3 Houston innovators to know this week

who's who

This week's roundup of Houston innovators includes Jon Nordby of Anthropy Partners, Benjamin Musher of BCM, and Mark Semmelbeck of A Better Meal. Photos courtesy

Editor's note: Every week, I introduce you to a handful of Houston innovators to know recently making headlines with news of innovative technology, investment activity, and more. This week's batch includes a health tech innovator, an investor, and a startup CEO.

Jon Nordby, managing director of Anthropy Partners

Jon Nordby's career has been focused on cultivating a culture for innovation, and now he's focused on human potential technology opportunities. Photo courtesy

In his role overseeing startup accelerators for MassChallenge, Jon Nordby started noticing one industry vertical stood out in terms of success and opportunities: Human potential. Now, Nordby is a founding member of an investment firm looking for those opportunities.

Nordby, who served in various leadership roles at MassChallenge — including managing director and head of ecosystems — said he started realizing the opportunities within the organization's space and sports tech programs.

"What we realized over a couple of years running the program was that sports tech as a theme was too limiting," Nordby says on the Houston Innovators Podcast. "We were finding really great technologies, but we were limited at the market size of teams and leagues to deploy those technologies."

"Over the course of that program, we found that the things that were related more to human health and performance tended to out perform all of the other things related to sports tech — like media, entertainment, gambling," Nordby continues. "Still really great markets for those technologies, but we found a lot more traction for human performance." Read more.

Benjamin Musher, professor at Baylor College of Medicine and medical director of medical oncology at the Duncan Cancer Center McNair Campus

The new center is specifically designed to allow patients to be on the cutting edge of testing brand-new therapies that could save their lives. Photo via BCM

Cancer treatment in Houston just became even more promising — and forward-thinking.

Phase 1 clinical trials are necessary to prove the efficacy in humans of treatments that have appeared promising in lab trials. In the name of cancer-fighting innovation, Baylor College of Medicine’s Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center has launched the Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation Center for Experimental Therapeutics.

The new center is specifically designed to allow patients to be on the cutting edge of testing brand-new therapies that could save their lives.

“Clinical trials are critical for advancing the field of oncology and improving outcomes for cancer patients. Phase 1 trials are the first step in bringing innovative therapies to the clinic,” says Dr. Benjamin Musher, Barry S. Smith endowed professor at Baylor and medical director of medical oncology at the Duncan Cancer Center McNair Campus, in a news release. “Our new program will build on the success of previous phase 1 trials at Baylor and provide robust infrastructure to offer more clinical trial opportunities to our patients.” Read more.

Mark Semmelbeck, founder and CEO of A Better Meal

A Better Meal — a new app from a Houston founder — gives you all the tools you need to make healthier food choices. Photo courtesy

After many years of living to eat, a large swath of American society is now facilitating a seismic shift to the healthier alternative, eating to live.

But here’s the rub: eating healthy is confusing, time consuming and, unfortunately, oftentimes pricey.

So, anyone that can come in and cut through the healthy eating machine can carve out a necessary niche in the marketplace.

Enter Houstonian Mark Semmelbeck, founder and CEO of A Better Meal, a platform created to help busy families plan healthy meals easier and to make gradual improvements to their health and well-being.

“My vision is to use rapidly expanding AI technology together with the knowledge and wisdom of an active community to take the stress out of meal planning and improving nutrition,” says Semmelbeck, a seasoned oil and gas executive with over 30 years of experience in founding companies. “While developing the technology for the app, my daughter gave me two beautiful grandkids who both have significant food allergies. Combine that with the fact I now have five cardiac stents and the significance of eating well while paying attention to the details has only grown in importance.” Read more.

Jon Nordby's career has been focused on cultivating a culture for innovation, and now he's focused on human potential technology opportunities. Photo courtesy

Long-time innovator reflects on Houston ecosystem development, shares why he's bullish on human performance

houston innovators podcast episode 251

In his role overseeing startup accelerators for MassChallenge, Jon Nordby started noticing one industry vertical stood out in terms of success and opportunities: Human potential. Now, Nordby is a founding member of an investment firm looking for those opportunities.

