Podcast: Here's what innovators think of Houston's innovation ecosystem

HOUSTON INNOVATORS PODCAST EPISODE 175

This week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast features five mini interviews with Houston innovators. Photos courtesy

It's the fourth year for Houston Tech Rodeo — a four-day event that takes over Houston's innovation ecosystem — and the programming is in full swing.

The week, put on by Houston Exponential, shines a spotlight on Houston innovators, investors, startup development organizations, and more and invites everyone to the table to learn more about the goings on within Houston's business community and connect with fellow Houstonians.

In honor of the week, today's edition of the Houston Innovators Podcast is a bit different. Rather than sit down with one Houston innovator, I got to chat briefly with five movers and shakers within Houston tech: Damyanna Cooke of Boozed and the Black Founders Network,Joshua Taylor of Capital Factory and the Black Founders Network,LaGina Harris of The US Space,Brandy Guidry of the Pearland Innovation Hub, and Chad Spensky of Allthenticate.

I took the opportunity to ask each of them about how they have engaged with the Houston innovation ecosystem and how they've seen it evolve and grow. Each of them also told me what they thought the city still needed to work on as well as its greatest asset to founders and the greater innovation community.

Listen to the interview below — or wherever you stream your podcasts — and subscribe for weekly episodes.


From Your Site Articles
This tech company wants to replace passwords for good. Photo courtesy of Allthenticate

Tech startup closes seed round at over $3M, plans to grow Houston team

money moves

A California-founded company that recently put down roots in Houston has announced the closing of its seed round of funding.

Allthenticate, a tech startup that enables unified authentication, announced over $3 million raised in its seed funding round led by Austin-based Silverton Partners with participation from California-based Amplify and Denver-based Ping Identity. The total raised in the round is $3,133,337, which, as the press release explains, translates to “elite” in hacker speak.

Allthenticate’s technology and services allow users to utilize smartphone devices to unlock and log in to everything — from doors to computers and servers. The company's mission is to provide safe, easy-to-use security infrastructure for everyday use and to target small- to medium-sized businesses to deploy the technology across their workforces.

“The Internet desperately needs an authentication overhaul," says Chad Spensky, founder and CEO of the company, in the release. "Our current ecosystem is cumbersome, limits innovation, and has numerous security shortcomings. I have dedicated my career to this problem and feel very fortunate to have the support to continue to develop our technology and bring it to the masses.

"The feedback from our early customers has been incredibly positive, which is only compounding the excitement here at Allthenticate," he continues.

Chad Spensky is based in Houston and offices out of The Ion. Photo courtesy of Allthenticate

Allthenticate, which Spensky co-founded with Rita Mounir in 2019 in Santa Barbara, licensed its core technology from MIT that was originally developed for the Department of Defense by Spensky and his team during their tenure at MIT Lincoln Laboratory.

"Silverton has a long history of working with leaders who have pushed boundaries in identity, governance, and access management," says Silverton’s managing partner, Morgan Flager. "Upon meeting Chad and Rita, we recognized Allthenticate's technology as having the potential to be paradigm-shifting for the industry. What the team has accomplished with modest financial resources to date is impressive. We are excited and honored to partner with Allthenticate to accelerate our shared vision of creating a safer and more secure world without passwords."

With the fresh funding, the company plans on growing its Houston team after Spensky relocated to Houston earlier this year. Allthenticate, which offices out of The Ion, is looking to grow within engineering, commercial operations, and partnerships.

"By the end of the year, we'll probably be at six people," Spensky previously told InnovationMap, adding that he hopes to pursue a series A round within the next 18 months.

The Allthenticate technology can be used to unlock everything from devices to doors. Photo courtesy of Allthenticate

Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

3 Houston innovators who made headlines in May 2025

Innovators to Know

Editor's note: Houston innovators are making waves this month with revolutionary VC funding, big steps towards humanoid robotics, and software that is impacting the agriculture sector. Here are three Houston innovators to know right now.

Zach Ellis, founder and partner of South Loop Ventures

Zach Ellis. Photo via LinkedIn

Zach Ellis Jr., founder and general partner of South Loop Ventures, says the firm wants to address the "billion-dollar blind spot" of inequitable distribution of venture capital to underrepresented founders of color. The Houston-based firm recently closed its debut fund for more than $21 million. Learn more.

Ty Audronis, CEO and founder of Tempest Droneworx

Ty Audronis, CEO and founder of Tempest Droneworx

Ty Audronis, center. Photo via LinkedIn.

Ty Audronis and his company, Tempest Droneworx, made a splash at SXSW Interactive 2025, winning the Best Speed Pitch award at the annual festival. The company is known for it flagship product, Harbinger, a software solution that agnostically gathers data at virtually any scale and presents that data in easy-to-understand visualizations using a video game engine. Audronis says his company won based on its merits and the impact it’s making and will make on the world, beginning with agriculture. Learn more.

Nicolaus Radford, CEO of Persona AI

Nicolaus Radford, founder and CEO of Nauticus RoboticsNicolaus Radford. Image via LinkedIn

Houston-based Persona AI and CEO Nicolaus Radford continue to make steps toward deploying a rugged humanoid robot, and with that comes the expansion of its operations at Houston's Ion. Radford and company will establish a state-of-the-art development center in the prominent corner suite on the first floor of the building, with the expansion slated to begin in June. “We chose the Ion because it’s more than just a building — it’s a thriving innovation ecosystem,” Radford says. Learn more.

