Energy co. makes $100,000 donation to Houston hospital

curing ALS

Energy Transfer, a Dallas-based midstream energy company, just donated $100,000 to Houston Methodist. Photo via TMC.edu

Where do energy transition and life-saving medicine meet? In Texas, of course.

Energy Transfer, a Dallas-based midstream energy company, just donated $100,000 to Houston Methodist. The grant is part of a $200,000 gift that has spanned the past two years. The goal? To eradicate the neurological disorder, ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). There is currently no cure for ALS. For roughly 90 percent of patients, there’s no known genetic cause, meaning the disease can strike anyone.

Houston Methodist currently has numerous clinical trials taking place with the goal to slow or halt the progression of the degenerative ailment.

“Every dollar donated to ALS research is a beacon of hope for those battling the disease,” said Chris Curia, executive vice president and chief human resources officer at Energy Transfer. “Those affected by ALS deserve a chance at a better life. We are hopeful this donation brings us one step closer to a world without this disease.”

Houston Methodist is home to the first multidisciplinary care clinic for ALS patients in the region and is actively engaged in both clinical and basic scientific research to support people battling ALS.

“We appreciate Energy Transfer’s generosity in our efforts to improve the quality of life and to provide hope for ALS patients and their families. Their continued commitment to Houston Methodist’s ongoing ALS research is truly transformational,” says Stanley H. Appel, M.D., a pioneering neurologist at Houston Methodist whose lab focuses on neurodegenerative diseases, including ALS.

Energy Transfer’s gift will help to support one particularly promising trial of a combination therapy that is currently moving into Phase 2. In its first phase, the therapy was found to safely slow disease progression in four ALS patients over a six-month period. Those patients had no significant progression of their disease during the trial. Prior to receiving the therapy, each of the patients had reported declining abilities to perform daily tasks.

Energy Transfer’s good deed could mean the world not only to patients at Houston Methodist, but to ending ALS altogether.

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This article originally ran on EnergyCapital.

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The new center is specifically designed to allow patients to be on the cutting edge of testing brand-new therapies that could save their lives.

Houston cancer-fighting organization launches center to support early clinical trials

new to hou

Cancer treatment in Houston just became even more promising — and forward-thinking.

Phase 1 clinical trials are necessary to prove the efficacy in humans of treatments that have appeared promising in lab trials. In the name of cancer-fighting innovation, Baylor College of Medicine’s Dan L. Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center has launched the Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation Center for Experimental Therapeutics.

The new center is specifically designed to allow patients to be on the cutting edge of testing brand-new therapies that could save their lives.

“Clinical trials are critical for advancing the field of oncology and improving outcomes for cancer patients. Phase 1 trials are the first step in bringing innovative therapies to the clinic,” says Dr. Benjamin Musher, Barry S. Smith endowed professor at Baylor and medical director of medical oncology at the Duncan Cancer Center McNair Campus, in a news release. “Our new program will build on the success of previous phase 1 trials at Baylor and provide robust infrastructure to offer more clinical trial opportunities to our patients.”

The Alkek Foundation Center’s team practices across all specialty areas, allowing a broad swath of the Cancer Center’s patients to take part and to continue to receive care from the sub-specialty doctors they know and trust. And even if they aren’t already being treated at Baylor, physicians from outside Baylor can refer patients to the program through a smooth process.

“We are excited to offer novel research treatment options to our cancer patients at our state-of-the-art unit,” says Dr. Pavan Reddy, director of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center and senior associate dean of cancer programs at Baylor. “This program will increase the scope of our research while giving the cancer patients in our community access to first in human and cutting-edge clinical trials.”

Patients will be treated at Duncan Cancer Center’s clinical home, Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center’s O’Quinn Medical Tower at the McNair Campus. As interim dean of research and dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Baylor, Carolyn Smith says, with the new center, Baylor is “advancing medicine by taking innovations made in the lab and moving them to the bedside.”

The debut trial to take place at the center enrolled its first patient this month. It will test a novel therapy that targets a mutation commonly found in pancreatic and colorectal cancers.

“Phase 1 oncology clinical trials provide patients early access to cutting-edge therapeutics and immunotherapies that are not widely available. Patients in these trials are often selected because their tumors have a molecular feature that is targeted by these therapies,” says Dr. S. Gail Eckhardt, who is Baylor’s Albert and Margaret Alkek endowed chair and serves as associate dean for experimental therapeutics at Baylor and associate director of translational research at the Duncan Cancer Center.

What started as a way to bring natural cleaning products in from overseas has turned into a promising application for more sustainable agriculture solutions. Photo via Pexels

Houston entrepreneur brings natural, sustainable cleaning products to US for farm to table application

clean dream

When something is declared clean, one question invariably springs to mind: just how clean is clean?

Then it is, “What metrics decide what’s clean and what’s not?”

To answer those questions, one must abandon the subjective and delve into the scientific — and that’s where Clean Habits come in. The company has science on its side with Synbio, a patented cleaning formula that combines a unique blend of prebiotics and probiotics for their signature five-day clean.

“Actually, we are a synbiotic, which is a prebiotic and a probiotic fused together,” says Kristy Phillips, founder and CEO of Clean Habits. “And that's what gives us the five-day clean, and we also have the longest shelf life — three years — of any probiotic on the market.”

Phillips learned about the European product almost three months before the COVID-19 pandemic. She had heard of probiotics for gut health but had no idea about probiotic cleaning.

“When COVID actually hit, I went back and really started researching the manufacturer who is based in Europe and all of their pre- and probiotic cleaners,” remembers Phillips. “And I just found it to be so interesting that they were using natural probiotics from the dirt, from the soil, from Mother Earth. And they created this entire product line that they have been using for over 15 years. And they had so many clinical trials and hospital studies and university studies that were showing that these probiotic cleaners were working, and they were reducing bacteria, viruses, even viruses in air.