Nordby, who served in various leadership roles at MassChallenge — including managing director and head of ecosystems — said he started realizing the opportunities within the organization's space and sports tech programs.

"What we realized over a couple of years running the program was that sports tech as a theme was too limiting," Nordby says on the Houston Innovators Podcast. "We were finding really great technologies, but we were limited at the market size of teams and leagues to deploy those technologies."

"Over the course of that program, we found that the things that were related more to human health and performance tended to out perform all of the other things related to sports tech — like media, entertainment, gambling," Nordby continues. "Still really great markets for those technologies, but we found a lot more traction for human performance."

Nordby joined the team at Anthropy Partners, which exists to support early stage technologies that are advancing human mental and physical performance, a little over a year ago.

Defining human performance, Nordby says he thinks about it in terms of the hardware and software of a human, or physical and cognitive abilities — and how both sides of the equation work together.

"Some of the early investments that we've made have been in three realms — sensing, data, and analytics," Nordby explains, sharing examples from the Anthropy portfolio companies.

While Nordby jokes that his interest in human performance might confuse people who know him to be not particularly athletic, his other current roles fall more in line with his career history. A three-time startup founder, Nordby worked for the Greater Houston Partnership at the time the organization launched Houston Exponential. He left GHP to lead strategy for HX before transitioning to MassChallenge. All throughout these roles, Nordby has a front row seat for witnessing what it takes to develop innovation ecosystems.

He co-founded the Anthropy's nonprofit efforts for developing innovation ecosystems, called Anthropy Constructive. This year, he founded EconWerks, a for-profit company that advises entities on creating sustainable innovation efforts.

Nordby says he's "seen where things go wrong when people with really great intentions but not a lot of exposure or pattern recognition to ecosystem development are making investments or decisions on how those ecosystems need to develop."

Usually, Nordby explains, it's an economic development or ill-informed investment decision. But wrong moves can devastate a potential startup hub.

"Typically, when an investment is made and it doesn't pan out the way they think it should, there's typically a five to eight-year cycle of no more investments being made," Nordby says on the show. "When you think about the long-term effect that has on an innovation economy — an eight-year gap where you're not investing in startups — that's a problem."

Nordby thinks back to the goal setting Houston did several years ago, and reflects on how the ecosystem locally has evolved over the years.

"The goal we always set internally was to create a culture of innovation and to have the spirit of innovation permeate through the city," Nordby says. "Between 2016 when we started that initiative and that work until now, that culture is wildly different. ... The ecosystem has come a very, very long way in terms of attracting and encouraging founders."

This week's roundup of Houston innovators includes Scott Gale of Halliburton Labs, Amanda Ducach of Ema, and Jon Nordby of Anthropy Partners. Photos courtesy

3 Houston innovators to know this week

who's who

Editor's note: Welcome to another Monday edition of Innovators to Know. Today I'm introducing you to three Houstonians to read up about — three individuals behind recent innovation and startup news stories in Houston as reported by InnovationMap. Learn more about them and their recent news below by clicking on each article.

Scott Gale, executive director of Halliburton Labs

Scott Gale, executive director of Halliburton Labs, joins the Houston Innovators Podcast to share his call to action for Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week. Photo courtesy of Halliburton Labs

Scott Gale will be the first to admit that hosting a week of curated events targeted to a group of individuals within the tech and energy space isn't a novel idea — Climate Week NYC has been taking over Manhattan for over a decade. But Gale believes Houston deserves to have its own time to shine.

Earlier this month, Halliburton Labs, Rice Alliance, and Greentown Houston announced the inaugural Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week 2024 to take place in September, but Gale, executive director of Halliburton Labs, says he hopes this is just the beginning of Houston organizations coming together to collaborate on the initiative.

"I think we have a really awesome initial coalition. Whether your the fifth company or organization to raise its hand to do something that week or the 50th — it really doesn't matter," Gale says on the Houston Innovators Podcast. "It really is an open invitation — and I want to make that super clear." Read more.

