lead lessons, helping them workshop their ideas into a fleshed out corporation, before finally the teams compete in Hustle Tank, where students pitch their ideas to a panel of celebrity and entrepreneurial judges. At the event in May, the panel included 50 Cent and Mattress Mack. The five winning teams are now eligible to split $500,000 in seed money for their companies.

Summer Reeves, VP of design of Umbridge, is in charge of managing the incubation phase and said she has noticed a significant shift in the ideas the student groups have come up with between the two cohorts of the program; the first year saw flashier tech pitches. But during the second year of the program, Reeves said the students sought to address issues they see in their day-to-day lives, including a group who worked to develop support services to aid formerly incarcerated individuals after they are released.

“This year, a lot of students were more on the practical side,” Reeves tells InnovationMap. “We actually had three teams that were focused on mental health apps which I think is a great example of what youth today are really focused on.”

Reeves started off as a mentor to four teams during the incubation phase of the program last year providing students with guidance on how to set up their business plans, create prototypes, and pitch their companies to investors. After three of her teams won the Hustle Tank competition previously, she took over planning the incubation phase and recruiting other local entrepreneurs to act as mentors.

“We give them recommendations on how to pitch and how to frame their pitch but they also have the ability to get creative so we had some students who did short skits — some that did raps and spoken word type things — lots of creativity,” Reeves says.

Patrice Allen, senior manager of G-Unity Business Labs, said they use the students’ individual strengths and creative thought processes to place them into their teams, including asking them in interviews at the beginning of the year to try to sell her a pen to understand their pitching process.

“That’s the question the students always remember,” Allen says. “‘Sell us this pen or pick something out and sell it to us.’ It’s the weirdest thing and they love it.”

In building the teams at each school, Allen worked with educators to make sure every team had students with a variety of communication and planning skills as well as financial awareness. But Allen felt students were most successful when they incorporated their personal interests into their product design. The first place team of Hustle Tank, Caribbean Hot Dog Boyz, was especially emblematic of this mindset as they combined one member's background of selling hotdogs with another’s Caribbean heritage to create a food truck that sells the unexpected combo of oxtail hotdogs.

The first place team of Hustle Tank 2023 was Caribbean Hot Dog Boyz. Photo via @gunitybusinesslab/Instagram

“To actually taste the food that they prepared was phenomenal,” Allen says “I have never ever thought that oxtails on a hotdog would be good but everybody was floored.”

Elizabeth Martin, director of communications and marketing for Horizon who runs the behind the scenes of funding, said students from the winning teams are now working on solidifying their business plans to qualify for the funds from the G-Unity foundation to develop their companies. Martin also said 50 Cent will retain a relationship with these teams, acting with varying levels of involvement depending on his deal with the students as anything from a silent partner to an investor.

“They do not walk home with $500,000 in their back pocket,” Martin explains. “We are investing in (them) — not giving — it’s an investment.”

The future of this program is uncertain as the Texas Education Association’s takeover of HISD is still in its transition phase but Martin advised to keep a lookout for an ABC Nightline interview of 50 Cent discussing G-Unity Business Labs, which is expected to release soon.

"I’ve spent years donating my time and energy to communities in need. I started G-Unity to do the same—to give back to kids so they have it a little easier than I did," Jackson writes on the website. "Team building and entrepreneurship are skills I learned along the way, but they are so important to develop early. I look forward to G-Unity supporting programs that are doing the crucial work of teaching kids to excel at life.

This week's roundup of Houston innovators includes Sameer Soleja of Molecule, Gabriela Gerhart of The Motherhood center, and 50 Cent. Courtesy photos

3 Houston innovators to know this week

who's who

Editor's note: In this week's roundup of Houston innovators to know, I'm introducing you to three local innovators across industries — software, education, and more — recently making headlines in Houston innovation.

