Rice, MD Anderson receive $1.5 million to further brain cancer research

fresh funding

Rice and MD Anderson scientists are researching new methods for treating brain cancer by overcoming the blood-brain barrier. Photo via Getty Images.

Rice University chemist Han Xiao, who also serves as director of the university’s Synthesis X Center, and cancer biologist Dihua Yu of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center have received a three-year, $1.5 million grant from the Robert J. Kleberg Jr. and Helen C. Kleberg Foundation.

The funding will allow them to continue their research on treating brain metastasis by overcoming the blood-brain barrier, or the BBB, according to a news release.

Brain metastasis is the leading form of brain cancer, with survival rates below 20 percent within a year of diagnosis, according to the National Library of Medicine. It commonly originates from breast, lung and melanoma cancers.

The BBB typically acts as a protective barrier for the brain. However, it prevents most drugs from being able to directly reach the brain. According to Rice, only 2 percent of FDA-approved small molecule drugs can penetrate the BBB, limiting treatment options.

Xiao and Yu’s approach to dealing with the BBB includes a light-induced brain delivery (LIBD) platform. The advanced system employs nanoparticles that are embedded with a near-infrared dye for the transport of therapeutic agents across the BBB. The research will evaluate the LIBD’s ability to improve the delivery of small-molecule drugs and biological therapies. Some therapies have shown potential for reducing cancer growth in laboratory studies, but they have struggled due to limited BBB penetration in animal models.

“Our LIBD platform represents a novel strategy for delivering drugs to the brain with precision and efficiency,” Xiao said in a news release. “This technology could not only improve outcomes for brain metastasis patients but also pave the way for treating other neurological diseases.”

The Kleberg Foundation looks for groundbreaking medical research proposals from leading institutions that focus on “innovative basic and applied biological research that advances scientific knowledge and human health” according to the foundation.

“This research is a testament to the power of collaboration and innovation,” Xiao said in a news release. “Together, we’re pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in treating brain metastasis and beyond.”

Rice launched the Synthesis X Center, or Synth X, last spring. It was born out of what started about eight years ago as informal meetings between Xiao's research group and others from the Baylor College of Medicine’s Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center. It aims to turn fundamental research into clinical applications through collaboration.

“This collaboration builds on the strengths of both research teams,” Xiao said in the release. “By combining SynthX Center's expertise in chemistry with Dr. Yu's expertise in cancer biology and brain metastases, we aim to create a transformative solution.”

From Your Site Articles
Dr. Jenny Chang's cancer research has generated more than $35 million in funding for Houston Methodist. Photo courtesy Houston Methodist

Houston hospital names leading cancer scientist as new academic head

new hire

Houston Methodist Academic Institute has named cancer clinician and scientist Dr. Jenny Chang as its new executive vice president, president, CEO, and chief academic officer.

Chang was selected following a national search and will succeed Dr. H. Dirk Sostman, who will retire in February after 20 years of leadership. Chang is the director of the Houston Methodist Dr. Mary and Ron Neal Cancer Center and the Emily Herrmann Presidential Distinguished Chair in Cancer Research. She has been with Houston Methodist for 15 years.

Over the last five years, Chang has served as the institute’s chief clinical science officer and is credited with strengthening cancer clinical trials. Her work has focused on therapy-resistant cancer stem cells and their treatment, particularly relating to breast cancer.

Her work has generated more than $35 million in funding for Houston Methodist from organizations like the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute, according to the health care system. In 2021, Dr. Mary Neal and her husband Ron Neal, whom the cancer center is now named after, donated $25 million to support her and her team’s research on advanced cancer therapy.

In her new role, Chang will work to expand clinical and translational research and education across Houston Methodist in digital health, robotics and bioengineered therapeutics.

“Dr. Chang’s dedication to Houston Methodist is unparalleled,” Dr. Marc L. Boom, Houston Methodist president and CEO, said in a news release. “She is committed to our mission and to helping our patients, and her clinical expertise, research innovation and health care leadership make her the ideal choice for leading our academic mission into an exciting new chapter.”

Chang is a member of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Stand Up to Cancer Scientific Advisory Council. She earned her medical degree from Cambridge University in England and completed fellowship training in medical oncology at the Royal Marsden Hospital/Institute for Cancer Research. She earned her research doctorate from the University of London.

