4 program deadlines Houston innovators should know about

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Houston founders — these four programs have applications open now. Photo via Getty Images

Editor's note: It's safe to say 2023 has fully kicked off as Houston's startup and innovation ecosystem has switched into second gear. A handful of programs — local and national — have opened applications for accelerators and pitch competitions. Scroll through to find one that applies to your company or a startup you know of. Take careful note of the deadlines since they'll be here before you know it.

Is something missing? Email natalie@innovationmap.com for editorial consideration.

Carbon to Value Initiative

Greentown Labs announced its looking for innovative companies with carbon-related technology. Photo via GreentownLabs.com

Greentown Labs announced that its Carbon to Value (C2V) Initiative has opened applications for its third set of startups.

"Supported by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, the C2V Initiative is a unique partnership among the Urban Future Lab at NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Greentown Labs, and Fraunhofer USA that’s driving the creation of a thriving innovation ecosystem for the commercialization of carbontech—technologies that capture and convert CO₂ into valuable end products or services," reads the news release. "Since the C2V Initiative's inception in 2020, the program has supported 18 groundbreaking carbontech startups—chosen from an exceptional pool of more than 230 applications."

The program is looking for companies with technologies within carbon capture, management, removal, or conversion and between TRL 4 and TRL 7. Selected companies will receive a $10,000 stipend and participate in the six-month program.

Applications are due by the end of the day on March 31. For more information and to apply, click here.

MassChallenge accelerators

MassChallenge has two accelerators open for applications. Photo courtesy of MassChallenge

MassChallenge has two programs with open applications:

MassChallenge US Early Stage Accelerator (Deadline: March 3)

This three-month program is industry agnostic and provides intensive support, guidance, tools, and connectivity to the greater MassChallenge community. Around 200 startups are selected per cohort that range in stage from those currently engaged in customer discovery work to validating a technology or service. For more information and to apply, click here.

MassChallenge HealthTech Accelerator (Deadline: February 6)

The 2023 HealthTech Sprint is an eight-week program intended to work intensely with 20 to 25 startups to accelerate the tools and technologies that could transform healthcare. The HealthTech Sprint program is designed to support mid-stage companies that possess a product/solution ready for scaling. For more information and to apply, click here.

Houston Energy Transition Initiative's Energy Ventures Pitch Competition

HETI is bringing back its CERAWeek pitch competition. Image via houston.org

The Greater Houston Partnership's Houston Energy Transition Initiative, or HETI, is looking for participants for its Energy Ventures Pitch Competition at CERAWeek this year.

"This pitch competition brings together key members of the energy industry, investors, and startups to showcase the critical innovations and emerging technologies that create value from the world’s transition to low-carbon energy systems," reads the website.

HETI is looking for companies addressing challenges and opportunities in CCUS, hydrogen, energy storage, and the circular economy, are invited to present their well-developed business concepts to a world-class investor community.

Applications close February 9. For more information and to apply, click here.

Rice Business Plan Competition

The annual Rice Business Plan Competition has opened applications for student startups. Photo by Natalie Harms

Calling all student-founded startups — the largest and richest intercollegiate student startup competition, the Rice Business Plan Competition, has applications open. According to Rice, 784 RBPC alumni have raised $4.6 billion in funding and created over 5,500 jobs. This year's event is going to be held May 11 to 13.

The RBPC is open to all students from any university around the world. Teams must include at least one graduate-level student, and every team that is invited to compete in person at Rice University is guaranteed to take home at least one of the more that 60 expected cash prizes. For more information and to apply, click here.

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Rice Business Plan Competition doles out $2M to 2025 student teams

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Celebrating its 25th year, the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship hosted the celebrated Rice Business Plan Competition this month, doling out more than $2 million in investment and cash prizes to the top-performing teams.

“For 25 years, the Rice Business Plan Competition has helped shape how Rice Business shows up in the world by creating a platform where student-entrepreneurs can tackle some of the most complex challenges of our time in energy, in health care, in technology and beyond,” Peter Rodriguez, dean of Rice Business, the presenting sponsor of the event, said in a news release. “If we’re serious about changing the world — and I believe we are — then it’s our responsibility to open doors for students everywhere to imagine bold solutions and build what comes next.”

Over the course of the three-day event, the 42 startups competing this year from colleges or universities around the world presented their plans before more than 300 angel, venture capital, and corporate investors. The teams were selected from the event’s largest applicant pool to date and represented 34 universities across four countries, according to Rice. Winners were announced at the company showcase and awards ceremony April 12 in downtown Houston.

