Houston energy company exits, 3 recent investments from local fund, and more innovation news

Short stories

From a Houston startup exit to the growth of a Rice University startup, here's the short stories of Houston innovation news you may have missed. Pexels

Houston's innovation ecosystem has been booming with news, and it's likely some might have fallen through the cracks.

For this roundup of short stories within Houston innovation, Texas Halo Fund makes three new investments, a Houston energy company exits, a growing Rice University startup gets grants, and more.

Octopus Energy acquires Houston-founded Evolve Energy

The $5 million deal means a new focus on Texas for the new parent company. Photo via evolvemyenergy.com

London-based renewable energy company Octopus Energy announced that it's acquired Houston-founded Evolve Energy in a $5 million deal, which represents Octopus's $100 million expansion into the United States market.

Octopus, which reached Unicorn status with a $1 billion valuation in April, will start its expansion in Texas, according to a news release, operating under the new name Octopus Energy US. Evolve Energy, which was founded in 2018 by Michael Lee, is a Texas-based Capital Factory portfolio company and finished first place in the 2019 EarthX startup competition. The company also has a Silicon Valley office, in addition to its local operation in Houston's Galleria area.

"Octopus Energy is inspirational in growing a customer base of over 1 million households in just four years. It has done so while also achieving customer satisfaction scores similar to Netflix and Amazon. It matches our aspiration for innovation and we're thrilled to be part of the Octopus family," says Lee in the release. "The US energy market is rapidly moving towards ultra-low cost renewable energy and is prime for a true digital transformation."

Texas Halo Fund makes three new investments

Texas Money

Here are the three latest investments from Texas Halo Fund. Getty Images

Houston-based Texas Halo Fund has made three recent investments in August and September.

  • Nexus AI, based in Chicago, the workforce management tech company uses artificial intelligence and organizational behavioral science to predict the best teams or individuals for a project on the startup's cloud-based platform.
  • Rellevate is a Connecticut-based digital fintech company that optimizes employer-based digital account and financial services.
  • MFB Fertility, a Colorado company, has created game-changing at-home test stripts for assaying the hormone progesterone branded as Proov.

Rice University program seeking data projects

The Rice D2K Lab wants to help startups and small businesses solve business concerns with data science. Photo courtesy of Rice

Adata-focused lab at Rice University is seeking data challenges for its group of next generation of data scientists to solve. The Rice D2K Lab is looking for sponsors for its Rice D2K Capstone project in Spring 2021. Rice's D2K Capstone program forms interdisciplinary teams of advanced undergraduate and graduate students to solve pressing real-world data science challenges. The program is accepting project proposals for the Spring 2021 semester through Monday, October 19.

Click here to learn more about the program, and click here to get involved.

California startup joins Chevron's Catalyst Program

CTV has a new startup in its Catalyst Program. Photo via Getty Images

Houston-based Chevron Technology Ventures announced that Oakland, California-based Brimstone Energy Inc. has joined CTV's Catalyst Program to continue its development of its decarbonization platform, which focuses on the generation of low-emissions hydrogen, as well as various commodity products, according to a release.

"Brimstone Energy is excited to be supported by Chevron, a multi-national industrial company," says Cody Finke, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Brimstone Energy, in the release. "It is good to see Chevron continue to back companies with decarbonization in their mission."

Rice University-born startup racks up $12.5 million in grants

OpenStax is growing its access to free online textbooks. Image via openstax.org

Rice University's OpenStax is able to greatly expand its library of free online textbooks thanks to new grants totaling $12.5 million. The funds derive from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Charles Koch Foundation and the Stand Together community, according to a press release from Rice.

The new funds will more than double OpenStax's files from 42 books to 90. Already, the platform has saved 14 million students around the world more than $1 billion.

"Nine years ago, we dreamed about solving the textbook affordability and access crisis for students," says Richard Baraniuk, the Victor E. Cameron Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice and founder and director of OpenStax, in the release. "Now, with this tremendous investment in open education, we will be able to not only accelerate educational access for tens of millions of students but also drive innovation in high-quality digital learning, which has become commonplace due to COVID-19."

OpenStax is planning to raise $30 million for continued library expansion as it aims to lower the barrier to higher education.

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Tech giant Apple opens Advanced Manufacturing Center at massive Houston facility

up and running

Cupertino, California-based Apple Inc. unveiled its Advanced Manufacturing Center in the Houston area last week, marking the completion of the second of three facilities the tech giant plans to launch in the city by the end of this year.

The 20,000-square-foot training center will welcome small- and medium-sized businesses for free training and educational sessions to "help accelerate smart manufacturing across America," according to a release from Apple. Apple opened a similar Apple Manufacturing Academy in Detroit last year.

The AMC is part of Apple's 500,000-square-foot site in northwest Harris County. It also features a massive manufacturing site for Apple’s advanced AI servers and Mac mini. The facility was originally slated to open in 2026, but Apple began producing its advanced AI servers ahead of schedule in 2025.

The company said it plans to begin manufacturing its Mac mini at the site this year. The move will bring production of the compact desktop computer to the U.S. for the first time.

