Houston-based e-commerce software startup and Amazon competitor raises $25M in its series A

Money moves

Houston-based Cart.com, which equips e-commerce businesses with a suite of software services, has raised $45 million in venture capital investment since its founding in September. Photo via cart.com

An end-to-end e-commerce services provider based in Houston has closed its series A round of financing led by a Houston venture capital group.

Cart.com announced the closing of its $25 million led by Houston-based Mercury Fund and Florida-based Arsenal Growth with contribution from Austin-based Moonshots Capital and Ohio-based Scarlet Venture Fund. The new round follows its $20 million Seed round led by Amsterdam-based Bearing Ventures.

The company was founded last September by two former entrepreneurs — Omair Tariq, former executive at Home Depot and COO of Blinds.com, serves as CEO and Jim Jacobsen, co-founder and former CEO of RTIC Outdoors, serves as executive chairman.

"We know the pain points brands face in the e-commerce value chain because we have experienced them firsthand. We built Cart.com to solve those problems and deliver unequaled value for brands from a single platform," Jacobsen says in a news release.

The duo wanted to create a suite of software solutions that allows brands to "grow their e-commerce capabilities with less friction than the fragmented plug-in and vendor intensive approach available today," according to the release.

"The current e-commerce offerings favor the service providers, not the brands," Tariq says in the release. "We are on a mission to flip that dynamic and put the sellers back in charge of their e-commerce journey and their customer relationships. Our team will continue to obsess over our brands' success, so they can obsess over their customers. This is what will create tremendous long term shareholder value and be the true measure of our success."

The e-commerce-as-a-service, or ECaaS, company will use the funds to grow to meet increasing customer demand and hire new team members. Per the release, Cart.com has an "aggressive growth strategy" and has already made five acquisitions to date, including storefront software platform AmeriCommerce, a storage supplies business with fulfillment services across the country, and two digital marketing agencies.

"Competition in the e-commerce market is reaching a precipice, and only those companies with the pedigree, vision, technology and the been-there-done-that perspective will be able to truly shift the surge away from market monopolies and provide power back to the brands themselves to the benefit of the businesses and their customers," says Blair Garrou, co-founder and managing director at Mercury. "Our financial commitment illustrates our confidence in the mission and strategy of Cart.com. The team assembled has incredible opportunity to be a true market leader and pioneer ECaaS in the e-commerce services space."

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Digital Health Institute's new exec director aims to lead innovation and commercialization efforts

new hire

Though our existences have become deeply entangled with technology, our health has been slower to catch up. The creation late last year of the Digital Health Institute was a major step into the future for both Rice University and Houston Methodist, for whom the institute is a joint venture.

The latest news for the Digital Health Institute is the appointment of Pothik Chatterjee to the role of executive director.

“The Digital Health Institute’s collaborative model is uniquely powerful,” Chatterjee told Rice University’s office of media relations. “By bringing together clinicians, engineers and entrepreneurs, we’re building an ecosystem designed to transform how care is delivered and experienced.”

Chatterjee’s role is to help grow the collaboration between the institutions, but the Digital Health Institute already boasts more than 20 active projects, each of which pairs Rice faculty and Methodist clinicians.

“Research is great, but what we really want at the Digital Health Institute is to translate those research findings into products and services that can be used at the patient's bedside,” Chatterjee explained to InnovationMap.

Once the research is in place, it’s up to Chatterjee to find commercial opportunities within the research portfolio. Those include everything from hospital-grade medical imaging wearables to the creation of digital twins for patients to help better treat them.

“As we move from vision to execution, Pothik’s expertise will be essential in helping us strengthen the institutional alignment needed to deliver at scale,” Dr. Khurram Nasir, Methodist’s William A. Zoghbi Centennial Chair in Cardiovascular Medicine and division chief of cardiovascular prevention and wellness, told Rice. “From my vantage point of a health system, the real value lies not just in innovation, but in implementation.”

Nasir’s co-founder is Ashutosh Sabharwal, Rice’s Ernest Dell Butcher Professor of Engineering and professor of electrical and computer engineering.

“The Digital Health Institute is a key step toward advancing health and health care for the benefit of humanity,” Sabharwal said. “We’re thrilled to welcome Pothik to our growing team. His background in health care innovation, research administration and venture investing will be instrumental in translating cutting-edge research into impactful digital health solutions. From leading innovation strategy and forging strong partnerships to driving fundraising and grant development, his leadership will help shape the institute’s long-term success.”

Though Chatterjee has previously worked around the country, including in Boston and Baltimore, he says he believes Houston is uniquely positioned to thrive in the digital health space.

“Houston is the best place to do it, because we have Rice and Houston Methodist,” he told InnovationMap. “[People] want to help keep that innovation in Houston, not just send it off to Silicon Valley or New York or Boston. There seems to be a lot of appetite from the philanthropic community to have homegrown Houston digital health innovation.”