She is also a professor at Weill Cornell Medical School, which is affiliated with the Houston Methodist Academic Institute.

AccessPath is a novel, affordable, slide-free pathology system that helps surgeons determine if they have completely removed tumors during surgery. Photo via Getty Images

Promising Houston cancer research project wins $18M grant

fresh funding

The Biden-Harris administration is deploying $150 million as a part of its Cancer Moonshot initiative, and a research team led by Rice University is getting a slice of that pie.

AccessPath is a novel, affordable, slide-free pathology system that helps surgeons determine if they have completely removed tumors during surgery. Rebecca Richards-Kortum, a Rice bioengineering professor and director of the Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies, is the lead PI on the project that is receiving up to $18 million over five years from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H).

“Because of its low cost, high speed, and automated analysis, we believe AccessPath can revolutionize real-time surgical guidance, greatly expanding the range of hospitals able to provide accurate intraoperative tumor margin assessment and improving outcomes for all cancer surgery patients,” Richards-Kortum says in a news release.

The project is focused on two types of cancer, breast and head and neck cancer, and Ashok Veeraraghavan, chair of Rice’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a professor of electrical and computer engineering and computer science, is a co-PI and Tomasz Tkaczyk, a professor of bioengineering and electrical and computer engineering at Rice, is also a collaborator on the project.

AccessPath is addressing the challenge surgeons face of identifying the margin where tumor tissue ends and health tissue begins when removing tumors. The project not only hopes to provide a more exact solution but do so in an affordable way.

“Precise margin assessment is key to the oncologic success of any cancer operation,” adds Dr. Ana Paula Refinetti, an associate professor in the Department of Breast Surgical Oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and one of the lead surgeons PIs on the project. “The development of a new low-cost technology that enables immediate margin assessment could transform the landscape of surgical oncology — particularly in low-resource settings, reducing the number of repeat interventions, lowering cancer care costs and improving patient outcomes.”

The project optimizing margin identification with a fast-acting, high-resolution microscope, effective fluorescent stains for dying tumor margins, and artificial intelligence algorithms.

AccessPath is a collaboration between Rice and MD Anderson Cancer Center, other awardees in the grant include the University of Texas Health School of Dentistry, Duke University, Carnegie Mellon University and 3rd Stone Design.

“AccessPath is exactly the kind of life-changing research and health care innovation we are proud to produce at Rice, where we’re committed to addressing and solving the world’s most pressing medical issues,” Ramamoorthy Ramesh, Rice’s executive vice president for research, says in the release. “Partnering with MD Anderson on this vital work underscores the importance of such ongoing collaborations with our neighbors in the world’s largest medical center. I am thrilled for Rebecca and her team; it’s teamwork that makes discoveries like these possible.”

Rebecca Richards-Kortum, a Rice bioengineering professor and director of the Rice360 Institute for Global Health Technologies, is the lead PI on the project. Photo by Jeff Fitlow/Rice University

A new tool being used at Houston Methodist taps into artificial intelligence breast cancer diagnosis. Photo courtesy of Houston Methodist

Houston hospital uses AI to create new breast cancer risk calculator

iBrisk

In the medical field, billions of dollars are wasted each year — about $935 billion, but who's counting? According to a paper published by the JAMA Network, an estimated $75.7 billion to $101.2 billion is wasted through overtreatment. Of the many procedures that can lead to wasted resources, breast cancer biopsies are a major source of overtreatment. Houston Methodist Hospital is using artificial intelligence to create a more efficient and accurate Breast Cancer Risk Calculator, called iBrisk.

Breast cancer is something that plagues the lives of many women, and some men. According to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, one in eight women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.

Women are advised to start having annual mammograms to screen for breast cancer starting at age 40 to try to catch cancer in its earliest stages. With mammograms becoming a standard procedure, the process inevitably leads to more biopsies.

While more biopsies sound like the obvious course of action, Houston Methodist Hospital shares that out of 10,000 women biopsied, less than two will be positive while using the national standard. The result of a negative biopsy? Wasted time, resources, and money, as well as undue worry for the patient.

"It's not just wasteful. . .when you do an unnecessary procedure, you're potentially harming the patient," says Stephen Wong, Ph.D. After a negative biopsy, Dr. Wong explains that patients often begin to show emotional responses like high anxiety and low self-esteem. They often speculate the biopsies are wrong, and that they've had a missed cancer diagnosis by their medical provider.

