3 Houston innovators to know this week

who's who

This week's roundup of Houston innovators includes Nick Skytland of NASA, Neal Dikeman of Energy Transition Ventures, and Bill McKeon of TMC. 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 space tech to health care innovation — recently making headlines in Houston innovation.

Nick Skytland, chief technologist at NASA Johnson Space Center

Nick Skytland, chief technologist at NASA Johnson Space Center, joins the Houston Innovators Podcast. Photo via LinkedIn

For most people, it might be pretty hard to envision a future where astronauts are living on the moon or even Mars in the next few decades, but Nick Skytland, chief technologist at NASA Johnson Space Center, says he sees that future pretty clearly.

Since its inception in 1958, NASA has achieved many milestones, from the from putting the first man in orbit to having astronauts live in space for over 20 years consecutively. But it's a new era for NASA — and its commercial partners.

"What has changed in the past decade or so is that space flight is no longer just a government focus," Skytland says on the Houston Innovators Podcast. "We have an entire space industry that's growing and starting to thrive in the United States, and that's an important part of our strategy going forward." Read more.

Neal Dikeman, partner at Energy Transition Ventures

Houston-based energy tech investor Neal Dikeman writes his observations on Houston's venture capital and startup community's growth — in stark comparison of Silicon Valley's recent evolution. Photo via LinkedIn

In his guest column for InnovationMap, Neal Dikeman, a Houston-based energy transition investor, shares how Houston's innovation ecosystem differs from Silicon Valley these days. While deemed a newer ecosystem, there appears to be a growing amount of activity in and around the Ion, where Dikeman works out of. Meanwhile, Silicon Valley is pretty quiet.

"Founders are learning that Houston’s venture investment and tech scene has an actual home these days, and is open for business," he writes in the column. Read more.

Bill McKeon, CEO of the Texas Medical Center

Mayor Sylvester Turner, TMC CEO Bill McKeon, Governor Greg Abbott, and others gave their remarks at the TMC3 Collaborative Building opening. Photo via tmc.edu

For nearly a decade, thee Texas Medical Center and its partners have been working on the plans for Helix Park, a 37-acre campus expansion of TMC. As of this week, the first building has opened its doors to the public.

The TMC3 Collaborative Building officially opened today to a crowd of media, public officials, and health care executives. The institutional agnostic, 250,000-square-foot building will anchor Helix Park and house research initiatives from the four founding partners: Texas Medical Center, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

“Today, we lay the cornerstone of a new campus fully dedicated to streamlining the commercialization of life-changing innovations in medicine and technologies,” William McKeon, president and CEO of TMC, says at the event. “We are incredibly excited to both welcome our founding institutions and industry partners to the Collaborative Building and to invite the community to experience the Helix Park campus and its beautiful parks with a series of special events in the months ahead." Read more.

The Dynamic One building in TMC Helix Park is expected to deliver later this year. Rendering via TMC.edu

Rising TMC development names Houston health care institution as anchor tenant

coming soon

TMC Helix Park, formerly known as TMC3, has announced its first anchor tenant.

The Texas Medical Center and Beacon Capital Partners announced that Baylor College of Medicine will be the anchor tenant of the Dynamic One building at TMC Helix Park. The facility is will be the first to deliver of the four TMC Helix Park industry buildings. The Topped off in December, the Dynamic One building is being developed by Beacon in collaboration with Zoë Life Science and is scheduled to open before the end of the year.

“Beacon is excited that Dynamic One will be our first entry into the fast-growing Houston Life Science market,” says Fred Seigel, president and CEO of Beacon, in a news release. “This state-of-the-art environment is designed to enable and encourage collaboration and will greatly accelerate the innovative lifesaving discoveries that emerge when industry and academic research work side-by-side.”

Baylor College of Medicine will lease 114,000 square-feet of lab and office space in the 355,000-square-foot building. BCM's goal is to house lab space for novel diagnostics and therapeutics — and provide space to house startups.