Reliant’s smart new bundle puts energy savings + insights into one app

Two companies known for innovation in energy and home automation, Reliant and Vivint, have teamed up to launch the Smarter Home Bundle: a powerful new offering that simplifies home energy management and enhances everyday living for Texans.

With smart technology, seamless app integration, and added energy savings, this bundle marks a major leap forward in how homeowners manage their comfort, security, and electricity usage.

What’s included in the Smarter Home Bundle?
Qualifying current and new Reliant electricity customers can take advantage of this premium bundle, which includes:

  • A free Vivint Doorbell Camera Pro with Smart Deter™ technology that detects deliveries and deters theft
  • A free Vivint Smart Thermostat, designed to integrate with HVAC systems for efficient temperature control
  • White-glove professional installation from Vivint Smart Home Pros
  • Access to an exclusive Vivint app experience, combining smart device controls and personalized energy insights powered by Reliant

All this is included at no additional cost with enrollment in the Smarter Home Bundle.

 Reliant Smarter Home Bundle Let the pros handle installation.Photo courtesy of Reliant

A unified, smarter home

Reliant and Vivint, both NRG companies, are offering the Smarter Home Bundle as an all-in-one solution for customers looking to streamline home management. By combining smart home security features with advanced energy tools, users gain greater control, comfort, and peace of mind. With one app, customers can monitor their home, manage devices, and track energy use — anytime, anywhere.

According to recent NRG Consumer research, nearly 70% of people want a single platform to manage their smart homes. The Vivint app, which averages 16 daily interactions, delivers exactly that.

Designed for savings and simplicity
Energy efficiency isn’t just a buzzword — it’s a key feature of the Smarter Home Bundle. As more households adopt smart devices (45% in 2024, up from 10% a decade ago), this bundle gives users tools that help cut energy use and potentially lower bills. In fact, 72% of surveyed users cite savings as the top benefit of smart home technology after safety.

The Vivint Smart Thermostat plays a major role here. It not only learns users' habits but also integrates with Reliant’s Degrees of Difference program, adjusting temperatures slightly during peak electricity demand. These small changes can have a big impact on grid stability — especially in hot Texas summers — without sacrificing comfort. Customers remain in control at all times and can override temperature changes in the app or manually if needed.

 Reliant Smarter Home Bundle Manage everything with one app.Graphic courtesy of Reliant

Powering the future with virtual power plants
The Smarter Home Bundle also contributes to Reliant’s growing residential virtual power plant (VPP) network. VPPs are a forward-thinking approach to grid management that leverage small-scale energy resources — like smart thermostats, home batteries, and electric vehicles — to balance electricity demand across thousands of homes.

With Texas experiencing record-high energy loads (85 gigwatts in 2023), this kind of coordination is critical to ensuring a stable and reliable power grid, especially during extreme weather events.

“By bringing together innovative leaders like Reliant and Vivint, we are providing smarter, more efficient energy solutions for Texans,” says Mark Parsons, senior vice president, NRG Consumer. “The Reliant Smarter Home Bundle combines our electricity plans with advanced technology, empowering Texans to take control of their energy usage and simplify home management. We are excited to roll out additional features in the coming months at no cost, all designed to help our customers manage their home’s comfort, security, and energy usage, all in one place.”

Learn more and enroll here.

Houston startups win NASA funding for space tech projects

fresh funding

Three Houston startups were granted awards from NASA this month to develop new technologies for the space agency.

The companies are among nearly 300 recipients that received a total agency investment of $44.85 million through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I grant programs, according to NASA.

Each selected company will receive $150,000 and, based on their progress, will be eligible to submit proposals for up to $850,000 in Phase II funding to develop prototypes.

The SBIR program lasts for six months and contracts small businesses. The Houston NASA 2025 SBIR awardees include:

Solidec Inc.

  • Principal investigator: Yang Xia
  • Proposal: Highly reliable and energy-efficient electrosynthesis of high-purity hydrogen peroxide from air and water in a nanobubble facilitated porous solid electrolyte reactor

Rarefied Studios LLC

  • Principal investigator: Kyle Higdon
  • Proposal: Plume impingement module for autonomous proximity operations

The STTR program contracts small businesses in partnership with a research institution and lasts for 13 months. The Houston NASA 2025 STTR awardees include:

Affekta LLC

  • Principal investigator: Hedinn Steingrimsson
  • Proposal: Verifiable success in handling unknown unknowns in space habitat simulations and a cyber-physical system

Solidec and Affekta have ties to Rice University.

Solidec extracts molecules from water and air, then transforms them into pure chemicals and fuels that are free of carbon emissions. It was co-founded by Rice professor Haotian Wang and and was an Innovation Fellow at Rice’s Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. It was previouslt selected for Chevron Technology Ventures’ catalyst program, a Rice One Small Step grant, a U.S. Department of Energy grant, and the first cohort of the Activate Houston program.

Affekta, an AI course, AI assistance and e-learning platform, was a part of Rice's OwlSpark in 2023.

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