Dr. Wong estimates that more than 700,000 patients have unnecessary biopsies in the breast cancer category alone.

Spearheading the iBrisk tool, Dr. Wong has found a way to utilize a smarter model than the current system for detecting breast cancer risk.

Hospitals across the country currently use the Breast Imaging Reporting and Database System score (BI-RADS), a system created by the American College of Radiology to determine breast cancer risk and biopsy decision-making.

To expand on BI-RADS data, Dr. Wong used multiple patient data points and AI technology to create the improved system. The iBRISK integrates natural language processing, medical image analysis, and deep learning on multi-modal BI-RADS patient data to make one of three recommendations: biopsy not recommended, consider biopsy, or biopsy recommended.

"While using AI, we try to simulate how the physician thinks," explains Dr. Wong. "The physician looks at different data: imaging, patient clinical data, demographic, history and other social factors. You don't rely on one particular thing."

To create iBrisk, Dr. Wong used 12 to 13 years of BI-RAD data at Houston Methodist Hospital to train the AI using deep learning.

He estimates that more than 80 percent of technical information is in the free text format, meaning unstructured data, in the United States.

"We applied an AI technique called natural language processing, which is using the computer to read the text automatically for us," explains Dr. Wong.

This data extraction tool was also used with imaging of mammogram ultrasounds by applying image analysis computer vision.

iBrisk also deploys deep learning, a machine learning tactic where artificial neural networks, inspired by the human brain, learn from large amounts of data. They determined approximately 100 parameters to analyze, including age, sex, socio-economic data, medical history, and insurance plans. After putting the data points into a deep learning method, the AI reduced the data points to the 20 risk indicators.

Houston Methodist Hospital used an estimated 11,000 cases for training, and then used 2,200 of its own data to test iBrisk. They have even been able to create unbiased independent validation by working with other hospitals like MD Anderson, testing their patients using iBrisk and confirming the results.

The potential of iBrisk to cut costs and contribute to less overtreatment has garnered support with other hospitals around the country. The breast cancer risk calculator is a collaboration with Dr. Jenny Chang of HMCC and breast oncologists at MD Anderson, UT San Antonio, and University of Utah Cancer Center.

While implicit racial bias has become a more prominent issue in the United States, Houston Methodist's iBrisk grants a neutral, unbiased lens. AI isn't immune to racial bias; in fact, computer scientist and founder of the Algorithmic Justice League, Joy Buolamwini, uncovered the large gender and racial biases of AI systems sold by IBM, Amazon and Microsoft in a 2019 article for Time.

With AI's history of racial bias in mind, Dr. Wong set out to create an impartial, fair system. "Our AI data is not sensitive to race. . .it's unbiased," he explains.

Houston Methodist Hospital plans to expand the iBrisk model to other forms of cancer in the future, including its next venture into thyroid and incidental lung nodule screenings.

The AI allows patients to save the stress of getting a biopsy.

"We are very careful to put any drugs or any procedure into clinical workflow until we are very sure you really have to pick this [outcome]," explains Dr. Wong. Using advanced risk detectors like iBrisk allows medical practitioners to make more thorough, informed decisions for patients looking into biopsies.

The categories are broken into low, moderate and high-risk groups. The low-risk groups have seen a 99.8 percent accuracy in results, missing only two cases out of a sample of 1,228. Patients that have fallen into the high-risk groups (leading patients to get a biopsy) have seen an 85.9 percent accuracy, compared to radiology, which is 25 percent accurate according to Dr. Wong.

Dr. Wong notes that patients that fall in the moderate section of the risk assessment can then have a dialogue with their physician to determine if they want to move forward with the biopsy. In the moderate category, there is a 93.4 percent accuracy.

If implemented, iBrisk would be able to reduce 75 percent of unnecessary biopsies, estimates Dr. Wong.

Currently, Houston Methodist Hospital is using AI technology outside of oncology, with the recent release of a tool that can diagnose strokes using a smartphone, announced in Science Daily. The tool, which can diagnose abnormalities in a patient's speech and facial muscular movements, was made in collaboration with Dr. Jay Volpi of Eddy Scullock Stroke Center at Houston Methodist Hospital.

"We are answering bigger questions," explains Dr. Wong, who looks forward to continuing to expand AI capabilities and risk calculators at Houston Methodist Hospital.