The organization is expanding its presence in Houston after decades of residing in the region.

“Baylor College of Medicine moved to Houston in 1943 and was the first institution built in the Texas Medical Center," says Dr. Paul Klotman, president and CEO and executive dean of Baylor, in the release. "Our researchers and scientists will have the opportunity to access the uniquely concentrated research environment being developed at TMC Helix Park, facilitating the continuing advancement of innovation and compassionate care."

TMC Helix Park, which includes more than 5 million-square-feet of space across 37-acres, also expects to deliver its research facility, the TMC3 Collaborative Building, later this year.

“Baylor College of Medicine is a major force in life sciences discovery and commercialization at TMC," says Bill McKeon, president and CEO of TMC, in the release. "Their move to TMC Helix Park will serve as a catalyst for enhanced collaboration with TMC’s other esteemed Institutions, as well as with industry leaders from around the world."

BCM is the first anchor tenant announced for TMC Helix Park. Rendering via TMC.edu

TMC gave an update on TMC3 — now called TMC Helix Park — and introduced a new bioport project. Courtesy of Elkus Manfredi Architects

TMC unveils details of new bioport, Helix Park at annual Greater Houston Partnership event

coming soon

Within the next five to 10 years, the Texas Medical Center you know today will be double the size. That's what Bill McKeon, president and CEO of the TMC, said at yesterday's State of the Texas Medical Center event hosted by the Greater Houston Partnership.

The biggest project contributing to the TMC's growth is TMC3, a campus expansion that will bring 37 acres and 5 million square feet of space to the TMC, is now known as Helix Park. The name is a nod to the shape of the park and walkway design at the center of the campus. The TMC3 Collaborative Building — the first multi-institutional research facility in TMC’s history — will be the first of the project to deliver and is currently under construction and slated for completion in 2023.

However, the big news of the event was the TMC BioPort, the organization's upcoming biomanufacturing and medical supplies distribution engine. This new campus will span several hundred acres just down the road from TMC and will drive the much-needed repatriation of critical medical supplies and new cell and gene therapies, per a news release.

"During COVID, we saw the weakness of our supply chain," McKeon says at the event. "There is a huge effort by this country as a part of national security to make sure drug and vaccine production is moved back into the United States."

The new campus will also have an on-site upskill training center and create over 100,000 new job opportunities.

“Houston is advancing its position as the leading destination for life science discovery,” McKeon says in the release. “Through our holistic, expansive vision, we are building every vital component necessary to advance the largest life science ecosystem in the world.”

As explained at the event, the growing TMC is anchored by four districts: the TMC Medical Campus and the TMC Innovation Factory, which are already fully open and operating for years now, and the upcoming TMC Helix Park and TMC BioPort, which are both underway.


Bill McKeon gave the address at the State of the Texas Medical Center.

TMC3's Collaborative Building has topped out. Image courtesy of Texas Medical Center

First TMC3 Collaborative Building tops out, plans to open next year

medical milestone

Construction of Houston’s 250,000-square-foot TMC3 Collaborative Building has reached a milestone.

Founders of the research facility recently celebrated completion of the uppermost part of the building, known as “topping out.” Construction started in January 2021.

The building is part of the first phase of the TMC3 campus, a 37-acre life science property designed to capitalize on the intersection of medicine and commercialization. Founders of the campus are Texas Medical Center, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

The TMC3 Collaborative Building, set to open in 2023, will promote innovation and collaboration among the founding institutions, as well as with academic, healthcare, and industry partners. A key feature is a 43,000-square-foot research lab that’ll be shared by MD Anderson, Texas A&M Health, and UT Health Houston.

“The topping out of the TMC3 Collaborative Building marks an integral milestone in the future of life science research and innovation and reflects an unprecedented commitment to collaboration among the four founding institutions,” William McKeon, president and CEO of Texas Medical Center, says in a news release. “The lifesaving research and technologies that will come out of this building will truly revolutionize healthcare.”