Seven finalists were selected, though each team left the competition with some form of funding, according to Rice. The University of Michigan's Intero Biosystems was the star of the show, bringing home both the top-place finish and the largest total investment. Rice's own Pattern Materials also had a strong showing, placing fourth in the pitch competition and also earning the fourth-highest investment total.

Here are the teams that won big in 2025. See a full list of winners and prizes here.

Intero Biosystems, University of Michigan - $902,000

The team finished in first place for its GastroScreen, the first stem cell-driven human “mini gut” that is ideal for organ function testing before testing on humans, and also claimed the largest total investments among the competition.

$150,000 Goose Capital Investment Grand Prize
$250,000 Goose Capital Investment Prize
$200,000 The OWL Investment Prize
$100,000 Houston Angel Network Investment Prize
$100,000 nCourage Investment Network’s Courageous Women Entrepreneur Investment Prize
$100,000 Investment Prize from Nancy Chang
$1,000 Mercury Elevator Pitch Competition - Overall Winner
$1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prize
TMC Innovation Healthcare Accelerator Bootcamp Invitation Prize

MabLab, Harvard University – $301,500

The team placed second for its rapid test capable of detecting multiple adulterants in laced drugs and spiked drinks.

$100,000 Investment Prize, sponsored by David Anderson, Anderson Family Fund, Jon Finger and Finger Interests
$100,000 The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Texas Angels Investment Prize
$25,000 nCourage Investment Network’s Courageous Women Entrepreneur Investment Prize
$50,000 Valhalla Investment Network Investment Prize
$25,000 The Eagles Investor Investment Prize
$500 Mercury Elevator Pitch Competition - Life Science*
$1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prize

re.solution, RWTH Aachen University — $76,500

The team placed third for its water-based technology that recycles polyesters without generating salt waste, making textile recycling viable.

$50,000 Investment Prize, sponsored by David Anderson, Anderson Family Fund, Jon Finger and Finger Interests
$25,000 Pearland EDC Spirit of Entrepreneurship Cash Prize
$500 Mercury Elevator Pitch Competition - Energy/Cleantech
$1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prize

Pattern Materials, Rice University – $134,500

The Houston-based team placed fourth for its laser-induced graphene technology that can be rapidly performed, enabling low-cost, scalable production of the material.

$5,000 prize, sponsored by Norton Rose Fulbright
$50,000 Valhalla Investment Network Investment Prize
$25,000 Pearland EDC Spirit of Entrepreneurship Cash Prize
$25,000 New Climate Ventures Sustainable Investment Prize
$25,000 Amentum and WRX Companies Rising Stars Space Technology and Commercial Aerospace Cash Prize
$500 Mercury Elevator Pitch Competition - Hard Tech
$1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prize
$3,000 Venture Builder Innovation Prizes

Xatoms, Western University and University of Toronto — $30,000

The team placed fifth for its AI- and quantum-driven platform for discovering solar-activated semiconductor materials.

$5,000 prize, sponsored by EY
$25,000 nCourage Investment Network’s Courageous Women Entrepreneur Investment Prize

Mito Robotics, Carnegie Mellon University— $5,000

The team placed sixth for its automated manual cell culture with AI-powered robotic scientists for life science research

$5,000 prize, sponsored by Chevron Technology Ventures

FarmSmart.ai, LSU – $106,000

The team placed seventh for its AI—driven assistant that synthesizes vast agricultural research into actionable, tailored intelligence, but earned the fifth-most investments among the group.

$5,000 prize, sponsored by Shell Ventures
$100,000 The OWL Investment Prize
$1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prize
Edward H. Molter Memorial Prizes for Wildcard Round - 1st place - Advance to Finals

Other significant awards

GreenLIB Materials, University of Ottawa – $152,000

$150,000 Goose Capital Investment Prize
$2,000 Venture Builder Innovation Prizes

Microvitality, Tufts University – $26,500

$25,000 Southwest National Pediatric Device Consortium Pediatric Device Cash Prize
$1,500 Edward H. Molter Memorial Prizes for Wildcard Round - 3rd place overall in WC

Nanoborne, University of Texas at Austin - $25,000

$25,000 NOV Golden Ticket to Supernova Accelerator and Cash Prize

Last year, the Rice Business Plan Competition facilitated over $1.5 million in investment and cash prizes. MesaQuantum from Harvard University landed the highest total investment last year, although it was not named a finalist. Protein Pints from Michigan State University won the pitch competition.

According to Rice, 910 startups have raised more than $6.9 billion in capital through the competition over the last 25 years.