Sameer Soleja, CEO of Molecule

Sameer Soleja, CEO of Molecule, joins the Houston Innovators Podcast to discuss his startup's recent fundraise — and how he's planning on being at the forefront of the evolving electricity commodities industry. Photo courtesy of Molecule

A 9-year-old software startup has been reinvigorated by fresh funds and a new opportunity to emerge as a leader in enterprise software for commodities — especially for electricity traders. Sameer Soleja, CEO of Molecule, joins the Houston Innovators Podcast to discuss the company's latest funding round — a $12 million series A.

"The commodities industry is looking really hard at electricity as the growth commodity of the 2020s — renewables and conventionally generated electricity," Soleja says. "Everybody in our client base and in the market is looking at electricity. Well, we happen to have more than have of our customer base be in electricity."

Click here to listen to the podcast and read more.

Gabriela Gerhart, founder of The Motherhood Center

Houston entrepreneur recounts journey from communism to U.S. success in new book

Gabriela Gerhart recounts her journey from communism to American success in her new book. Photo courtesy of Gabriela Gerhart

Gabriela Gerhart remembers that day, back in 1989, when her teacher walked into her classroom in Czechoslovakia and announced that communism was over. Further, she told the group that everything she'd been teaching them was a lie.

Gerhart was stunned.

"It was confusing," she tells CultureMap. "You think to yourself, 'was I fooled? Was I indoctrinated? 'You have to understand, I had no idea there was another world out there."

Gerhart, founder of The Motherhood Center on West Alabama Street unpacks those feelings and others in her new autobiography, After The Fall, a story of growing up in Central Europe under communism and following her own wanderlust to the States, where she fell in love, got married, and built a successful business.

Click here to read more.

Rapper 50 Cent really means business. 50 Cent/Twitter

Rap star and Newstonian 50 Cent is giving back to area schools in need of help. The recently relocated rapper/producer/entrepreneur/rodeo wine bidder is teaming up with the Houston Independent School District and Horizon United Group to bolster entrepreneurship programs at Kashmere, Worthing, and Wheatley high schools.

He has funded the project with a $600,000 donation, Mayor Sylvester Turner announced on May 17.

Dubbed the G-Unity Business Lab, the new program will encourage students to engage in MBA-level lessons that represent the full lifecycle of a product or concept, from idea creation, to market branding, to even running a company, a press release notes.

Click here to read more.

Rapper 50 Cent really means business. 50 Cent/Twitter

50 Cent bankrolls new Houston high school business program with $600,000 donation

entrepreneurship

Rap star and Newstonian 50 Cent is giving back to area schools in need of help. The recently relocated rapper/producer/entrepreneur/rodeo wine bidder is teaming up with the Houston Independent School District and Horizon United Group to bolster entrepreneurship programs at Kashmere, Worthing, and Wheatley high schools.

He has funded the project with a $600,000 donation, Mayor Sylvester Turner announced on May 17.

Dubbed the G-Unity Business Lab, the new program will encourage students to engage in MBA-level lessons that represent the full lifecycle of a product or concept, from idea creation, to market branding, to even running a company, a press release notes.

Starting fall 2021, selected students from Kashmere, Worthing, and Wheatley high schools will work with HISD educators, Houston business leaders, and the G-Unity Foundation to complete an after-school course.

The curriculum and concepts align with the core values preached by 50 Cent (nee Curtis Jackson) in his book, Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter.

Utilizing a Shark Tank- styled competition, student work will be judged by 50 Cent, Al Kashani, president of Horizon United Group, and other community leaders. Winners will receive seed money to begin their businesses that are incubated in Houston.

"It's great to be giving back to this community that's already given me so much," said 50 Cent in a statement. "These young kids can do great things if they just have the right skills and tools. This program is going to help get them there."

Turner noted that the plan lines up with his initiative to create jobs. "I am deeply grateful to Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson for investing in Houston ISD students," he said in a release. "This program will have a big impact on the lives of students and their families. It will provide a platform to help young people grow their skillset by learning how to be future entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers, and business leaders."