In the future, Dr. Wong looks forward to doing a multicenter trial to bring this technology outside of Texas.

Texans see need for telemedicine amid the pandemic, Liftoff Houston has launched applications, ChipMonk Bakery is growing, and more of the latest Houston innovation news. Getty Images

Startups raise funds, Houston biz contest opens apps, and more innovation news

Short stories

From health-conscious cookies reaching fundraising goals to a Houston-wide business competition, the Bayou City's innovation news is pretty diverse.

In InnovationMap's latest roundup of startup and tech short stories, there's everything from telemedicine, fundraising, and more.

Houston baking startup raises money after finding its new home

ChipMonk Baking Company, a consumer packaged goods startup focused on healthy dessert options, has met its goal of $150,000. Photo courtesy of ChipMonk

Houston-based ChipMonk Baking Company, which recently found a new home in a new dedicated production facility, has reached its goal on its investment round on NextSeed.

ChipMonk, which was founded last year to create sweets that use sweeteners monk fruit and allulose for health-conscious consumers, will soon operate in a 2,300-square-foot space at 3042 Antoine Dr. The space is strictly for baking, storage, etc. and will not have a storefront.

Co-founders Jose Hernandez and David Downing have seen a spike in demand since the start of the pandemic, which increased the need to upgrade from shared kitchen space.

"The stay-at-home environment has encouraged many people to think more about their health and to start cooking and baking more at home. We've been able to offer a delicious option that fits perfectly in this growing trend," says Downing, who also serves as CEO.

ChipMonk's lease begins next month, and, to fund its growth plans, the company launched a its campaign on NextSeed. In just a couple weeks, the startup met its fundraising goal of $150,000.

Cancer nonprofit moves into new space

The Rose has a new facility to better serve patients. Photos courtesy of The Rose

The Rose, a Houston-based breast cancer nonprofit that provides medical services to 40,000 patients annually, has moved into its new space at 6575 West Loop South, suite 275, in May.

"We know this location will allow us to better serve our community," says Dorothy Gibbons, co-founder and CEO of The Rose, in a news release. "During this time of the pandemic, we've added so many safety precautions and will continue to space appointments to allow social distancing. Most of all we want our patients to feel safe and welcome from the moment they walk through our door."

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, data reports have shown a drop in routine health care, like cervical and breast cancer screenings. Gibbons says the drop in these appointments is concerning and those who postpone routine screening or diagnostic testing could be at risk for developing later stage breast cancer.

"Our message to our patients is breast cancer is not going to wait until this pandemic is over; neither should you. With the projected increase in uninsured women, due to so many job losses, The Rose has to be ready to serve. Now more than ever, we depend on our insured patients to help cover the care for uninsured patients," she says.

Houston business competition opens applications

Small businesses in Houston have until August 10 to apply for the annual Liftoff Houston competition. Photo via liftoffhouston.smapply.org

The city of houston's annual business plan competition, Liftoff Houston, has opened applications. The program, which is sponsored by Capital One Bank, is looking for companies and will award winners in three categories: Product, service, and innovation

Each business that wins will receive a $10,000 cash prize. The competition is focused on early stage startups with revenue less than $10,000 and must have only been in business for less than a year. The companies also must be based in Houston.

Applicants can submit their information online to be considered for the contest. The deadline to apply is August 10.

TMCx company closes $1.53 million seed round

Manatee

Manatee has raised funds for its digital therapy platform. Photo via getmanatee.com

Manatee, a health tech startup based in Denver that was a member of this year's TMCx cohort, has announced it closed its seed funding round at $1.53 million. The company, which provides digital solutions to therapy for children, closed the round at the end of June.

Michigan-based Grand Ventures led the raise and invested alongside The American Family Insurance Institute (AmFam), Telosity, SpringTime Ventures, and notable health care entrepreneurs, Danish Munir, Luke Leninger, and Johnathan Weiner, according to information emailed by Manatee representative.

"Manatee was the first solution we found that really understood kids and their unique needs," says Christopher Neuharth, executive director of digital health and experience at Children's Wisconsin. "They got the dynamics between the child, parent, and therapist – and how to influence behavior change."

