3 Houston innovators to know this week

who's who

This week's roundup of Houston innovators includes Don Frieden of P97, Haleh Ardebili of the University of Houston, and Babur Ozden of Aquanta Vision. Photos courtesy

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

Don Frieden, president and CEO of P97

Don Frieden, president and CEO of P97, shares how he plans to streamline day-to-day transactions on the Houston Innovators Podcast. Photo courtesy of P97

Before Don Frieden started his company, gas stations hadn't innovated their payment technology since 1997. He knew that needed to change.

P97, founded in 2012, exists to use innovative technologies to simplify and energize daily journeys, Frieden explains on the Houston Innovators Podcast.

"We think about daily journeys from the time we leave home in the morning and when we get back at the end of the day — whether it's tolling, parking, buying fuel, fast food restaurants, it's all a part of your daily journeys, and our goal is to make things a little bit simpler each day," Frieden says on the show. Read more.

Haleh Ardebili, professor of Mechanical Engineering at University of Houston

Haleh Ardebili is the the Bill D. Cook Professor of Mechanical Engineering at UH. Photo courtesy

A new prototype out of the University of Houston feels more like science fiction than reality.

"As a big science fiction fan, I could envision a ‘science-fiction-esque future’ where our clothes are smart, interactive and powered,” according to a statement Haleh Ardebili, who last month published a paper on a new stretchable fabric-based lithium-ion battery in the Extreme Mechanics Letters.

“It seemed a natural next step to create and integrate stretchable batteries with stretchable devices and clothing," she said. "Imagine folding or bending or stretching your laptop or phone in your pocket. Or using interactive sensors embedded in our clothes that monitor our health.”

The battery uses conductive silver fabric as a platform and current collector, which stretches (or mechanically deforms) while allowing movement for electrons and ions. Traditional lithium batteries are quite rigid and use a liquid electrolyte, which are flammable and have potential risks of exploding. Read more.

Babur Ozden, founder of Aquanta Vision

Babur Ozden is the founder of Aquanta Vision. Photo via LinkedIn

Aquanta Vision Technologies, a Houston-based climate-tech startup, was selected to participate in the scale-up phase of Chevron Studio, a Houston program that matches entrepreneurs with technologies to turn them into businesses. Aquanta's computer vision software completely automates the identification of methane in optical gas imaging, or OGI. The technology originated from Colorado State University and CSU STRATA Technology Transfer.

Babur Ozden, a tech startup entrepreneur, along with Marcus Martinez, the lead inventor and Dan Zimmerle, co-inventor and director of METEC at CSU Energy Institute, came up with the technology to identify the presence and motion of methane in live video streams. Currently, this process of identifying methane requires a human camera operator to interpret the images. This can often be unreliable in the collection of emissions data.

Aquanta’s technology requires no human intervention and is universally compatible with all OGI cameras. Currently, only about 10 percent of the 20.5 million surveys done worldwide use this type of technology as it is extremely expensive to produce. Ozden said he hopes Aquanta will change that model.

“What we are doing — we are democratizing this feature, this capability, independent of the camera make and model,” Ozden says. Read more.

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Currently, methane leak detection requires human evaluation. With this innovative new company's tech, this process can be automated. Photo via Getty Images

Houston startup advances in Chevron's unique business accelerator

scaling up

A Houston startup that is developing a technology to detect methane leaks has moved on to phase two in Chevron's unique business accelerator.

Babur Ozden is the founder of Aquanta Vision. Photo via LinkedIn

“What we are doing — we are democratizing this feature, this capability, independent of the camera make and model,” Ozden tells EnergyCapital.

Aquanta’s software will be downloadable from App stores to the technician’s computers or phones.

“Our goal is to eliminate the absolute reliance of human interpretation and to give operators a chance to make detections faster and more accurately,” Ozden says.

“Our ultimate ambition is to reduce our footprint.” he continues. “Companies like Chevron and other leading players in the oil and gas industry are becoming much more committed (to reducing emissions)."

Aquanta will now test its software under various scenarios and develop an early commercial version of the product. In the next and final phase of the program, the company will begin marketing the technology for commercial use.

The goal of Chevron Studio is to take innovative new technologies out of the labs at universities and to scale them up to commercial ventures. The company takes the intellectual property developed at these labs and provides a platform to match entrepreneurs with the technology. The program provides funding to take the technologies from the very beginning to pilot and field trials. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory, or NREL, manages Chevron Studio and works closely with the entrepreneurs to guide them through the program.

Gautam Phanse, the strategic relations manager for Chevron Technology Ventures says he was impressed with Ozden’s background as an entrepreneur and in the technology he brought to the table.

“We are looking at experienced entrepreneurs. People who can take an idea and stand on their own and develop it into a business,” he tells EnergyCapital.

Earlier this year, Phanse spoke to InnovationMap about Chevron Studio and its mission to match entrepreneurs with promising technologies coming out of universities and labs. He said the current focus areas for Chevron Studio are: carbon utilization, hydrogen and renewable energy, energy storage systems and solutions for circular economy.

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This article originally ran on EnergyCapital.

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Houston fintech company closes $7M funding round

fintech funding

Houston-based fintech company Receipts Depositary Corporation has closed a $7 million oversubscribed funding round and plans to scale.

The round was led by Austin-based LiveOak Ventures, with participation from Hivemind Capital, Onigiri Capital, OTC Markets Group, GTS, and Redbeard Ventures, according to a release from RDC.

RDC's platform issues depositary receipts (DRs) to qualified investors on digital and alternative assets, making it easier for investors to buy and trade hard-to-access and less traditional assets. Currently, the company offers DRs for cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and XRP.