Pharmaceutical giant plans $5.9B Houston facility and more news to know

Trending News

Editor's note: It's time to look back at the top Houston innovation news from the second half of May 2025. From exciting VC raises to major manufacturing facilities in the works, here are the most-read InnovationMap stories from May 16-30.

1. Pharmaceutical giant looks to bring $5.9 billion facility to Houston

Eli Lilly is looking to build an active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing facility at Generation Park. Rendering courtesy of McCord

Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company is looking to build a $5.9 billion active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing facility in Houston, according to a recent filing with the state of Texas.

The proposal states that the project plans to employ 604 full-time direct employees at the site upon ramp-up completion. Construction is projected to begin in 2026, with a completion target of 2030 and commercial operations beginning in 2031. Continue reading.

2. Houston VC firm closes $21M fund for underrepresented founders

Zach Ellis, founder and general partner of South Loop Ventures, which recently closed its debut fund. Photo via LinkedIn

Houston-based South Loop Ventures recently closed its debut fund for more than $21 million, led by investments from Rice Management Company and Chevron Technology Ventures.

The funds will go toward teams with at least one underrepresented founder of color working in the energy, health, space, sports and fintech sectors. Additional investments came from The Great Commission Foundation of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, Texas CapitalBank and others organizations. Continue reading.

3. Houston-founded startup raises $1.2M and moves headquarters to Detroit

ChurchSpace, founded in Houston by Day Edwards and Emmanuel Brown, is moving to Detroit. Photo courtesy ChurchSpace.

Houston-founded ChurchSpace, known as the Airbnb for churches, has formed an official partnership with the City of Detroit and will relocate its headquarters.

The announcements come as the company successfully closed a $1.2 million oversubscribed funding round. The round was led by California-based Black Ops Ventures, with participation from Michigan Rise and Dug Song of Minor Capital, who is also the founder of the Song Foundation, another Michigan-based organization. Continue reading.

4. Houston aerospace co. soars with first U.S. test flight of hypersonic engine

Venus Aerospace successfully completed the flight test of its hypersonic engine, the first of an American-developed engine of its kind. Photo courtesy Venus Aerospace

Houston-based Venus Aerospace successfully completed the first U.S. flight test of its proprietary engine at a demonstration at Spaceport America in New Mexico.

Venus’ next-generation rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) is supported by a $155,908 federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from NASA and aims to enable vehicles to travel four to six times the speed of sound from a conventional runway. The recent flight test was the first of an American-developed engine of its kind. Continue reading.

5. Houston regenerative medicine company expands lab for future trials

FibroBiologics has opened a new 10,000-square-foot Houston lab to scale up research efforts and pave the way for in-house manufacturing. Photo via Fibrobiologics.com

A Houston regenerative medicine company has unveiled new laboratory space with the goal of expanding its pioneering science.

FibroBiologics uses fibroblasts, the body’s most common type of cell, rather than stem cells, to help grow new cells. With its new space, the publicly traded company, which has more than 240 patents issued or pending, will be even better equipped to power forward with its research. Continue reading.

Houston university to launch artificial intelligence major, one of first in nation

BS in AI

Rice University announced this month that it plans to introduce a Bachelor of Science in AI in the fall 2025 semester.

The new degree program will be part of the university's department of computer science in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing and is one of only a few like it in the country. It aims to focus on "responsible and interdisciplinary approaches to AI," according to a news release from the university.

“We are in a moment of rapid transformation driven by AI, and Rice is committed to preparing students not just to participate in that future but to shape it responsibly,” Amy Dittmar, the Howard R. Hughes Provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said in the release. “This new major builds on our strengths in computing and education and is a vital part of our broader vision to lead in ethical AI and deliver real-world solutions across health, sustainability and resilient communities.”

John Greiner, an assistant teaching professor of computer science in Rice's online Master of Computer Science program, will serve as the new program's director. Vicente Ordóñez-Román, an associate professor of computer science, was also instrumental in developing and approving the new major.

Until now, Rice students could study AI through elective courses and an advanced degree. The new bachelor's degree program opens up deeper learning opportunities to undergrads by blending traditional engineering and math requirements with other courses on ethics and philosophy as they relate to AI.

“With the major, we’re really setting out a curriculum that makes sense as a whole,” Greiner said in the release. “We are not simply taking a collection of courses that have been created already and putting a new wrapper around them. We’re actually creating a brand new curriculum. Most of the required courses are brand new courses designed for this major.”

Students in the program will also benefit from resources through Rice’s growing AI ecosystem, like the Ken Kennedy Institute, which focuses on AI solutions and ethical AI. The university also opened its new AI-focused "innovation factory," Rice Nexus, earlier this year.

“We have been building expertise in artificial intelligence,” Ordóñez-Román added in the release. “There are people working here on natural language processing, information retrieval systems for machine learning, more theoretical machine learning, quantum machine learning. We have a lot of expertise in these areas, and I think we’re trying to leverage that strength we’re building.”

View All Listings