Accenture study finds COVID-19 has been a gamechanger for telemedicine

Houston medical organizations pivot to telemedicine and remote care amid COVID-19 crisis

An Accenture study found that most Texans are seeking telehealth amid the pandemic. Getty Images

According to a recent study from Accenture, 89 percent of Texas consumers want telehealth options — and the COVID-19 pandemic deserves the credit for the increased interest.

According to a press release from the company, the research found that:

  • One-fourth of Texans surveyed said they first learned about virtual health care following the outbreak of COVID-19.
  • The number of Texans who said they know a little or a lot about virtual health care increased 25 percent following the outbreak.
  • Approximately nine in 10 Texans surveyed after the pandemic began believe that virtual care options should be available to everyone.

The widespread stay-at-home orders exposed Texans to virtual health care and left a positive impression on receiving care remotely. For instance:

  • An estimated 4.5 million state residents began using virtual health care services since the onset of the pandemic.
  • Nearly half (45 percent) of Texans said they trust a virtual health visit as much as or more than an in-person visit—a 15 percent uptick from the pre-pandemic period.
  • Six out of seven remote-care patients (86 percent) who have continued to use virtual care options during the pandemic said their experience after the start of the COVID-19 outbreak was better or the same as before, and three-quarters (76 percent) said their wait time was shorter or the same.

"A lot of Texans got a taste for what it's like to see their physicians and specialists from the safety and comfort of their home," says Mark Olney, a managing director in Accenture's health practice and the study's lead author. "Now patients are eager to get more of that access, convenience and time savings."

Breakthrough research on metastatic breast cancer, a new way to turn toxic pollutants into valuable chemicals, and an evolved brain tumor chip are three cancer-fighting treatments coming out of Houston. Getty Inages

These 3 Houston research projects are aiming to fight or prevent cancer

Research roundup

Cancer remains to be one of the medical research community's huge focuses and challenges, and scientists in Houston are continuing to innovate new treatments and technologies to make an impact on cancer and its ripple effect.

Three research projects coming out of Houston institutions are providing solutions in the fight against cancer — from ways to monitor treatment to eliminating cancer-causing chemicals in the first place.

Baylor College of Medicine's breakthrough in breast cancer

Photo via bcm.edu

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Harvard Medical School have unveiled a mechanism explains how "endocrine-resistant breast cancer acquires metastatic behavior," according to a news release from BCM. This research can be game changing for introducing new therapeutic strategies.

The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and shows that hyperactive FOXA1 signaling — previously reported in endocrine-resistant metastatic breast cancer — can trigger genome-wide reprogramming that enhances resistance to treatment.

"Working with breast cancer cell lines in the laboratory, we discovered that FOXA1 reprograms endocrine therapy-resistant breast cancer cells by turning on certain genes that were turned off before and turning off other genes," says Dr. Xiaoyong Fu, assistant professor of molecular and cellular biology and part of the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center at Baylor, in the release.

"The new gene expression program mimics an early embryonic developmental program that endow cancer cells with new capabilities, such as being able to migrate to other tissues and invade them aggressively, hallmarks of metastatic behavior."

Patients whose cancer is considered metastatic — even ones that initially responded to treatment — tend to relapse and die due to the cancer's resistance to treatment. This research will allow for new conversations around therapeutic treatment that could work to eliminate metastatic cancer.

University of Houston's evolved brain cancer chip

Photo via uh.edu

A biomedical research team at the University of Houston has made improvements on its microfluidic brain cancer chip. The Akay Lab's new chip "allows multiple-simultaneous drug administration, and a massive parallel testing of drug response for patients with glioblastoma," according to a UH news release. GBM is the most common malignant brain tumor and makes up half of all cases. Patients with GBM have a five-year survival rate of only 5.6 percent.

"The new chip generates tumor spheroids, or clusters, and provides large-scale assessments on the response of these GBM tumor cells to various concentrations and combinations of drugs. This platform could optimize the use of rare tumor samples derived from GBM patients to provide valuable insight on the tumor growth and responses to drug therapies," says Metin Akay, John S. Dunn Endowed Chair Professor of Biomedical Engineering and department chair, in the release.

Akay's team published a paper in the inaugural issue of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society's Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology. The report explains how the technology is able to quickly assess how well a cancer drug is improving its patients' health.

"When we can tell the doctor that the patient needs a combination of drugs and the exact proportion of each, this is precision medicine," Akay explains in the release.