“In less than nine months, we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into this Houston facility. We stood up a factory, started production, and shipped the first advanced AI servers off the line. Today, we’re thrilled to open our new Advanced Manufacturing Center, a place where businesses, workers, and students can learn the same innovative processes that we use to make Apple’s most groundbreaking products. And we’re pleased to begin Mac mini production later this year,” Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, said in the news release. “We believe in American workers and American ingenuity, and we are moving at an incredible pace because we want to build more than great products. We want to build the future of American manufacturing.”

Apple's Advanced Manufacturing Center. Photos courtesy Apple

Apple's Houston expansion is part of a $600 billion commitment the company made to the U.S. in 2025.

The company originally announced plans in February 2025 to open a 250,000-square-foot Houston factory, but doubled the facility's planned size about a year later. Apple has reported that the factory will employ thousands of workers.

“Houston is grateful to Apple for this significant investment in our city. The Advanced Manufacturing Center will create local jobs and will continue improving the quality of life of Houston residents," Houston Mayor John Whitmire added in the release. "The AMC also recognizes our city as a growing technology hub and solidifies Houston’s leadership in the manufacturing sector of the United States.”

The opening comes on the heels of New Jersey-based pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb Co. officially naming Houston home of its new $2.3 billion, state-of-the-art manufacturing site. Read more here.

Nominations for the 2026 Houston Innovation Awards are due by Aug. 27

Calling All Innovators

Calling all Houston innovators: The 2026 Houston Innovation Awards, presented by InnovationMap, return this fall to celebrate the best and brightest in the Houston innovation ecosystem right now.

We're asking you to nominate Houston's top innovators and startups for this year's awards. Nominations are open now through August 27 and can be made on behalf of yourself, your organization, and other influential leaders in the local innovation scene.

The annual awards program recognizes the most innovative individuals and companies in Houston across 10 prestigious categories.

This year's awards will honor the following categories:

  • Minority-founded Business, honoring an innovative startup founded or co-founded by BIPOC or LGBTQ+ representation.
  • Female-founded Business, honoring an innovative startup founded or co-founded by a woman.
  • Energy Transition Business, honoring an innovative startup providing a solution within renewables, climatetech, clean energy, alternative materials, circular economy, and beyond.
  • Health Tech Business, honoring an innovative startup within the health and medical technology sectors.
  • Deep Tech Business, honoring an innovative startup providing technology solutions based on substantial scientific or engineering challenges, including those in the AI, robotics, and space sectors.
  • Startup of the Year (People's Choice), honoring a startup celebrating a recent milestone or success. The winner will be selected by the community via an interactive voting experience.
  • Scaleup of the Year, honoring an innovative later-stage startup that's recently reached a significant milestone in company growth.
  • Incubator/Accelerator of the Year, honoring a local incubator or accelerator that is championing and fueling the growth of Houston startups.
  • Mentor of the Year, honoring an individual who dedicates their time and expertise to guide and support budding entrepreneurs.
  • Trailblazer, honoring an innovator who's made a lasting impact on the Houston innovation community.

You have three weeks to submit nominees, so don't delay — nominate today at this link or fill out the form below. Qualified nominees will receive a formal application to complete, which will be reviewed by our esteemed panel of judges to determine the finalists and winners.

More announcements about the 2026 Houston Innovation Awards are coming soon, including an introduction to this year's panel of judges. Interested in sponsoring the 2026 Houston Innovation Awards? Please contact sales@innovationmap.com.

$5B MD Anderson-anchored Austin medical center to break ground this fall

moving forward

Construction on the $1 billion first phase of the AI-native University of Texas Dell Medical Center in Austin—which will feature a hospital operated by Houston’s UT MD Anderson Cancer Center—is set to start this fall.

The UT System Board of Regents approved funding for first-phase construction on Aug. 12.

The medical center—now expected to cost $5 billion, up from the initial $2.9 billion estimate—will span about 2.5 million square feet. It will include 300 to 500 patient beds, outpatient facilities, an emergency department and specialized care for cancer patients.

MD Anderson will bring its world-renowned oncology programs to the center’s integrated health care model, Dr. Claudia Lucchinetti, senior vice president of medical affairs at UT Austin and dean of the university’s Dell Medical School, tells Health Leaders.

Earlier this year, Austin tech billionaire Michael Dell and his wife, Susan, pledged $750 million for development of the medical center. The medical center, scheduled for completion in December 2030, will be a cornerstone of the new 300-acre UT Dell Campus for Advanced Research, a medical education and research hub.

“Through this new campus and medical center, Texas will lead America in health care innovation,” Gov. Greg Abbott said when the research campus was announced in April. “The next generation of medical breakthroughs will take place in Central Texas.”

The medical center will fold AI tools and other technology into the infrastructure, rather than having them added after it’s built. Among other capabilities, the technology will monitor real-time medical data, automate data entry, and help health care professionals quickly predict and identify risks to patients, according to Health Leaders.

“We are not just building a new medical center,” Lucchinetti says. “We are building a fundamentally new model of health. It’s not just a new facility. It’s not just a new collaboration. It is a convergence of capabilities that rarely come together at the same time.”

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