In addition to the research lab, the building will include:

  • 85,000 square feet of lab and office space for industry partners.
  • 14,200 square feet for Texas Medical Center’s strategic initiatives, the Braidwell investment firm, the TMC Venture Fund, and national venture and equity fund partners.
  • A 7,000-square-foot atrium for lectures, programs, and informal events.

“Houston already has a place on the world stage as a leader in clinical care and life sciences. With the launch of the TMC3 Collaborative Building and larger TMC3 campus, we showcase why our city leads in the areas of innovation and technology,” Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner says. “In the process, we will create opportunities to bring new partners and industry to our city and generate new jobs for the residents of the Greater Houston community.”

For the first time, Accenture hosted its HealthTech Innovation Challenge finals at the Texas Medical Center's Innovation Institute. Photo courtesy of Accenture

2 startups win big at Accenture's ​Houston-based health tech competition

winner, winner

Two health tech companies walked away from Accenture's HealthTech Innovation Challenge with awards. Regionals took place in Boston and San Francisco, and Houston was selected to host the finals last week.

New York-based Capital Rx was selected as the 2020 Innovation Champion of the Accenture HealthTech Innovation Challenge, and Minneapolis-based Carrot Health was given the second-place award for Top Innovator. The program, which was first launched in 2016, aims to pair startups with health organizations to drive innovative solutions to real challenges in health care.

"The submissions we received this year demonstrate the momentum of discovery and digital innovation in healthcare," says Brian Kalis, managing director of digital health and innovation at Accenture, in a news release. "Healthcare organizations continue to advance their digital transformation agendas — enhancing access, affordability, quality and experience to drive innovation that improves the lives of consumers and clinicians. We look forward to working with these companies and others to continue to help advance solutions that address the industry's toughest challenges."

Capital Rx, a pharmacy benefit manager, won for its product, the Clearinghouse ModelSM, which connects pharmacies and employers for a more efficient and transparent way to coordinate prescriptions.

"Receiving the designation as Innovation Champion is a validation of our mission to change the way drugs are priced and administered, and it represents the broad support across the country to transform the antiquated and opaque pricing model for prescription drugs," says AJ Loiacono, CEO of Capital Rx, in the release.

Carrot Health, which took second place, has created algorithms to use consumer data analytics to predict and determine health issues. Its MarketView platform weighs in factors including social, economic, behavior, and environmental information.

"It's been a great opportunity to be with Accenture and a broad spectrum of health care players," says Kurt Waltenbaugh, CEO and founder of Carrot Health, in the release. "Being recognized as the Top Innovator will help us expand our footprint toward our goal to change health and serve every person in the U.S."

A total of 11 finalists pitched in Houston at TMCx on Feb, 6. The other finalists included: San Francisco-based Cleo, Boston-based DynamiCare Health, San Francisco-based InsightRX, United Kingdom-based Lantum, Washington, D.C.-based Mira, Denver-based Orderly Health, New York City-based Paloma Health, St. Louis-based TCARE, and Seattle-based Xealth.

It was the first time the challenge was hosted at the Texas Medical Center, and William F. McKeon, TMC president and CEO, took the stage at the event to share the medical city's vision for the future.

"The opportunity to host the HealthTech Innovation Challenge in Houston for the first time re-enforces our city's prominent and ever-expanding designation as a major hub for healthcare innovation nationwide," McKeon says in the release. "As Texas Medical Center heads into a new era of collaborative healthcare research on our forthcoming TMC3 campus, we look forward to maintaining a fruitful long-term partnership with Accenture."

The Texas Medical Center's CEO, Bill McKeon, ran down a list of exciting updates and innovations from the organization's member institutions at the annual State of the TMC. Photo via tmc.edu

From robots to immunotherapy, TMC talks innovation at its annual address

check up

In the Greater Houston Partnership's annual State of the Texas Medical Center address, TMC CEO Bill McKeon shared a status update of sorts for all the goings on at the largest medical center in the world.