Rice University's pollution transformation technology

Photo via rice.edu

Rice University engineers have developed a way to get rid of cancer-causing pollutants in water and transform them into valuable chemicals. A team lead by Michael Wong and Thomas Senftle has created this new catalyst that turns nitrate into ammonia. The study was published in the journal ACS Catalysis.

"Agricultural fertilizer runoff is contaminating ground and surface water, which causes ecological effects such as algae blooms as well as significant adverse effects for humans, including cancer, hypertension and developmental issues in babies," says Wong, professor and chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in Rice's Brown School of Engineering, in a news release. "I've been very curious about nitrogen chemistry, especially if I can design materials that clean water of nitrogen compounds like nitrites and nitrates."

The ability to transform these chemicals into ammonia is crucial because ammonia-based fertilizers are used for global food supplies and the traditional method of creating ammonia is energy intensive. Not only does this process eliminate that energy usage, but it's ridding the contaminated water of toxic chemicals.

"I'm excited about removing nitrite, forming ammonia and hydrazine, as well as the chemistry that we figured out about how all this happens," Wong says in the release. "The most important takeaway is that we learned how to clean water in a simpler way and created chemicals that are more valuable than the waste stream."

Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

Houston climbs to top 10 spot on North American tech hubs index

tech report

Houston already is the Energy Capital of the World, and now it’s gaining ground as a tech hub.

On Site Selection magazine’s 2026 North American Tech Hub Index, Houston jumped to No. 10 from No. 16 last year. The index relies on data from Site Selection as well as data from CBRE, CompTIA and TeleGeography to rank the continent’s tech hotspots. The index incorporates factors such as internet connectivity, tech talent and facility projects for tech companies.

In 2023, the Greater Houston Partnership noted the region had “begun to receive its due as a prominent emerging tech hub, joining the likes of San Francisco and Austin as a major player in the sector, and as a center of activity for the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs.”

The Houston-area tech sector employs more than 230,000 people, according to the partnership, and generates an economic impact of $21.2 billion.

Elsewhere in Texas, two other metros fared well on the Site Selection index:

  • Dallas-Fort Worth nabbed the No. 1 spot, up from No. 2 last year.
  • Austin rose from No. 8 last year to No. 7 this year.

San Antonio slid from No. 18 in 2025 to No. 22 in 2026, however.

Two economic development officials in DFW chimed in about the region’s No. 1 ranking on the index:

  • “This ranking affirms what we’ve long seen on the ground — Dallas-Fort Worth is a top-tier technology and innovation center,” said Duane Dankesreiter, senior vice president of research and innovation at the Dallas Regional Chamber. “Our region’s scale, talent base, and diverse strengths … continue to set DFW apart as a national leader.”
  • “Being recognized as the top North American tech hub underscores the strength of the entire Dallas-Fort Worth region as a center of innovation and next-generation technology,” said Robert Allen, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership.

While not directly addressing Austin’s Site Selection ranking, Thom Singer, CEO of the Austin Technology Council, recently pondered whether Silicon Hills will grow “into the kind of community that other cities study for the right reasons.”

“Austin tech is not a club. It is not a scene. It is not a hashtag, a happy hour, or any one place or person,” Singer wrote on the council’s blog. “Austin tech is an economic engine and a global brand, built by thousands of people who decided to take a risk, build something, hire others, and be part of a community that is still young enough to reinvent itself.”

South of Austin, Port San Antonio is driving much of that region’s tech activity. Occupied by more than 80 employers, the 1,900-acre tech and innovation campus was home to 18,400 workers in 2024 and created a local economic impact of $7.9 billion, according to a study by Zenith Economics.

“Port San Antonio is a prime example of how innovation and infrastructure come together to strengthen [Texas’] economy, support thousands of good jobs, and keep Texas competitive on the global stage,” said Kelly Hancock, the acting state comptroller.

14 Houston startups starting 2026 with fresh funding

cha-ching

Houston startups closed out the last half of 2025 with major funding news.

Here are 14 Houston companies—from groundbreaking energy leaders to growing space startups—that secured funding in the last six months of the year, according to reporting by InnovationMap and our sister site, EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

Did we miss a funding round? Let us know by emailing innoeditor@innovationmap.com.

Fervo Energy

Fervo Energy has closed an oversubscribed Series E. Photo via Fervo Energy

Houston-based geothermal energy company Fervo Energy closed an oversubscribed $462 million series E funding round, led by new investor B Capital, in December.