Amanda Ducach, founder and CEO of ema

Amanda Ducach, founder of ema, has raised funding. Photo courtesy of SocialMama

A Houston-based startup that's improving health and wellness for women with its artificial intelligence-backed platform has raised a bridge round of funding.

Ema closed its latest bridge round, bringing its total funding to nearly $2 million. The company received investment from Kubera's Venture Capital and Victorum Capital, which joined existing investors Hearst Labs, Wormhole Capital, Acumen America, and Techstars.

Ema strives to deliver "personalized, empathetic, and evidence-based support" to its users through its generative AI technology. The platform has more than 100,000 users, and has expanded into the B2B sector with $100,000 in contracts within just 30 days after pivoting to this model, according to the company.

"Ema was born from a deep-seated belief in the transformative power of AI to make women's health care more accessible and effective," Amanda Ducach, CEO of Ema, says in a news release. "Our recent funding and rapid B2B growth validate our approach and enable us to further our mission." Read more.

Jon Nordby, managing partner at Anthropy Partners

Founders with a laser focus on a problem, showed remarkable advantage, says Houston expert Jon Nordby. Photo courtesy

In a new series of guest columna for InnovationMap, Jon Nordby is sharing his observations from years with working with founders.

"My top observation is that the success of founders often hinges on their focus on a specific problem, from the perspective of the problem holder (which is not always their customer) and particularly a problem set they care deeply about," he writes. "This focus is far more impactful than merely having a great idea. Founders with a laser focus on a problem, showed remarkable advantages."

Nordby is the managing partner at Anthropy Partners, a Houston-based investment firm, and professor of entrepreneurship at the University of Houston. Read more.

Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

Houston startup surge, job forecast, and more trending news to know

Trending News

Editor's note: 2026 is here, and we are heading into the new year with a surge in local startup activity and job growth in the local health care sector. As we look ahead to 2026, here are five trending news stories from InnovationMap, published at the close of the year:


1. New report shows surge in startup activity in Houston and across Texas

Photo by Rome Wilkerson on Unsplash

Houston and the rest of Texas are experiencing a boom in the creation of startups. One barometer of growth in startup activity: The Houston metro area saw a 92 percent rise from 2024 to 2025 in the number of account applications submitted to Bluevine, a banking platform for small businesses. Continue reading.

2. Houston poised to add 30,900 new jobs in 2026, forecast says

The health care sector will lead Houston job growth in 2026. Photo via Houston Methodist

Buoyed by the growing health care sector, the Houston metro area will add 30,900 jobs in 2026, according to a new forecast from the Greater Houston Partnership. The report predicts the Houston area’s health care sector will tack on 14,000 jobs in 2026, which would make it the No. 1 industry for local job growth. Continue reading.

3. UH receives $2.6M gift to support opioid addiction research and treatment

UH has received a new financial gift towards the Michael C. Gibson Addiction Research Program, which is developing a fentanyl vaccine. Photo via Unsplash.

The estate of Dr. William A. Gibson has granted the University of Houston a $2.6 million gift to support and expand its opioid addiction research, including the development of a fentanyl vaccine that could block the drug's ability to enter the brain. Continue reading.

4. These 50+ Houston scientists rank among world’s most cited

UH Professor Zhifeng Ren is one of 50 Houston-area researchers named to Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers list for their broad and lasting impact. Photo courtesy UH.

Fifty-one scientists and professors from Houston-area universities and institutions were named among the most cited in the world for their research in medicine, materials sciences and an array of other fields. The Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers considers researchers who have authored multiple "Highly Cited Papers" that rank in the top 1percent by citations for their fields in the Web of Science Core Collection. The final list is then determined by other quantitative and qualitative measures by Clarivate's judges to recognize "researchers whose exceptional and community-wide contributions shape the future of science, technology and academia globally." Continue reading.