McKeon ran down the list of member institutions to briefly touch base on each organization's innovations and growth. In the address, which took place at the Marriott Marquis on October 31, McKeon discussed exciting construction projects, new accelerator programs, and more. Here are some of the highlights from the presentation.

TMC3 and beyond

The TMC spans 1,400 acres and 50 million square feet of development — and growing. The largest medical city in the world will increase its size by 10 percent in the next two to three years, McKeon says. Here are some updates on each of the ongoing construction projects.

  • TMC3 is underway. The 37-acre research campus is expected to be completed in 2022.
  • CHI St. Luke's McNair Campus is expected to break ground on a new building before the end of the year.
  • Memorial Hermann's Sarofim Building is expected to open in 2020 with 18 stories, 26 new operating rooms, and 144 beds
  • Rice University has moved its synthetic biology program to BioScience Research Collaborative in the TMC.
  • Texas A&M University's EnMed program, which graduates students with a master's in engineering and a MD in four year, has launched. The university's med center building is underway at 1020 Holcombe, and is expected to be completed next May.
  • The University of Houston's new medical school us up and running, and the inaugural class's tuition was completely funded by an anonymous donor.
  • UTHealth's psychiatric hospital is expected to be the largest academic psychiatry hospital in country. The building is under construction and will be completed in 2021.

Building biobridges

In order to grow the TMC's global presence and bring the best innovations from around the world to Houston, McKeon says the organization has expanded its BioBridge partnerships.

The first partnership was with Australia in 2016, before the organization teamed up with the United Kingdom for the second one. Recently, the TMC has entered into its third BioBridge partnership with Denmark.

The partnerships are intended to encourage collaboration, particularly with TMCx. Now, TMCx startups break down from being a third of the companies from around the world, a third from other states in the U.S., and a third being from Texas.

"There's no greater collection of minds, patients, resources to really think about the next innovations in health care," Mckeon says.

Accelerating accelerators

TMCx is celebrating its fifth year and has worked with over 170 companies through its digital health and medical device accelerator programs.

"We're evolving to start to work more closely with our member institutions to understand their specific needs and how we can match novel technologies through them," says Lance Black, associate director of TMCx.

The TMC Innovation Institute supports 12 programs, and three have been introduced just this year.

  • TMCxi: A 40,000-square-foot space to support industry partners, investors, and other service providers that provides subject matter expertise and other resources for entrepreneurs.
  • TMCalpha: Programming for TMC doctors and staff who may have an idea for a new technology or startup.
  • TMC | ACT: An accelerator program for advancing cancer therapeutics and technologies.

Investing in robotics

Earlier this year, TMC announced plans to open a special robotics lab space with ABB Robotics. The space officially opened last month.

"Many of the things we do in our labs require pinpoint accuracy," McKeon says. "Many of the things we do now here are done by humans, but in the future, we have one of the most sophisticated robotics companies in the world thinking about how we can transform our labs."

The lab is just the beginning of ABB's connection to TMC and its member institutions.

Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

Autonomous truck company with Houston routes goes public

on a roll

Kodiak Robotics, a provider of AI-powered autonomous vehicle technology, has gone public through a SPAC merger and has rebranded as Kodiak AI. The company operates trucking routes to and from Houston, which has served as a launchpad for the business.

Privately held Kodiak, founded in 2018, merged with a special purpose acquisition company — publicly held Ares Acquisition Corp. II — to form Kodiak AI, whose stock now trades on the Nasdaq market.

In September, Mountain View, California-based Kodiak and New York City-based Ares disclosed a $145 million PIPE (private investment in public equity) investment from institutional investors to support the business combo. Since announcing the SPAC deal, more than $220 million has been raised for the new Kodiak.

“We believe these additional investments underscore our investors’ confidence in the value proposition of Kodiak’s safe and commercially deployed autonomous technology,” Don Burnette, founder and CEO of Kodiak, said in a news release.

