3 Houston innovators to know this week

Who's who

This week's innovators to know are involved in tech — from app development to revolutionizing the energy industry. Courtesy photos

From restaurant review apps to a device that monitors oil rigs, this week's innovators to know are tech savvy to say the least. All three took a chance on Houston for their startups, and that chance is paying off.

Christopher Robart, president of Ambyint USA

Christopher Robart leads Ambyint — a technology company creating the Nest thermostat for oil rigs — with his twin brother, Alex. Courtesy of Ambyint

Christopher Robart — along with his twin brother, Alex — is in the business of business development. The two run Ambyint, an oil and gas tech company that creates the Nest thermostat of oil rigs.

The company is looking to expand its customer base this year, as well as grow to be able to service different types of rig pumps.

Sumit Sikka, co-founder of Crityk

Sumit Sikka moved to Houston in order to grow his restaurant reviewing app. Courtesy of Crityk

What started as a quest to find the best Moscow Mule in Southern California has turned into growing business thriving in Houston's dining scene. Sumit Sikka first visited Houston for an event to promote the app he co-founded, Crityk, and basically never left.

"I packed up some of my bags and decided to try here in Houston," Sikka says." It's a lot easier to get to decision makers here in Houston than in LA."

Moji Karimi, co-founder of Cemvita Factory

Moji Karimi's company can take carbon dioxide from a refinery and convert it into glucose or another chemical. Courtesy of Cemvita

Moji Karimi never thought his oil and gas career would overlap with his sister's medical research. But in some ways, the fact the two of them teamed up to create a company that takes carbon dioxide from the air and turns it into something else, makes perfect sense that it crosses industries.

"There are a lot of opportunities bringing a proven science or technology from one industry into another to solve problems," he says.


One of this week's top stories is about a Houston company providing pain-relieving technology on the go. The Squid Team/Twitter

5 most popular innovation stories in Houston this week

Now Trending

Editor's note: InnovationMap is starting strong — right out of the gate of 2019. From a restaurant-focused app to B2B companies making a splash in their industry's, the first trending stories post of the year has some great reads.

3 Houston innovators to know this week

These three entrepreneurs have a lot up their sleeves for 2019. Courtesy images

InnovationMap has three inspiring entrepreneurs to lead you into 2019. All three are behind Houston startups that are planning for big growth in the upcoming year. So, read their stories and get familiar with their names and faces — they aren't going anywhere. Read the full story here.

Restaurant-driven app focuses on Houston's food scene

Crityk's main goal is to be a marketing asset to restaurants. Getty Images

One night, Sumit Sikka was on a quest to find the best Moscow Mule in Santa Monica. He couldn't find anything helpful online, and when he finally did get a good recommendation, he was already done for the night.

It was through this experience that Sikka knew he wanted to make a restaurant finder app, but he wanted to do something different from Yelp or Google Reviews. On those platforms, a restaurant can get crushed by a bad review that provides false information. So, when he started getting the ball rolling on Crityk, he realized he needed to give the restaurants a voice. Read the full story here.

Houston company creates portable device that eases pain without the use of drugs

For years, Squid Compression has helped ease the pain of patients in doctor's offices. Now, anyone can get the treatment on the go. Photo via squidgo.com

Many of the estimated 50 million Americans who suffer from chronic pain turn to drugs — including heavily abused opioids — to relieve their symptoms. Houston-based startup Portable Therapeutix LLC's drug-free solution to pain management seeks to put a dent in the market for prescription painkillers.

In 2018, Houston-based Portable Therapeutix introduced Squid Go, a portable device that's designed to ease the pain and swelling of sore joints and muscles. It's a follow-up to the company's Squid Compression, a pain management device launched in 2013 for patients at rehabilitation centers, hospitals, doctor's offices, and the like. Read the full story here.