5. 6 Houstonians named to prestigious national group of inventors

Vineet Gupta, Eva Harth, Dr. Raghu Kalluri, Todd Rosengart, Sanjoy Paul and Dr. Jochen Reiser have been named to the National Academy of Inventors' 2025 class of fellows. Photos via the institutions.

Six Houston scientists and innovation leaders have been named to the National Academy of Inventors’ newest class of fellows. The award is the highest professional distinction awarded to academic inventors by the NAI. The 2025 class is made up of 169 fellows who hold more than 5,300 U.S. patents, according to the organization. The group hails from 127 institutions across 40 U.S. states. The Houston-based inventors are leading fields from AI to chemistry to cancer research. Continue reading.

Here are the 10 most-read Houston innovation headlines of 2025

Year in Review

Editor's note: As we ring in the new year, we're looking back at the stories that defined Houston innovation in 2025. The 10 most-read InnovationMap stories of the year highlight diversity, mentorship, and the startups that are shaping the future.

Houston named No. 2 most diverse major U.S. city for 2025

Houston is the No. 2 most diverse large city and the No. 5 most diverse city overall in America. Sky Noir Photography by Bill Dickinson/Getty Images

Houston has always been a diverse place, embracing people of many different cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. The city earned recognition in WalletHub's rankings of the most diverse large American cities for 2025. The 2025 edition was the final installment in WalletHub's diversity study series, which annually compared 501 U.S. cities across 13 metrics in five categories that encompass "diversity" across socioeconomic, cultural, economic, household, and religious factors. Houston nearly topped the list of large U.S. cities, coming in at No. 2, and it ranked No. 5 in the overall national comparison.

What to know about the new emission inspection to register your car in Texas

An inspection is no longer required to renew registration, but an emission evaluation is. Photo by Tim Leviston/Getty Images

As of January 1, 2025, Texas vehicle owners no longer needed to obtain a safety inspection prior to vehicle registration. House Bill 3297, which passed during the 88th Legislature in 2023, eliminated the safety inspection program for non-commercial vehicles. But under the new law, the $7.50 fee that drivers had to pay as a safety inspection fee has not gone away. It now appears on your registration notice under a new name: "Inspection Program Replacement Fee."

Houston humanoid robotics startup secures millions in pre-seed funding

A concept design rendering of Persona AI's humanoid robot. Co-founder and CEO Nic Radford expects customers to take delivery of its first robot in 18 to 24 months. Rendering courtesy Persona AI.

In February 2025, a Houston-based startup developing AI-powered humanoid robots for manufacturers and other businesses raised more than $10 million in pre-seed funding — less than a year after its founding. Nic Radford, co-founder and CEO of Persona AI, declined to disclose the amount raised, however, he told InnovationMap that it was an eight-figure total.

2 Houston universities declared among world’s best in 2026 rankings

Rice is the No. 2 best school in Texas, and No. 119 in the world. Photo via Rice University

Two Houston universities were in a class of their own, earning top spots on a global ranking of the world's best universities. Rice University and University of Houston were among the top 1,200 schools included in the QS World University Rankings 2026. Ten more schools across Texas made the list.

Announcing the 2025 Houston Innovation Awards finalists

Meet the finalists for the Houston Innovation Awards, taking place Nov. 13. Graphic via Gow Media

In October 2025, InnovationMap was proud to reveal the finalists for the fifth-annual Houston Innovation Awards. This year's finalists were determined by an esteemed panel of judges, comprised of past award winners and InnovationMap editorial leadership, and they represented the best of Houston innovation this year.

Meet 6 mentors who are helping the Houston startup scene flourish

The 2025 Mentor of the Year will be announced on Nov. 13. Courtesy photos

Few founders launch successful startups alone — experienced and insightful mentors often play an integral role in helping business and founders thrive. The Houston startup community is home to many mentors who are willing to lend an ear and share advice to help entrepreneurs meet their goals. The Mentor of the Year category in our 2025 Houston Innovation Awards honored an individual like this, who dedicates their time and expertise to guide and support budding entrepreneurs. The award was presented by Houston City College Northwest.