“We look forward to leading the advancement of the commercial trucking and public sector industries,” he added, “and delivering on the exciting value creation opportunities ahead to the benefit of customers and shareholders.”

Last December, Kodiak debuted a facility near George Bush Intercontinental/Houston Airport for loading and loading driverless trucks. Transportation and logistics company Ryder operates the “truckport” for Ryder.

The facility serves freight routes to and from Houston, Dallas and Oklahoma City. Kodiak’s trucks currently operate with or without drivers. Kodiak’s inaugural route launched in 2024 between Houston and Dallas.

One of the companies using Kodiak’s technology is Austin-based Atlas Energy Solutions, which owns and operates four driverless trucks equipped with Kodiak’s driver-as-a-service technology. The trucks pick up fracking sand from Atlas’ Dune Express, a 42-mile conveyor system that carries sand from Atlas’ mine to sites near customers’ oil wells in the Permian Basin.

Altogether, Atlas has ordered 100 trucks that will run on Kodiak’s autonomous technology in an effort to automate Atlas’ supply chain.

Rice University scientists invent new algorithm to fight Alzheimer's

A Seismic Breakthrough

A new breakthrough from researchers at Rice University could unlock the genetic components that determine several human diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

Alzheimer's disease affected 57 million people worldwide in 2021, and cases in the United States are expected to double in the next couple of decades. Despite its prevalence and widespread attention of the condition, the full mechanisms are still poorly understood. One hurdle has been identifying which brain cells are linked to the disease.

For years, it was thought that the cells most linked with Alzheimer's pathology via DNA evidence were microglia, infection-fighting cells in the brain. However, this did not match with actual studies of Alzheimer's patients' brains. It's the memory-making cells in the human brain that are implicated in the pathology.

To prove this link, researchers at Rice, alongside Boston University, developed a computational algorithm called “Single-cell Expression Integration System for Mapping Genetically Implicated Cell Types," or SEISMIC. It allows researchers to zero in on specific neurons linked to Alzheimer's, the first of its kind. Qiliang Lai, a Rice doctoral student and the lead author of a paper on the discovery published in Nature Communications, believes that this is an important step in the fight against Alzheimer's.

“As we age, some brain cells naturally slow down, but in dementia — a memory-loss disease — specific brain cells actually die and can’t be replaced,” said Lai. “The fact that it is memory-making brain cells dying and not infection-fighting brain cells raises this confusing puzzle where DNA evidence and brain evidence don’t match up.”

Studying Alzheimer's has been hampered by the limitations of computational analysis. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) and single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) map small differences in the DNA of Alzheimer's patients. The genetic signal in these studies would often over-emphasize the presence of infection fighting cells, essentially making the activity of those cells too "loud" statistically to identify other factors. Combined with greater specificity in brain regional activity, SEISMIC reduces the data chatter to grant a clearer picture of the genetic component of Alzheimer's.

“We built our SEISMIC algorithm to analyze genetic information and match it precisely to specific types of brain cells,” Lai said. “This enables us to create a more detailed picture of which cell types are affected by which genetic programs.”

Though the algorithm is not in and of itself likely to lead to a cure or treatment for Alzheimer's any time soon, the researchers say that SEISMIC is already performing significantly better than existing tools at identifying important disease-relevant cellular signals more clearly.

“We think this work could help reconcile some contradicting patterns in the data pertaining to Alzheimer’s research,” said Vicky Yao, assistant professor of computer science and a member of the Ken Kennedy Institute at Rice. “Beyond that, the method will likely be broadly valuable to help us better understand which cell types are relevant in different complex diseases.”

---

This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

5 incubators and accelerators fueling the growth of Houston startups

meet the finalists

Houston is home to numerous accelerators and incubators that support founders in pushing their innovative startups and technologies forward.

As part of our 2025 Houston Innovation Awards, the new Incubator/Accelerator of the Year category honors a local incubator or accelerator that is championing and fueling the growth of Houston startups.