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

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3 Houston-area companies appear on Fortune’s inaugural AI ranking

eyes on ai

Three companies based in the Houston area appear on Fortune’s inaugural list of the top adopters of AI among Fortune 500 companies.

The three companies are:

  • No. 7 energy company ExxonMobil, based in Spring
  • No. 7 tech company Hewlett Packard Enterprise, based in Spring
  • No. 47 energy company Chevron, based in Houston

All three companies have taken a big dive into the AI pool.

In 2024, ExxonMobil’s executive chairman and CEO, Darren Woods, explained that AI would play a key role in achieving a $15 billion reduction in operating costs by 2027.

“There is a concerted effort to make sure that we're really working hard to apply that new technology to the opportunity set within the company to drive effectiveness and efficiency,” Woods told Wall Street analysts.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is also employing AI to decrease costs. In March, the company announced a restructuring plan — including the elimination of 3,000 jobs — aimed at cutting about $350 million in annual expenses. The restructuring is scheduled to wrap up by the end of October.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s Catalyst cost-cutting program includes a push to use AI across the company to improve efficiency, Marie Myers, the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, told Wall Street analysts in June.

“Our ambition is clear: A leaner, faster, and more competitive organization. Nothing is off limits. We are focused on rethinking the business — not just reducing our costs, but transforming the way we operate,” Myers said.

At Chevron, AI tools are being used to quickly analyze data and extract insights from it, according to tech news website VentureBeat. Also, Chevron employs advanced AI systems known as large language models (LLMs) to create engineering standards, specifications and safety alerts. AI is even being put to work in Chevron’s exploration initiatives.

Bill Braun, Chevron’s chief information officer, said at a VentureBeat-sponsored event in 2024 that AI-savvy data scientists, or “digital scholars,” are always embedded within workplace teams “to act as a catalyst for working differently.”

The Fortune AIQ 50 ranking is based on ServiceNow’s Enterprise AI Maturity Index, an annual measurement of how prepared organizations are to adopt and scale AI. To evaluate how Fortune 500 companies are rolling out AI and how much they value AI investments, Fortune teamed up with Enterprise Technology Research. The results went into computing an AIQ score for each company.

At the top of the ranking is Alphabet (owner of Google and YouTube), followed by Visa, JPMorgan Chase, Nvidia and Mastercard.

Aside from ExxonMobil, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and Chevron, two other Texas companies made the list: Arlington-based homebuilder D.R. Horton (No. 29) and Austin-based software company Oracle (No. 37).

“The Fortune AIQ 50 demonstrates how companies across industry sectors are beginning to find real value from the deployment of AI technology,” Jeremy Kahn, Fortune’s AI editor, said in a news release. “Clearly, some sectors, such as tech and finance, are pulling ahead of others, but even in so-called 'old economy' industries like mining and transport, there are a few companies that are pulling away from their peers in the successful use of AI.”

2 UH projects named finalists for $50M fund to shape future of Gulf Coast

Looking to the Future

Two University of Houston science projects have been selected as finalists for the Gulf Futures Challenge, which will award a total of $50 million to develop ideas that help benefit the Gulf Coast.

Sponsored by the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s Gulf Coast Research Program and Lever for Change, the competition is designed to spark innovation around problems in the Gulf Coast, such as rising sea levels, pollution, energy security, and community resiliency. The two UH projects beat out 162 entries from organizations based in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas.

“Being named a finalist for this highly competitive grant underscores the University of Houston’s role as a leading research institution committed to addressing the most pressing challenges facing our region,” said Claudia Neuhauser, vice president for research at UH.

“This opportunity affirms the strength of our faculty and researchers and highlights UH’s capacity to deliver innovative solutions that will ensure the long-term stability and resilience of the Gulf Coast.”

One project, spearheaded by the UH Repurposing Offshore Infrastructure for Continued Energy (ROICE) program, is studying ways to use decommissioned oil rig platforms in the Gulf of Mexico as both clean energy hydrogen power generators as well a marine habitats. There are currently thousands of such platforms in the Gulf.