Houston software startup pivots to provide digital networking solutions

What started as a way to protect your company from a sketchy business partner has turned into a digital networking tool. Getty Images

Several years ago, David Grimes had a business partner who played dirty. It wasn't until the trial that followed the business wrongdoing that Grimes discovered the man had a history of cheating companies out of money. Grimes envisioned a software service that used public information to research potential investors or associates before signing on the dotted line of a partnership.

"I wanted to find a tool that would alleviate that pain and that risk of doing business," Grimes says. "I couldn't find that tool." Read the full story here.

Oil and gas startup exec positions Houston company for more growth in 2019

Christopher Robart leads Ambyint — a technology company creating the Nest thermostat for oil rigs — with his twin brother, Alex. Courtesy of Ambyint

Most of Christopher Robart's 10-year career in oil and gas has been deliberate and calculated — researching the right startup to be involved in or finding the right buyer for a company he invested in. However, his actual start in the industry wasn't so intentional.

"I sort of fell into oil and gas after I got of college back in 2003," says Robart, who is the president of Ambyint USA. "Before that, I was involved in a few startup things — some digital and some not. I was always sort of an entrepreneur." Read the full story here.


Christopher Robart leads Ambyint — a technology company creating the Nest thermostat for oil rigs — with his twin brother, Alex. Courtesy of Ambyint

Oil and gas startup exec positions Houston company for more growth in 2019

Featured Innovator

Most of Christopher Robart's 10-year career in oil and gas has been deliberate and calculated — researching the right startup to be involved in or finding the right buyer for a company he invested in. However, his actual start in the industry wasn't so intentional.

"I sort of fell into oil and gas after I got of college back in 2003," says Robart, who is the president of Ambyint USA. "Before that, I was involved in a few startup things — some digital and some not. I was always sort of an entrepreneur."

Robart shares the passion of entrepreneurialism with his twin brother, Alex, CEO of Ambyint. The two have similar work experiences, since they act as an oil and gas startup team in Houston. One of the first companies the duo bought and sold was PacWest Consulting Partners, which was sold to IHS Energy in 2014, Robart says. The second one, Digital H2O, they founded, grew the team, lead some investments, and sold it to Genscape in 2015.

The pair's newest endeavor is Ambyint, an oilfield smart technology company with Canadian origins. The Robart brothers have been involved in it for about two and a half years.

Christopher Robart spoke with InnovationMap about his career and what he hopes to accomplish with his oil and gas startup in 2019.

InnovationMap: How did you and your brother first get involved in Ambyint?

Christopher Robart: After we left IHS, we knew that our next up was going to be software and upstream oil and gas, but there were a lot of question marks. We did our due diligence. We leveraged all that information we found and settled on which market we wanted to be in. We ended up finding Ambyint and liked what they had built to date, but they had some gaps and shortcomings, particularly on the commercial side, and they had no U.S. presence. We thought those two gaps were something we'd be helpful filling out. We went through a fairly lengthy process to lead an investment into the company, and essentially took over through that process.

IM: So, Ambyint still has an office in Canada?

CR: The Canada office is primarily a technology office, with some sales capabilities up there. The U.S. is primarily sales, marketing, and customer support.

IM: How does the technology work?

CR: The easiest way to explain it is we're like a Nest thermostat for your oil wells. It's a piece of hardware and a piece of software. It's wired into the well's control system and tied up to cloud-based software. From there, we've been deploying artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, etc.

IM: What do you look for in customers?

CR: Oil companies of any shape or size, really. Oil and gas industry aren't really known for being early adopters of technology. There's a lot of resistance to change, particularly at the production level, which we focus on. So we're looking for early adopters looking to lead the way.

We're in pretty much all the major oil-producing areas in the U.S. and Canada. We also have customers in Mexico, Chili, and Egypt. There's a few more countries in the Middle East we're trying to get into.

IM: Are you planning another fundraising round?

CR: We'll embark on a series B in the near future. We closed our series A, and it was pretty large, so we're in a good place. (The series closed in September of 2017 with $11.5 million raised, according to Crunchbase.)

IM: What are your goals for 2019?

