Here are some ways to encourage health and wellness in the workplace without breaking the bank. Tom Merton/Getty Images

Apple and healthcare provider Aetna announced earlier this year the two industry giants are collaborating on a new app, Attain. The wellness app, available both for the iPhone and Apple Watch, rewards users who achieve certain health-focused goals such as getting more sleep, meditating, or even receiving their annual flu shot.

Today, companies are increasingly leveraging similar health and wellness goals and reward programs, if not this very initiative. In fact, the United States' workplace wellness industry is valued at nearly $8 billion.

This hefty price tag encompasses massive corporate health and wellness programs such as that of Google, which offers its employees benefits such as massage services, physical therapy, onsite health care, community bikes and even guitar lessons to promote mental health. However, for most companies, building an onsite health care facility or having your own personal masseuse at the ready to release the knots in your neck and back is a bit out of the price range, we'd say.

For those companies, including startups operating on a tight budget, most just want employees to experience less work-related stress and live happier, healthier lives. In honor of National Employee Wellness Month this June, here's how startups can implement budget-friendly health and wellness programs into their companies.

1. Utilize tech in wellness challenges

Fancy equipment is not necessary for an effective corporate health and wellness program. Instead, try offering employees Fitbits, a budget-friendly option, as part of their benefits package, which they can then use to track their daily activity. To leverage the Fitbits to create intraoffice challenges, offer employees incentives for health goals such as the most activity or the most seven-hour nights of sleep each month.

My company that I coach for, Orangetheory Fitness, also features its own brand of wearables, the OTbeat, which tracks workout activity such as calories burned, steps, distance and splat points (Orangetheory lingo for when you achieve excess post-exercise oxygen consumption). I see friends, coworkers and even complete strangers compare splat points — something employees could also use as a friendly form of competition.

2. Hand out workout passes that give employees an hour off work to exercise

This is the real-life version of Monopoly's "Get Out of Jail Free" card. One of the major reasons I see people fall out of touch with Orangetheory is because they don't have enough time to work out. An extra hour or two out of the workday could be all it takes to motivate your employees to get active.

In fact, most gyms and fitness classes offer corporate discounts to employers. I'm seeing more and more companies sign up for a corporate membership, especially since health and wellness in the workplace is becoming much more important.

3. Host group health and wellness events

Another initiative idea that's cut from the same competition cloth: Cooking contents. Host a lunch where staffers bring their favorite healthy recipe. Then, have employees vote on the most delicious option.

You can also implement health and wellness in other company events such as employee 5Ks and team-building exercises such as weekly team outings to a local fitness class. These would be ideal opportunities to dole out those workout or lunch passes.

4. Try "deskercising"

Like most successful companies, it takes a lot of sweat, blood, tears — and often countless hours at a desk — to see the fruits of your hard-earned labor. Today, a sedentary or inactive lifestyle, which most likely consists of sitting at a desk with little to no physical activity, has been linked to a number of chronic diseases, including obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, as well as increased feelings of depression and anxiety.

While deskercising (i.e. the combination of sitting at your desk and exercising) doesn't quite measure up to a full-on workout, it has similar effects, including improved health, physical and mental. Squats, chair dips, shoulder raises and even frequent walks or breaks from the desk can have a significant impact on employees' health and work productivity.

Whether you implement one or all these programs, it's important to remember companies — whether they're a small startup of five or an established corporation of many — can implement health and wellness initiatives.

It's not the program or the money invested that makes corporate health and wellness initiatives effective. At the end of the day, the efficacy of any health program comes down to the company its willingness to prioritize the holistic health and wellness of its employees.

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Charlotte Morales is Orangetheory Fitness's San Felipe head coach.

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Houston hardtech accelerator names 8 scientists to 2025 cohort

ready, set, activate

National hardtech-focused organization Activate has named its 2025 cohort of scientists, which includes new members to Activate Houston.

The Houston hub was introduced last year, and joins others in Boston, New York, and Berkley, California—where Activate is headquartered. The organization also offers a virtual and remote cohort, known as Activate Anywhere. Collectively, the 2025 Activate Fellowship consists of 47 scientists and engineers from nine U.S. states.

This year's cohort comprises subject matter experts across various fields, including quantum, robotics, biology, agriculture, energy and direct air capture.

Activate aims to support scientists at "the outset of their entrepreneurial journey." It partners with U.S.-based funders and research institutions to support its fellows in developing high-impact technology. The fellows receive a living stipend, connections from Activate's robust network of mentors and access to a curriculum specific to the program for two years.

“Science entrepreneurship is the origin story of tomorrow’s industries,” Cyrus Wadia, CEO of Activate, said in an announcement. “The U.S. has long been a world center for science leadership and technological advancement. When it comes to solving the world’s biggest challenges, hard-tech innovation is how we unlock the best solutions. From infrastructure to energy to agriculture, these Activate Fellows are the bold thinkers who are building the next generation of science-focused companies to lead us into the future.”