The other project involves the innovative recycling of wind turbines into seawall and coastal habitats. Broken and abandoned wind turbine blades have traditionally been thought to be non-recyclable and end up taking up incredible space in landfills. Headed by a partnership between UH, Tulane University, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, the city of Galveston and other organizations, this initiative could vastly reduce the waste associated with wind farm technology.

wind turbine recycled for Gulf Coast seawall. Wind turbines would be repurposed into seawalls and more. Courtesy rendering

"Coastal communities face escalating threats from climate change — land erosion, structural corrosion, property damage and negative health impacts,” said Gangbing Song, Moores Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at UH and the lead investigator for both projects.

“Leveraging the durability and anti-corrosive properties of these of decommissioned wind turbine blades, we will build coastal structures, improve green spaces and advance the resilience and health of Gulf Coast communities through integrated research, education and outreach.”

The two projects have received a development grant of $300,000 as a prize for making it to the finals. When the winner are announced in early 2026, two of the projects will net $20 million each to bring their vision to life, with the rest earning a consolation prize of $875,000, in additional project support.

In the event that UH doesn't grab the grand prize, the school's scientific innovation will earn a guaranteed $1.75 million for the betterment of the Gulf Coast.

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Kids, kicks and connectivity: Xfinity makes soccer a shared experience

The Beautiful Game

For soccer mom Lana Chase, weekends were a whirlwind of cleats, carpooling, and cheering from the sidelines. Now that her daughter Miah graduated high school in May, the Chase Family’s love for the game hasn't stopped. It's shifted to their living room, where Comcast’s new Xfinity streaming platform brings the global game home.

“We’re a soccer family through and through,” says Chase. “Miah played soccer from about age 8 until 16, and we love the World Cup! Xfinity makes it easy for all of us to watch what we love together.”

One platform, every goal

Xfinity's new World Soccer Ticket package eliminates the chaos of juggling apps, subscriptions, or subpar streams. Families can now enjoy more than 1,500 matches from across the globe.

With parental controls, age-appropriate content, and smart recommendations, Xfinity turns soccer into family-friendly entertainment. Whether it’s a weekend watch party or a quiet school night, the platform adapts to every household’s rhythm.

“Figuring out where to watch your favorite team or match is often a painful game of chance. Now, with World Soccer Ticket, there’s no better way to watch the beautiful game than with Xfinity,” says Jon Gieselman, chief growth officer for Comcast's connectivity & platforms. “It’s easy, we did the work for our customers and pulled together the most coveted leagues and tournaments – from Premier League, LALIGA and Champions League to the World Cup – and put them in one place. We added some magic to the experience, with innovations like Multiview, 4K, and Sports Zone all easily accessible with one simple click or voice command.”

World Cup in Houston

With the 2026 World Cup on the horizon, the timing couldn't have been better. The world tournament will be the largest Spanish-language coverage ever offered by Telemundo, powered by Comcast NBCUniversal's technology, storytelling, and scale.

Telemundo and Peacock hold the exclusive Spanish language rights to "el Mundial," including all 104 matches streaming live on Peacock, with 92 matches airing on Telemundo and 12 on Universo. Live crews will cover every event in all 16 host cities, including Houston.

Xfinity customers will have access to pregame, halftime, and postgame coverage with unprecedented immersive experiences. The 2026 World Cup will be the most exciting event of the summer.

"We know other soccer families who watch matches with their little brothers and sisters. It’s not just a game, it’s family time. It's an even bigger deal with the tournament being just down the road in Houston next year,” Chase adds.

Comcast’s AI-powered platform personalizes the viewing experience, recommending matches and highlights based on each family member’s preferences.

World Soccer Ticket is available for an all-in monthly price of $85. It includes nearly 60 broadcast, cable news, and English- and Spanish-language sports channels, and a subscription to Peacock Premium so customers can enjoy a huge collection of movies, shows, news, and other live sports alongside all their favorite soccer programming.

Subscribe to World Soccer Ticket here.