3 Houston innovators to know this week

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This week's roundup of Houston innovators includes Adrianne Stone of Bayou City Startups, Sarma Velamuri of Luminare, and Curtis Jackson of G-Unity Foundation. 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 health tech to nonprofit — recently making headlines in Houston innovation.

Adrianne Stone, founder of Bayou City Startups

Every month, Adrianne Stone of Bayou City Startups hosts a happy hour for startup founders to create a safe space to network, collaborate, commensurate, and more. Photo courtesy of Adrianne Stone

Adrianne Stone knows firsthand how lonely the startup founder journey is, so she set out to help create a community for founders when she started Bayou City Startups last year. Now, Stone shares on the Houston Innovators Podcast that her monthly happy hours attract over 50 attendees on average.

"Being the venture associate with Capital Factory in Houston, I'd seen what the Houston ecosystem had to offer. There were events — happy hours, coffee meet-ups, all these things," Stone says on the show. "But it was not just a casual networking event usually. I wanted a consistent community where I could show up and say, 'guys, I had the worst week,' to people who got where I was coming from and who could commensurate or lean in and help."

The next opportunity to network with Bayou City Startups is Tuesday, July 18, from 5 to 7 pm at Kirby Ice House. Read more.

Sarma Velamuri, co-founder and CEO of Luminare

Sepsis has been the No. 1 killer hospitals, but this Houston startup has a tech to help mitigate the risk. Photo via Getty Images

When he was an internal medicine physician, Sarma Velamuri watched helplessly as a friend’s 22-year-old daughter lost her life to sepsis. He had to tell his friend that she would not be coming home.

“There are 300,000-plus people a year who die of sepsis,” says Velamuri. “It’s important that people understand it’s not just those who are most susceptible to infections.”

This fact is not only unfortunate, but preventable. And that’s why Velamuri, who describes himself as “a recovering hospitalist,” co-founded Luminare in 2014. A full-time CEO since 2017, Velamuri, who runs the company with co-founder and CTO Marcus Rydberg, is based in the TMC Innovation Factory. Read more.

Curtis Jackson, founder of the G-Unity Foundation

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

Chances are, you've heard of 50 Cent — his 2003 album "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" was a soundtrack to many. But Curtis James Jackson III, 50 Cent's real name, has done a lot since gracing your radios. He moved to Houston in 2021 and founded the G-Unity Foundation. In May, he wrapped on the second year of the G-Unity Business Labs, a business development incubator for Houston Independent School District high schoolers.

"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."

Around 150 students participated, and the winners are splitting a $500,000 investment. Read more.

Every month, Adrianne Stone of Bayou City Startups hosts a happy hour for startup founders to create a safe space to network, collaborate, commensurate, and more. Photo courtesy of Adrianne Stone

Houston innovator dedicated to fostering community within local founders

HOUSTON INNOVATORS PODCAST EPISODE 194

Starting a company can be daunting and lonely, but entrepreneurs — at least those who call Houston home — have a monthly opportunity to connect with fellow founders thanks to Adrianne Stone.

Stone, who's had a varied career from getting her PhD in Translational Biology & Molecular Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and joining the 23andMe team as a scientist to supporting founders at Capital Factory, launched Bayou City Startups last year to help connect Houston founders over beers. Now, Stone shares on the Houston Innovators Podcast that her monthly Bayou City Startups meetups attract over 50 attendees on average.

"Being the venture associate with Capital Factory in Houston, I'd seen what the Houston ecosystem had to offer. There were events — happy hours, coffee meet-ups, all these things," Stone says. "But it was not just a casual networking event usually. I wanted a consistent community where I could show up and say, 'guys, I had the worst week,' to people who got where I was coming from and who could commensurate or lean in and help."

Stone observes a need for that type of community more in Houston than Silicon Valley, where she worked when she was at 23andMe. The Bayou City has less of a concentrated startup scene.

"Houston and the Bay Area could not be more different in a lot of ways," she explains. "Everybody I met had a startup in California — it didn't matter if they worked somewhere else, they had a startup.

"I would love to see more of that here in Houston," Stone continues. "Our founders in Houston are super scrappy. They do so much with so little, and we just do not have the amount of capital floating around this ecosystem that you do in SF. I'd love to see more of that here too."

The next opportunity to network with Bayou City Startups is Tuesday, July 18, from 5 to 7 pm at Kirby Ice House. Stone says she picks different types of bars all over the city to meet people where they are and to offer a variety of locations. She adds that she's always up for co-hosts and partners.

Part of what makes Stone, who consults with startups in a professional capacity, an interesting point of view is her "zig-zagging" career. She's held a wide range of roles at an even wider range of professions before she made it to tech startups.

“The through line for me is following my curiosity,” she says on the show. “I was interested in politics, so I did a White House internship. I had a background in science, so I wanted to do something with it, so I went into teaching. Through teaching, I got interested in web development and blogging, so that's how I made the transition into the digital space.”

Her advice to fellow zig-zaggers? Knowing when to say no to things.

"You can overcommit yourself and you're going to burnout or drop the ball or end up disappointing people," she says, admitting she's had to get better at this herself. "Practice saying no. Make it your default. Founders tend to say yes first."

Stone shares more about her career and her observations on Houston's startup ecosystem on the show. Listen to the interview below — or wherever you stream your podcasts — and subscribe for weekly episodes.

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Houston female-focused health tech accelerator names top companies at annual event

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A Houston organization that accelerates and supports female founders leading innovative health tech startups has concluded its 2024 program with the announcement of this year's top companies.

Ignite Health, an accelerator founded in 2017 by longtime Houston health care professional Ayse McCracken, named its 2024 winners at its annual Fire Pitch Competition in Houston last month. The companies pitched health tech solutions across lung health, renal therapy, breastfeeding tech, and more.