Houston nonprofit news outlet will shut down after only 2 years

In the News

Amid financial challenges, the nonprofit Houston Landing online news outlet plans to shut down by mid-May.

In an April 15 announcement posted on its website, Houston Landing says that although it launched in 2023 with more than $20 million in seed funding, the outlet failed to attract enough revenue to continue operating. The announcement followed a vote by the organization’s board of directors to close the nonprofit newsroom. All 43 employees will be laid off, the Columbia Journalism Reviewreports.

“We are proud of the Landing’s coverage of Greater Houston and continue to believe deeply in the need for more free, independent journalism in our region,” Ann B. Stern, board chair of Houston Landing as well as president and CEO of the Houston Endowment, says in the announcement. “This decision was difficult but necessary. Houston Landing’s reporting has made a meaningful impact in the community, but it struggled to find its long-term financial footing.”

According to the announcement, the Landing’s board is exploring a partnership with the Austin-based Texas Tribune, a pioneer in nonprofit journalism, to potentially establish a local news initiative in Houston. Later this year, the Texas Tribune plans to open a locally focused newsroom in Waco. A similar newsroom is in the works in Austin.

“We have great respect for Houston Landing’s work in delivering high-quality, nonpartisan journalism to its readers,” says Sonal Shah, CEO of the Texas Tribune. “We also understand the profound challenges facing local newsrooms today — journalism is a public service and needs a strong ecosystem to thrive. We look forward to exploring how we can learn from what the Landing started and create a sustainable model that serves the Houston community. We will take time to explore the right path forward to ensure sustainability.”

Houston Landing was launched after a two-year study led by the American Journalism Project found many Houstonians were disappointed about a lack of trustworthy, deeply reported local news. Financial backers of the Landing include the American Journalism Project, the Houston Endowment, Arnold Ventures, the Kinder Foundation, and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

Despite the high-profile support, the site struggled to find an audience. CJR notes that the Landing had approximately 13,000 newsletter subscribers and only generated about $80,000 in subscription revenue. In the article, executive editor Sewell Chan identifies a number of other issues, including a lack of editorial focus and changes in leadership. “But in the end, the gap between board and staff, between management and labor, and between runway and revenue was just too large to bridge,” he writes.

“While it’s with a heavy heart that we announce the closure of our newsroom, I want to express my deepest gratitude to the dedicated journalists and staff members who poured their passion into our mission every single day,” Houston Landing CEO Peter Bhatia says.

“Houston Landing demonstrates how a commitment to truth and accountability can transform communities and improve lives,” he adds. “I’m thankful to those who believed in us, supported us, and stood with us as we connected with each other through stories that inspired positive change.”

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This article originally appeared on our sister site, CultureMap.com.

Houston space tech company develops new engine features with NASA funding

testing 1, 2, 3

Outfitted with a new type of aerospace technology, a rocket engine developed by Houston startup Venus Aerospace for hypersonic flights will undergo testing this summer.

Supported by a $155,908 federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from NASA, Venus Aerospace came up with a new design for nozzles — engine parts that help manage power — for its compact rocket engine. Venus Aerospace says the newly configured nozzles have “exceeded expectations” and will be incorporated into Venus’ upcoming ground-based engine testing.

“We’ve already proven our engine outperforms traditional systems on both efficiency and size,” Venus Aerospace CEO Sassie Duggleby says. “The technology we developed with NASA’s support will now be part of our integrated engine platform — bringing us one step closer to proving that efficient, compact, and affordable hypersonic flight can be scaled.”

The engine at the heart of Venus’ flight platform is called a rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE). Venus says it’s the first U.S. company to make a scalable, affordable, flight-ready RDRE.

Unlike conventional rocket engines, Venus’ RDRE operates through supersonic shockwaves, called detonations, that generate more power with less fuel.

“This is just the beginning of what can be achieved with Venus propulsion technology,” says Andrew Duggleby, chief technology officer at Venus, founded in 2020. “We’ve built a compact high-performance system that unlocks speed, range, and agility across aerospace, defense, and many other applications. And we’re confident in its readiness for flight.”

Last fall, the company unveiled a high-speed engine system that enables takeoff, acceleration, and hypersonic cruising — all powered by a single engine. While most high-speed systems require multiple engines to operate at different speeds, Venus’ innovation does away with the cost, weight and complexity of traditional propulsion technology.

Among other applications, the Venus system supports:

Spacecraft landers
Low-earth-orbit satellites
Vehicles that haul space cargo
Hypersonic drones and missiles

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