Five incubators and accelerators have been named finalists for the 2025 award. They support startups ranging from hard-tech companies to digital health startups.

Read more about these organizations below. Then join us at the Houston Innovation Awards on Nov. 13 at Greentown Labs, when the winner will be unveiled.

Get your tickets now on sale for this exclusive event celebrating Houston Innovation.

Activate

Hard tech incubator Activate supports scientists in "the outset of their entrepreneurial journey." The Houston hub was introduced last year, and joins others in Boston, New York, and Berkley, California—where Activate is headquartered. It named its second Houston cohort this summer.

This year, the incubator grew to include its largest number of concurrent supported fellows, with 88 companies currently being supported nationally. In total, Activate has supported 296 fellows who have created 236 companies. Those companies have raised over $4 billion in follow-on funding, according to Activate. In Houston, it has supported several Innovation Awards finalists, including Solidec, Bairitone Health and Deep Anchor Solutions. It is led locally by Houston Managing Director Jeremy Pitts.

EnergyTech Nexus

Cleantech startup hub EnergyTech Nexus' mission is to accelerate the energy transition by connecting founders, investors and industrial stakeholders and helping to develop transformative companies, known as "thunderlizards."

The hub was founded in 2023 by CEO Jason Ethier, Juliana Garaizar and Nada Ahmed. It has supported startups including Capwell Services, Resollant, Syzygy Plasmonics, Hertha Metals, EarthEn Energy and Solidec—many of which are current or past Innovation Awards finalists. This year Energy Tech Nexus launched its COPILOT Accelerator, powered by Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN²) at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). COPILOT partners with Browning the Green Space, a nonprofit that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the clean energy and climatech sectors. Energy Tech Nexus also launched its Liftoff fundraising program, its Investor Program, and a "strategic ecosystem partnership" with Greentown Labs.

Greentown Labs

Climatetech incubator Greentown Labs offers its community resources and a network to climate and energy innovation startups looking to grow. The collaborative community offers members state-of-the-art prototyping labs, business resources and access to investors and corporate partners. The co-located incubator was first launched in Boston in 2011 before opening in Houston in 2021.

Greentown has seen major changes and activity this year. In February, Greentown announced Georgina Campbell Flatter as its new CEO, along with a new Board of Directors. In July, it announced Lawson Gow as its Head of Houston, a "dedicated role to champion the success of Greentown Houston’s startups and lead Greentown’s next chapter of impact in the region," according to Greentown. It has since announced numerous new partnerships, including those with Energy Tech Nexus, Los Angeles-based software development firm Nominal, to launch the new Industrial Center of Excellence; and Houston-based Shoreless, to launch an AI lab onsite. Greentown Houston has supported 175 startups since its launch in 2021, with 45 joining in the last two years. Those startups include the likes of Hertha Metals, RepAir Carbon, Solidec, Eclipse Energy (formerly GoldH2) and many others.

Healthtech Accelerator (TMCi)

The Healthtech Accelerator, formerly TMCx, focuses on clinical partnerships to improve healthcare delivery and outcomes. Emerging digital health and medical device startups that join the accelerator are connected with a network of TMC hospitals and seasoned advisors that will prepare them for clinical validation, funding and deployment.

The Healthtech Accelerator is part of Texas Medical Center Innovation, which also offers the TMCi Accelerator for Cancer Therapeutics. The Healthtech Accelerator named its 19th, and latest, cohort of 11 companies last month.

Impact Hub Houston

Impact Hub Houston supports early-stage ventures at various stages of development through innovative programs that address pressing societal issues. The nonprofit organization supports social impact startups through mentorship, connections and training opportunities.

There are more than 110 Impact Hubs globally with 24,000-plus members spanning 69 countries, making it one of the world’s largest communities for accelerating entrepreneurial solutions toward the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

---

The Houston Innovation Awards program is sponsored by Houston City College Northwest, Houston Powder Coaters, FLIGHT by Yuengling, and more to be announced soon. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact sales@innovationmap.com.



View All Listings