The company also secured $205.6 million from three sources in June.

“Fervo is setting the pace for the next era of clean, affordable, and reliable power in the U.S.,” Jeff Johnson, general partner at B Capital, said in a news release.

The funding will support the continued buildout of Fervo’s Utah-based Cape Station development, which is slated to start delivering 100 MW of clean power to the grid beginning in 2026. Cape Station is expected to be the world's largest next-generation geothermal development, according to Fervo. The development of several other projects will also be included in the new round of funding. Continue reading.

Square Robot

Houston robotics co. unveils new robot that can handle extreme temperatures

Square Robot's technology eliminates the need for humans to enter dangerous and toxic environments. Photo courtesy of Square Robot

Houston- and Boston-based Square Robot Inc. announced a partnership with downstream and midstream energy giant Marathon Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: MPC) last month.

The partnership came with an undisclosed amount of funding from Marathon, which Square Robot says will help "shape the design and development" of its submersible robotics platform and scale its fleet for nationwide tank inspections. Continue reading.

Eclipse Energy

Eclipse Energy and Weatherford International are expected to launch joint projects early this year. Photo courtesy of Eclipse Energy.

Oil and gas giant Weatherford International (NASDAQ: WFRD) made a capital investment for an undisclosed amount in Eclipse Energy in December as part of a collaborative partnership aimed at scaling and commercializing Eclipse's clean fuel technology.

According to a release, joint projects from the two Houston-based companies are expected to launch as soon as this month. The partnership aims to leverage Weatherford's global operations with Eclipse Energy's pioneering subsurface biotechnology that converts end-of-life oil fields into low-cost, sustainable hydrogen sources. Continue reading.

Venus Aerospace 

Lockheed Martin Ventures says it's committed to helping Houston-based Venus Aerospace scale its technology. Photo courtesy Venus Aerospace

Venus Aerospace, a Houston-based startup specializing in next-generation rocket engine propulsion, has received funding from Lockheed Martin Ventures, the investment arm of aerospace and defense contractor Lockheed Martin, for an undisclosed amount, the company announced in November. The product lineup at Lockheed Martin includes rockets.

The investment follows Venus’ successful high-thrust test flight of its rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) in May. Venus says it’s the only company in the world that makes a flight-proven, high-thrust RDRE with a “clear path to scaled production.”

Venus says the Lockheed Martin Ventures investment reflects the potential of Venus’ dual-use technology for defense and commercial uses. Continue reading.

Koda Health

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 in October.

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, according to a news release.

The company shared that the series A "marks a pivotal moment," as it has secured investments from influential leaders in the healthcare and venture capital space. Continue reading.

Hertha Metals

U.S. Rep. Morgan Luttrell, a Magnolia Republican, and Hertha Metals founder and CEO Laureen Meroueh toured Hertha’s Conroe plant in August. Photo courtesy Hertha Metals/Business Wire.

Conroe-based Hertha Metals, a producer of substantial steel, hauled in more than $17 million in venture capital from Khosla Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Fellows, Pear VC, Clean Energy Ventures and other investors.

The money was put toward the construction and the launch of its 1-metric-ton-per-day pilot plant in Conroe, where its breakthrough in steelmaking has been undergoing tests. The company uses a single-step process that it claims is cheaper, more energy-efficient and equally as scalable as conventional steelmaking methods. The plant is fueled by natural gas or hydrogen.

The company, founded in 2022, plans to break ground early this year on a new plant. The facility will be able to produce more than 9,000 metric tons of steel per year. Continue reading.

Helix Earth Technologies, Resilitix Intelligence and Fluxworks Inc.

Helix Earth's technology is estimated to save up to half of the net energy used in commercial air conditioning, reducing both emissions and costs for operators. Photo via Getty Images

Houston-based Helix Earth Technologies, Resilitix Intelligence and Fluxworks Inc. each secured $1.2 million in federal funding through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II grant program this fall.

The three grants from the National Scienve foundation officially rolled out in early September 2025 and are expected to run through August 2027, according to the NSF. The SBIR Phase II grants support in-depth research and development of ideas that showed potential for commercialization after receiving Phase I grants from government agencies.

However, congressional authority for the program, often called "America's seed fund," expired on Sept. 30, 2025, and has stalled since the recent government shutdown. Continue reading.