Houston Nobel Prize nominee earns latest award for public health research

Dr. Peter Hotez with Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi. Photo courtesy of TMC

Houston vaccine scientist Dr. Peter Hotez added one more prize to his shelf. Hotez — dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, co-director of the Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) and Texas Children’s Hospital Endowed Chair of Tropical Pediatrics — is no stranger to impressive laurels. In 2022, he was even nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his low-cost COVID vaccine. His big win of 2025 was this year’s Hill Prize, awarded by the Texas Academy of Medicine, Engineering, Science and Technology (TAMEST).

Apple announces 250,000-square-foot Houston factory as part of $500B plan

Apple's Houston factory will open in 2026. Getty Images

As part of a more than $500 billion, four-year investment across the U.S., Silicon Valley tech giant Apple announced plans to build a factory in Houston that will produce servers for its data centers to support the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) business. In a February 24 announcement, Apple said the company and its partners will build the 250,000-square-foot factory. The plant, set to open in 2026, will employ thousands of people.

10 Houston billionaires make Forbes' list of richest Americans in 2025

Pictured: Nancy and Richard Kinder, the richest Houstonian, according to the Forbes 400. Photo by Michelle Watson/Catchlight Group

America's wealthiest billionaires were $1.2 trillion richer in 2025, bringing their collective worth to a staggering $6.6 trillion. And Houston's own Richard Kinder became the richest billionaire in the city, according to the annual Forbes 400. The Kinder Morgan chairman was named the 11th richest Texas resident and ranked as the 108th richest American. He dethroned Tilman Fertitta to claim the title as the wealthiest Houstonian.

2 Houston suburbs named among 10 best places to live by U.S. News & World Report

Pearland is the No. 2 best place to live in the U.S. Photo via pearlandedc.com

The Houston suburbs of Pearland and League City landed among the top 10 best places to live in 2025, according to U.S. News & World Report. For the 2025-2026 "Best Places to Live in the U.S." rankings, U.S. News expanded its coverage from 150 to 250 U.S. cities, and updated its methodology to examine each city based on five livability indexes: Quality of life, value, desirability, job market, and net migration. Pearland ranked No. 3 nationwide, earning a 7.0 score alongside No. 1-winning Johns Creek, Georgia and No. 2 winner Carmel, Indiana.

10 promising Houston startups that made headlines in 2025

year in review

Editor's note: As we reflect on 2025, we're looking back at the stories and startups that made waves in Houston's innovation scene. These 10 startups reached memorable milestones, won prestigious awards, found creative solutions, and disrupted their industries.

Persona AI: Houston humanoid robotics startup inks new deal to deploy its rugged robots

A concept design rendering of Persona AI's humanoid robot. The company is expanding at the Ion and plans to deliver prototype humanoids by the end of 2026 for complex shipyard welding tasks. Rendering courtesy Persona AI.

Persona AI is building modularized humanoid robots that aim to deliver continuous, round-the-clock productivity and skilled labor for "dull, dirty, dangerous, and declining" jobs. The company was founded by Houston entrepreneur Nicolaus Radford, who serves as CEO, along with CTO Jerry Pratt and COO Jide Akinyode. It raised $42 million in pre-seed funding this year and is developing its prototype of a robot-welder for Hyundai's shipbuilding division, which it plans to unveil in 2026. The company won in the Deep Tech Business category at this year's Houston Innovation Awards. Continue reading.

Rheom Materials: Houston startup unveils its innovative leather alternative at the rodeo

Rheom Materials presented its bio-based alternative, Shorai, a 93 percent bio-based leather, at the rodeo and plans to scale it up this year. Photos courtesy Rheom Materials

Rheom Materials presented its scalable, bio-based alternative known as Shorai, a 93 percent bio-based leather, through two custom, western-inspired outfits that showed off cowboy flair through a sustainable lens at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo earlier this year.