CR: We've built a lot of cool technology, and we continue to do that. Our focus for 2019 is to continue to commercialize and expand our customer base. Our sales cycle is pretty long. It could be a year from the time we bring an initial lead to the table, running a pilot, getting results, and developing a plan. It's a long, slow, and, in some cases, a painful process.

When you're doing things like machine learning, you're teaching a machine how to do something a human would do something. What's required to do that is a massive amount of data to start, and from there, it's a never ending journey of data collection and monitoring your accuracy.

We've been focused on one specific artificial lift pump — every well will eventually take a piece of artificial lift pump. We work on the most common artificial lift pump, but it's just one of six key types. In addition to selling more of that pump, we are in the process of expanding to additional lift types.

IM: What keeps you up at night, as it pertains to your business?

CR: Change management. Getting our customers to adopt new technology and embrace change. That's it. We're constantly trying to get our customers to move more quickly.

IM: How do you and your brother work together? Do you each play different roles in the company?

CR: Our backgrounds are similar. We're twins, but we have personality differences. I spend a little more time with our customers than he does and with new product initiatives. I get pretty hands on.

His mandate is less focused on walking and talking with customers and more on managing the functions of the business and working with the leadership team. As well as financing and fundraising.

We've got a pretty good division of labor, but there is a lot of overlap of what we do.

IM: What are some of the pros and cons of being in Houston?

CR: Obviously the pro of being in Houston is it being the oil capital of the world. All our customers are here. It's sort of a must.

The downside of running a technology company in town is that tech talent is quite thin on the ground in Houston — especially what we're looking for. So, we don't have any tech team members in the Houston office. I'll put it mildly in that we are skeptical of the talent pool for really strong software developers in the Houston market.

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Portions of this interview have been edited.

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Houston Spaceport launches $12M expansion for leading space tech co.

to the moon

Houston will get one step closer to the moon, as the Houston Spaceport at Ellington Airport (EFD) has announced an expansion of the lease for Intuitive Machines, the Houston space tech leader dedicated to furthering lunar exploration.

On July 15, the City of Houston announced passage of Amendment 1, which would add three acres of commercial space for Intuitive Machines at the spaceport and a $12 million infrastructure expansion. Approved by the city council and Mayor John Whitmire, the expansion will include new production, testing and support facilities. The amendment extends the current lease for Intuitive Machines from 20 years to 25 years.

"I want to shout out to Intuitive Machines about everything they’re doing at the Houston Spaceport. It’s exciting to see them expand. We’re starting to reach a critical mass out there — more and more aerospace companies want to be at the Spaceport because that’s where innovation is happening,” said Fred Flinkinger, who represents District E on the Houston City Council. “It’s a great sign of momentum, and we’re proud to have them here in Houston."

Intuitive Machines was the first commercial tenant for the Houston Spaceport when it moved into the facility in August 2016. Founded by Stephen Altemus, Kam Ghaffarian, and Tim Crain in 2013, the company holds three contracts with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to deliver payloads to the lunar surface. In 2023, the company opened its doors in Houston with a 105,572-square-foot Lunar Production and Operations Center that contains research and development labs, clean rooms, mission control centers, and a spacecraft assembly floor.


Intuitive Machines landed Odysseus on the moon in February 2024, the first privately owned soft lunar landing ever and the first soft landing since 1972.

The Houston Spaceport is owned and operated by the City of Houston and Houston Airports, who have an eye of keeping the city a prime name in space exploration. As "Houston" was the first word spoken on the moon when Apollo 11 landed in 1969, lunar exploration in particular has a soft place in the heart of the metropolis formerly known as Space City.

“This agreement reinforces Houston’s leadership in space innovation,” said Jim Szczesniak, director of aviation for Houston Airports. “We’re building infrastructure and supporting the next era of lunar and deep space exploration, right here at Houston Spaceport. This partnership represents the forward-thinking development that fuels job creation and drives long-term economic growth.”

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.

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