Solidec Inc. (pre-seed)

7 innovative startups that are leading the energy transition in Houston

Houston-based Solidec was founded around innovations developed by Rice University associate professor Haotian Wang (far left). Photo courtesy Greentown Labs.

Solidec, a Houston startup that specializes in manufacturing “clean” chemicals, raised more than $2 million in pre-seed funding in August.

Houston-based New Climate Ventures led the oversubscribed pre-seed round, with participation from Plug and Play Ventures, Ecosphere Ventures, the Collaborative Fund, Safar Partners, Echo River Capital and Semilla Climate Capital, among other investors. Continue reading.

Molecule

Sameer Soleja is the founder and CEO of Molecule, which just closed its series B round. Photo courtesy of Molecule Software.

Houston-based energy trading risk management (ETRM) software company Molecule completed a successful series B round for an undisclosed amount, according to a July 16 release from the company.

The raise was led by Sundance Growth, a California-based software growth equity firm. Sameer Soleja, founder and CEO of Molecule, said in the release that the funding will allow the company to "double down on product innovation, grow our team, and reach even more markets." Continue reading.

Rarefied Studios, Solidec Inc. and Affekta

Houston startups were named among the nearly 300 recipients that received a portion of $44.85 million from NASA to develop space technology this fall. Photo via NASA/Ben Smegelsky

Houston-based Rarefied Studios, Solidec Inc. and Affekta were granted awards from NASA this summer 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 received $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. Continue reading.

Intuitive Machines 

Intuitive Machines expects to begin manufacturing and flight integration on its orbital transfer vehicle as soon as 2026. Photo courtesy Intuitive Machines.

Houston-based Intuitive Machines secured a $9.8 million Phase II government contract for its orbital transfer vehicle in July.

The contract was expected to push the project through its Critical Design Review phase, which is the final engineering milestone before manufacturing can begin, according to a news release from the company. Intuitive Machines reported that it expected to begin manufacturing and flight integration for its orbital transfer vehicle as soon as this year, once the design review is completed.

The non-NASA contract is for an undisclosed government customer, which Intuitive Machines says reinforces its "strategic move to diversify its customer base and deliver orbital capabilities that span commercial, civil, and national security space operations." Continue reading.

NRG inks new virtual power plant partnership to meet surging energy demands

Powering Up

Houston-based NRG Energy recently announced a new long-term partnership with San Francisco-based Sunrun that aims to meet Texas’ surging energy demands and accelerate the adoption of home battery storage in Texas. The partnership also aligns with NRG’s goal of developing a 1-gigawatt virtual power plant by connecting thousands of decentralized energy sources by 2035.

Through the partnership, the companies will offer Texas residents home energy solutions that pair Sunrun’s solar-plus-storage systems with optimized rate plans and smart battery programming through Reliant, NRG’s retail electricity provider. As new customers enroll, their stored energy can be aggregated and dispatched to the ERCOT grid, according to a news release.

Additionally, Sunrun and NRG will work to create customer plans that aggregate and dispatch distributed power and provide electricity to Texas’ grid during peak periods.

“Texas is growing fast, and our electricity supply must keep pace,” Brad Bentley, executive vice president and president of NRG Consumer, said in the release. “By teaming up with Sunrun, we’re unlocking a new source of dispatchable, flexible energy while giving customers the opportunity to unlock value from their homes and contribute to a more resilient grid

Participating Reliant customers will be paid for sharing their stored solar energy through the partnership. Sunrun will be compensated for aggregating the stored capacity.

“This partnership demonstrates the scale and strength of Sunrun’s storage and solar distributed power plant assets,” Sunrun CEO Mary Powell added in the release. “We are delivering critical energy infrastructure that gives Texas families affordable, resilient power and builds a reliable, flexible power plant for the grid.”

In December, Reliant also teamed up with San Francisco tech company GoodLeap to bolster residential battery participation and accelerate the growth of NRG’s virtual power plant network in Texas.

In 2024, NRG partnered with California-based Renew Home to distribute hundreds of thousands of VPP-enabled smart thermostats by 2035 to help households manage and lower their energy costs. At the time, the company reported that its 1-gigawatt VPP would be able to provide energy to 200,000 homes during peak demand.

---

This article originally appeared on EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

View All Listings