Next up, the company said it aimed to scale production of Shorai, the Japanese word for “future,” at a competitive price point, while also reducing its carbon footprint by 80 percent when compared to synthetic leather. The company also made a large-scale production partnership with a thermoplastic extrusion and lamination company, Bixby International, this year. Continue reading.

Koda Health: Houston digital health platform Koda closes $7 million funding round

Tatiana Fofanova and Dr. Desh Mohan, founders of Koda Health, which recently closed a $7 million series A. Photo courtesy Koda Health.

Houston-based digital advance care planning company Koda Health closed an oversubscribed $7 million series A funding round this year. The round, led by Evidenced, with participation from Mudita Venture Partners, Techstars and Texas Medical Center, will allow the company to scale operations and expand engineering, clinical strategy and customer success. Koda Health, saw major growth this year by integrating its end-of-life care planning platform with Dallas-based Guidehealth in April and with Epic Systems in July. The company won the Health Tech Business category at the 2025 Houston Innovation Awards. Continue reading.

Veloci Running: Student-led startup runs away with prestigious prize at Rice competition

The H. Albert Napier Rice Launch Challenge awarded $100,000 in equity-free funding to student-led startups, including first-place finisher Veloci Running. Photo courtesy of Rice University.

Veloci Running took home the first-place prize and $50,000 at the annual Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship's H. Albert Napier Rice Launch Challenge. The company was founded by Tyler Strothman, a former track and field athlete and senior at Rice, majoring in sport management. Inspired by the foot pain he suffered due to the narrow toe boxes in his running shoes, Strothman decided to create a naturally shaped shoe designed to relieve lower leg tightness and absorb impact. Additional prize winners included SteerBio, Kinnections, Labshare and several others. Continue reading.

Square Robot Inc.: Houston robotics co. unveils new robot that can handle extreme temperatures

The new robot eliminates the need for humans to enter dangerous and toxic environments. Photo courtesy of Square Robot

Houston- and Boston-based Square Robot Inc.'s newest tank inspection robot became commercially available and certified to operate at extreme temperatures this fall. The new robot, known as the SR-3HT, can operate from 14°F to 131°F, representing a broader temperature range than previous models in the company's portfolio. According to the company, its previous temperature range reached 32°F to 104°F. The company also announced a partnership with downstream and midstream energy giant Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) last month. Continue reading.

Bot Auto: Houston autonomous trucking co. completes first test run without human intervention

Bot Auto completed its first test run without human assistance in Houston. Photo courtesy Bot Auto.

Houston-based Bot Auto, an autonomous trucking company, completed its first test run without human assistance earlier this year. Bot Auto conducted the test in Houston. The transportation-as-a-service startup added that this milestone “serves as a validation benchmark, demonstrating the maturity and safety of Bot Auto’s autonomy stack and test protocols.” This summer, founder Xiaodi Hou told the Front Lines podcast that Bot Auto had raised more than $45 million. Continue reading.

Nomad: Screen-free hiking app developed in Houston earns 'Best of the Best' award

NOMAD aims to help hikers stay in the moment while still utilizing technology. Photo courtesy UH.

An AI-powered, screen-free hiking system developed by Varshini Chouthri, a recent industrial design graduate from the University of Houston, received this year's Red Dot’s “Best of the Best” award, which recognizes the top innovative designs around the world. Known as NOMAD, the system aims to help users stay in the moment while still utilizing technology. Continue reading.

Little Place Labs, Helix Earth, Tempest Droneworx: Houston startups win big at SXSW 2025 pitch competition

Two Houston startups won the SXSW Pitch showcase in their respective categories. Photo via Getty Images

Houston had a strong showing at the SXSW Pitch showcase in Austin this year, with several local startups claiming top prizes in their respective categories.

Little Place Labs, a Houston space data startup, won the Security, GovTech & Space competition. Clean-tech company Helix Earth, which spun out of Rice University and was incubated at Greentown Labs, won in the Smart Cities, Transportation & Sustainability contest. Tempest Droneworx, a Houston-based company that provides real-time intelligence collected through drones, robots and sensors, won the Best Speed Pitch award. Continue reading.

View All Listings