"This year’s competition was a culmination of passion, innovation, and hard work from the top startups in our 2024 Accelerator Program," reads a LinkedIn post from Ignite. "These trailblazing founders earned their spot on the stage by demonstrating exceptional leadership and the potential to revolutionize the healthcare industry with their solutions and devices."

First place winner was Sarah Lee, CEO and co-founder of Relavo, a New York-based company that's making home dialysis more effective, safer, and more affordable. Lee accepted awards from Johnson & Johnson and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

Therese Canares, CEO and founder of CurieDx, took second place and won its awards from SWPDC - Southwest National Pediatric Device Innovation Consortium and Wilson Sonsini. CurieDx, based in Baltimore, Maryland, is creating remote diagnostic tools using smartphone technology.

In third place is Andrea Ippolito, CEO and founder of SimpliFed, a company focused on democratizing access to baby feeding and breastfeeding services through virtual care that's covered by insurance. The startup won awards from Texas Children's Hospital and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

Three other finalists won other awards, including:

  • Kadambari Beelwar, CEO and co-founder, Henderson, Nevada-based Truss Health, which created an AI-powered sensor fusion platform that's designed to detect early signs of infection, won an award presented by Memorial Hermann Health System and Golden Seeds
  • Mimi Gendreau Kigawa, CEO and co-founder of New York-based Zeph Technologies, an AI-lung care company with technology for clinicians to deliver pulmonary care to patients with chronic respiratory disease, won an award presented by CU Innovations and Houston Methodist
  • Ashley Yesayan, CEO and co-founder, New York-based OneVillage, a software platform meant to support patients and family members through trying health events, won an award presented by CU Innovations

The companies were evaluated by the 2024 judges, which included: Allison Rhines, head of JLABS Houston; Andrew Truscott, global health technology lead at Accenture; Angela Shippy, senior physician executive at Amazon Web Services; Kimberly Muller, executive director of CU Innovations at University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus; Myra Davis, chief innovation and information officer at Texas Children's Hospital; and Winjie Tang Miao, senior executive vice president and COO of Texas Health Resources.

Houston expert: Balancing flexibility, accountability, and performance in a hybrid world

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Amazon, Salesforce, and Nike are just a few companies making headlines in 2024 for requiring employees to return to the office.

At the same time, technology is evolving, automation and efficiency gains are taking center stage, and employees continue to seek greater flexibility. This has fueled the debate around the future of where work gets done in 2025 and beyond.

Proponents of a remote or hybrid work model believe it leads to increased employee productivity, higher job satisfaction, and access to a larger talent pool. Detractors have a different viewpoint – suggesting employee isolation is greater, cyber security concerns are more complex to manage, and it’s hard to accurately evaluate employee performance.

So, what’s the answer?

The future of work lies in harnessing the power of the employer/employee relationship. This involves establishing clear guidelines for what working “looks like” inside and outside the company, measuring performance tied to company goals, and holding leaders and employees accountable for how these interactions occur.

A remote work policy helps establish clear guidelines. For example, should business cameras be on for all meetings? What is considered an acceptable business casual dress code? Can pets be on screen? Addressing the issues around a remote workspace, how to interact during a meeting, and what to wear helps to define company expectations and how you would like your business to be represented.

Formal performance management tools and processes have been in place for decades. While an annual event is important, encouraging managers and employees to have regular and structured performance conversations and share transparent feedback (regardless of where they work) helps you celebrate what’s exceptionally good, acknowledge what’s on track, and quickly course correct when needed.

Accountability in the remote work environment goes both ways, and leaders must model the behaviors they expect from employees. When the rule is cameras on, that means everyone, regardless of their title. When you’ve established working hours, be available to take the call or respond to the Teams chat within a reasonable timeframe. And when you need to be away from work, set expectations for when and how to reach you.

So, where is the best place to start when updating or establishing guidelines? First, review your key business objectives and work out what’s required to support the successful achievement of those goals. Design your remote and/or hybrid model around those objectives and place employees at the forefront of that design.

If you think about it, it’s no different than being in the office. You expect your employees and managers to show up, be fully present, and hold themselves accountable. That should be the expectation no matter where you “sit.”

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Michelle Mikesell is the chief people officer at Houston-based G&A Partners.

Houston's Texas Medical Center wins prestigious global award recognizing leaders in life science innovation

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Last month, a global organization honored innovation leaders in life sciences, and the Texas Medical Center was among the recipients of the prestigious awards program.

The 18th annual Prix Galien Awards Gala awarded TMC Innovation with the win in the "Incubators, Accelerators and Equity" category. The Galien Foundation created the awards program in 1970 in honor of Galien, the father of medical science and modern pharmacology. Alongside TMC, the other winners represented biotech, digital health, startups, and more.

"We are super proud of this distinction," Tom Luby, director of TMC Innovation says at Envision 2024 last month, crediting the TMCi team and TMC leadership for the award. "We lean on a lot of advisers and experts — people who volunteer their time to work with startups. Without (them), we would not have been successful."

Luby explains that a Prix Galien Award holds a Nobel Prize level of significance for the community.

TMCi was named a finalist in August, and competed against programs from Cedars-Sinai, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, TechConnect, and more.

"The Awards Committee is honored to witness the exceptional dedication and creativity of our nominees as they turn visionary ideas into transformative solutions for patients worldwide," says Michael Rosenblatt, chair of the Prix Galien USA Awards Committee, in a news release. "Their unwavering commitment to advancing patient care is truly commendable, and we are honored to celebrate their outstanding contributions to global health."

The award is displayed at TMC Innovation's office, located in the medical center at 2450 Holcombe Blvd.

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