The Houston fellows selected for the 2025 class include:

  • Jonathan Bessette, founder and CEO of KIRA, which uses its adaptive electrodialysis system to treat diverse water sources and reduce CO2 emissions
  • Victoria Coll Araoz, co-founder and chief science officer of Florida-based SEMION, an agricultural technology company developing pest control strategies by restoring crops' natural defenses
  • Eugene Chung, co-founder and CEO of Lift Biolabs, a biomanufacturing company developing low-cost, nanobubble-based purification reagents. Chung is completing his Ph.D. in bioengineering at Rice University.
  • Isaac Ju, co-founder of EarthFlow AI, which has developed an AI-powered platform for subsurface modeling, enabling the rapid scaling of carbon storage, geothermal energy and lithium extraction
  • Junho Lee, principal geotechnical engineer of Houston-based Deep Anchor Solutions, a startup developing innovative anchoring systems for floating renewables and offshore infrastructure
  • Sotiria (Iria) Mostrou, principal inventor at Houston-based Biosimo Chemicals, a chemical engineering startup that develops and operates processes to produce bio-based platform chemicals
  • Becca Segel, CEO and founder of Pittsburgh-based FlowCellutions, which prevents power outages for critical infrastructure such as hospitals, data centers and the grid through predictive battery diagnostics
  • Joshua Yang, CEO and co‑founder of Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Brightlight Photonics, which develops chip-scale titanium: sapphire lasers to bring cost-effective, lab-grade performance to quantum technologies, diagnostics and advanced manufacturing

The program, led locally by Houston Managing Director Jeremy Pitts, has supported 296 Activate fellows since the organization was founded in 2015. Members have gone on to raise roughly $4 billion in follow-on funding, according to Activate's website.

Activate officially named its Houston office in the Ion last year.

Charlie Childs, co-founder and CEO of Intero Biosystems, which won both the top-place finish and the largest total investment at this year's Rice Business Plan Competition, was named to the Activate Anywhere cohort. Read more about the Boston, New York, Berkley and Activate Anywhere cohorts here.

Houston team’s discovery brings solid-state batteries closer to EV use

A Better Battery

A team of researchers from the University of Houston, Rice University and Brown University has uncovered new findings that could extend battery life and potentially change the electric vehicle landscape.

The team, led by Yan Yao, the Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UH, recently published its findings in the journal Nature Communications.

The work deployed a powerful, high-resolution imaging technique known as operando scanning electron microscopy to better understand why solid-state batteries break down and what could be done to slow the process.

“This research solves a long-standing mystery about why solid-state batteries sometimes fail,” Yao, corresponding author of the study, said in a news release. “This discovery allows solid-state batteries to operate under lower pressure, which can reduce the need for bulky external casing and improve overall safety.”

A solid-state battery replaces liquid electrolytes found in conventional lithium-ion cells with a solid separator, according to Car and Driver. They also boast faster recharging capabilities, better safety and higher energy density.

However, when it comes to EVs, solid-state batteries are not ideal since they require high external stack pressure to stay intact while operating.

Yao’s team learned that tiny empty spaces, or voids, form within the solid-state batteries and merge into a large gap, which causes them to fail. The team found that adding small amounts of alloying elements, like magnesium, can help close the voids and help the battery continue to function. The team captured it in real-time with high-resolution videos that showed what happens inside a battery while it’s working under a scanning electron microscope.

“By carefully adjusting the battery’s chemistry, we can significantly lower the pressure needed to keep it stable,” Lihong Zhao, the first author of this work, a former postdoctoral researcher in Yao’s lab and now an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at UH, said in the release. “This breakthrough brings solid-state batteries much closer to being ready for real-world EV applications.”

The team says it plans to build on the alloy concept and explore other metals that could improve battery performance in the future.

“It’s about making future energy storage more reliable for everyone,” Zhao added.

The research was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Battery 500 Consortium under the Vehicle Technologies Program. Other contributors were Min Feng from Brown; Chaoshan Wu, Liqun Guo, Zhaoyang Chen, Samprash Risal and Zheng Fan from UH; and Qing Ai and Jun Lou from Rice.

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This article originally appeared on EnergyCaptialHTX.com.

Rice biotech accelerator appoints 2 leading researchers to team

Launch Pad

The Rice Biotech Launch Pad, which is focused on expediting the translation of Rice University’s health and medical technology discoveries into cures, has named Amanda Nash and Kelsey L. Swingle to its leadership team.

Both are assistant professors in Rice’s Department of Bioengineering and will bring “valuable perspective” to the Houston-based accelerator, according to Rice. 

“Their deep understanding of both the scientific rigor required for successful innovation and the commercial strategies necessary to bring these technologies to market will be invaluable as we continue to build our portfolio of lifesaving medical technologies,” Omid Veiseh, faculty director of the Launch Pad, said in a news release.

Amanda Nash

Nash leads a research program focused on developing cell communication technologies to treat cancer, autoimmune diseases and aging. She previously trained as a management consultant at McKinsey & Co., where she specialized in business development, portfolio strategy and operational excellence for pharmaceutical and medtech companies. She earned her doctorate in bioengineering from Rice and helped develop implantable cytokine factories for the treatment of ovarian cancer. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Houston.

“Returning to Rice represents a full-circle moment in my career, from conducting my doctoral research here to gaining strategic insights at McKinsey and now bringing that combined perspective back to advance Houston’s biotech ecosystem,” Nash said in the release. “The Launch Pad represents exactly the kind of translational bridge our industry needs. I look forward to helping researchers navigate the complex path from discovery to commercialization.”

Kelsey L. Swingle

Swingle’s research focuses on engineering lipid-based nanoparticle technologies for drug delivery to reproductive tissues, which includes the placenta. She completed her doctorate in bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, where she developed novel mRNA lipid nanoparticles for the treatment of preeclampsia. She received her bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Case Western Reserve University and is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow.

“What draws me to the Rice Biotech Launch Pad is its commitment to addressing the most pressing unmet medical needs,” Swingle added in the release. “My research in women’s health has shown me how innovation at the intersection of biomaterials and medicine can tackle challenges that have been overlooked for far too long. I am thrilled to join a team that shares this vision of designing cutting-edge technologies to create meaningful impact for underserved patient populations.”

The Rice Biotech Launch Pad opened in 2023. It held the official launch and lab opening of RBL LLC, a biotech venture creation studio in May. Read more here.