RDC says the new funding will allow it to launch new DR products across a wider range of asset categories, potentially including commodities. Additionally, it plans to grow its relationships with "banks, broker-dealers, market makers, custodians and exchange partners" and add to its product, operations, technology, and commercial functions teams. The company is actively hiring, according to a press release.

“Depositary Receipts are trusted, regulated capital markets products which RDC is bringing to an entirely new universe of assets, from commodities to digital assets, that have historically been out of reach of traditional securities markets," Krishna Srinivasan, founding partner at LiveOak Ventures, said the release. “The team's depth of experience in the DR business on a global scale, combined with the broad institutional validation from co-investors, anchor customers, and strategic partners across asset classes, makes RDC uniquely positioned to define this category. We're proud to lead this round and support the company as it scales.”

RDC was founded in 2022 by three Citibank alumni: CEO Ankit Mehta, CEO Bryant Kim and COO Ishaan Narain. It began offering its first DRs for Bitcoin in 2024.

“This funding round is a strong validation of what we’re building at RDC and the growing demand for modernized Depositary Receipt infrastructure,” Mehta added in the release. “With the support of LiveOak Ventures and our investor partners, we are accelerating development across our DR platform expanding our market reach, and building the team needed to support the next generation of DR product

Houston space co. adds local colleges to university alliance

space schools

Houston’s Axiom Space has added 26 new members to its University Alliance—including two from Houston—to support the next generation of space exploration.

Engineers, researchers and students from the partnering universities will be dedicated to advancing microgravity research, technology development and commercial innovation in low-Earth orbit.

Rice University and the University of Houston are among the new colleges to join the alliance, which launched with 15 members last year. The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas at El Paso have also joined, in addition to international institutions in Europe, Asia and Australia, and others from around the U.S. See full list here.

“Through the University Alliance, Axiom Space is uniting the international research community driven to enable human progress,” Lucie Low, Axiom Space chief science officer, said in a news release. “Together, alliance members are taking the initiative to ensure microgravity research benefits everyone on Earth and our shared goals fulfill a scientific purpose to advance civilization.”

Axiom is building the world’s first commercial space station, known as Axiom Station. The University Alliance “will support and advance space science during the transition from government-led to commercially owned and operated space stations,” the company said in a release. Partnering universities will contribute to the research community by participating in international collaborative scientific initiatives, identifying future research, and bolstering strategic positions in the commercial orbit research field.

Recently, the Rice Space Institute was also selected to lead the U.S. Space Force Strategic Institute 4 in addition to other space-centric partnerships.

“We’re excited to bring our expertise to this global alliance and to benefit from the deep expertise of our partners,” David Alexander, professor of physics and astronomy and director of the Rice Space Institute, said in a news release. “Space is truly a collaborative and global endeavor. Alliances like these are key to progress.”

UH and NASA’s Johnson Space Center expanded their collaboration in 2022. In 2024, UH launched its NASA MIRO Inflatable Deployable Environments and Adaptive Space Systems Center (IDEAS2) via a five-year, $5 million grant.

“As a major public research university located in Space City, the University of Houston has a unique opportunity and responsibility to help lead the future of space innovation, and our participation in Axiom Space’s University Alliance represents a major step forward in that mission,” Karolos Grigoriadis, the Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Endowed Professor and chair of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UH, added in a separate release.

Meanwhile, Axiom recently tacked on an additional $175 million to a previously announced capital raise, bringing the oversubscribed round to a total of more than $525 million. It also has announced plans to launch Swiss and Japanese subsidiaries.

This Houston suburb named one of 10 newest boomtowns in U.S.

Booming 'Burb

What do you get when you combine a city's surge in population, housing growth, and economy? For the Houston suburb of Conroe, it adds up to being America's No. 9 newest boomtown, according to a new survey from SmartAsset.

The personal finance website's just-released report analyzed more than 400 U.S. cities with populations of 65,000 or more to identify places experiencing rapid growth based on five-year changes in economic output, housing units, and labor force size.

Texas is home to the second-highest concentration of new boomtowns in America with 18 out of 75 located in the Lone Star State. Only Florida ranks higher than Texas by just one.

However, Texas nearly locked out the top five most bustling boomtowns in America. Austin suburb Georgetown topped the list, and its Central Texas neighbors New Braunfels (No. 2) and Leander (No. 4) ranked close behind. Dallas-Fort Worth mid-city Lewisville claimed the No. 5 spot. Lehi, Utah ranked in third place.

Conroe has soared in popularity as one of America's most sought-after suburbs over the last several years, boosted by its renter-friendliness and its livability among the millennial generation.

Conroe has seen a 37 percent increase in housing units from 2019 to 2024, with its labor force growing by 33 percent during that time. SmartAsset also determined that Montgomery County's economic output grew at compound annual rates of 4.9 percent.

The report says population booms and "expanding business activity" can create "visible momentum" for an up-and-coming city, but these fast changes can alter a city in ways residents may not expect.

"In recent years, some American cities stand out for attracting people, investment and development at a pace that sets them apart," the report said. "Boomtown status does not mean growth benefits everyone equally, but it does reflect a city’s expanding economic capacity and the new opportunities that come with it."

America's top 10 new boomtowns are:

No. 1 – Georgetown
No. 2 – New Braunfels
No. 3 – Lehi, Utah
No. 4 – Leander
No. 5 – Lewisville
No. 6 – Palm Coast, Florida
No. 7 – Nampa, Idaho
No. 8 – McKinney
No. 9 – Conroe
No. 10 – Frisco

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

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