“Not only were they in the cleaning spray sector, but they were also already in water purification. They were in agriculture for animal house farming. They were doing a big trial in the subway station in Milan, putting the probiotics through a big HVAC system. And I just thought, there must be something here.”

Kristy Phillips is the founder and CEO of Clean Habits. Photo via LinkedIn

Phillips was right. After reaching out to the manufacturer, she asked if they had a distributor here in the United States. They didn't.

“Since they didn’t have a distributor here in the U.S., I got the products and tried them out for myself,” says Phillips. “They were chemical-free, non-toxic and eco-friendly and after comparing them side-by-side with the commercial cleaners we all grew up with like the Lysols, bleach, and 409s, I found that the probiotic cleaners not only worked on surface areas to remove bad bacteria and germs, they continued to work for up to five full days at 100 percent.

“The commercial cleaners did kill 99.99 percent of all bacteria and germs, but they only did it for 30 minutes. And then the bacteria and germs start to grow back. And I am like, you know, nobody tells you that in their marketing. So that is what started my journey on the probiotics and creating a line to bring to the market here in the United States.”

Phillips soon realized that her goal was easier said than done.

“I think the U.S. market is one of the hardest to break into,” says the Houston native. “Trying to launch a brand-new product in the United States, in the cleaning sector, you do have to deal with the FDA and the EPA, there is a big game that you must play. And then you do go up against the big boys, like the Johnson and Johnson's of the world. Everybody is so used to chemical cleaning. And to go and try to change that industry and disrupt it, that can be tough for people.

“And at the time, I felt like it was insane because everyone was living in their house due to COVID and continuing to use commercial cleaners that are backed with chemicals. They were all breathing that in. I felt that was doing us all an injustice, especially when you have these probiotics that are natural, non-toxic, non-chemical and safe to breathe. It does change the game.”

Once Phillips noticed that she was not alone, with companies like Jessica Alba’s The Honest Company and Mrs. Meyer’s with their plant-based cleaning products, she forged full speed ahead with Clean Habits.

Now, more than three years later, her company is making a significant impact.

“I said, OK, I’m not crazy here, I must be on the right path,” says Phillips. “With people starting to recognize that there is a better way to clean, we began to get into retailers like Kroger. Right now, we are in the process of on-boarding with Walmart and are in talks with CVS, Whole Foods, and Costco.”

The biggest signal to Phillips that the word was out on Clean Habits came in the form of a potential celebrity endorsement.

“Howie Mandel, who is a certified germaphobe, reached out to us a couple of weeks ago,” says Phillips, who before her mission to clean up the world, was a producer of reality television. “We are about to do a big campaign with him and the Clean Habits line. People know Howie Mandel. So, he is definitely going to bring more awareness to our brand, which will allow us to start a big, heavy push and hopefully we can just capitalize on it and go from there.”

Moving forward, Phillips’ vision for Clean Habits will extend beyond just traditional cleaning products. She sees that she can also have an impact on the industrial and commercial side of things.

“Right now, we are doing testing in agriculture, and this is something that our manufacturers in Europe have already done and they have been extremely successful with it,” says Phillips. “The goal is to see if we could reduce the use of pesticides in farming and replace it with just misting and spraying with the probiotics.

“We already know that by incorporating the probiotics throughout water systems, that we can actually clean the water and take it back to 100 percent natural water or pure water. We can get rid of E. coli, MRSA, staph. And so, we are going to start working with the state of Texas and into animal house cleaning and farming and cleaning their water.”

Additionally, Clean Habits already has research that proves that by incorporating the probiotics, they can start eliminating the bird flu, which affected a lot of Texas chickens recently to where over 350,000 of them had to be put down.

“We’re really trying to change the faith there in agriculture,” says Phillips. “I mean, to me, it's amazing because when I first started this, I was just trying to launch some cleaning supplies, which is fantastic, but this product is so much more than a multi-purpose cleaning spray, your floor cleaner, your drain cleaner or your laundry detergent. This goes into cleaning water, which is everyone's basic right to have clean water. And the fact that we can do it by using these probiotics, to me, my little brain can't compute that part of it.

“And then when we really did start looking into the agriculture and how, by incorporating the probiotics into the animal house, the cleaning of the water, and putting it into their housing system, that we can reduce methane gas by 41 percent. That is huge. This can profoundly change and revolutionize industries. And to be a part of that, and I am so excited.”

BrainLM is now well-trained enough to use to fine-tune a specific task and to ask questions in other studies. Photo via Getty Images

Houston researchers create AI model to tap into how brain activity relates to illness

brainiac

Houston researchers are part of a team that has created an AI model intended to understand how brain activity relates to behavior and illness.

Scientists from Baylor College of Medicine worked with peers from Yale University, University of Southern California and Idaho State University to make Brain Language Model, or BrainLM. Their research was published as a conference paper at ICLR 2024, a meeting of some of deep learning’s greatest minds.

“For a long time we’ve known that brain activity is related to a person’s behavior and to a lot of illnesses like seizures or Parkinson’s,” Dr. Chadi Abdallah, associate professor in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor and co-corresponding author of the paper, says in a press release. “Functional brain imaging or functional MRIs allow us to look at brain activity throughout the brain, but we previously couldn’t fully capture the dynamic of these activities in time and space using traditional data analytical tools.

"More recently, people started using machine learning to capture the brain complexity and how it relates it to specific illnesses, but that turned out to require enrolling and fully examining thousands of patients with a particular behavior or illness, a very expensive process,” Abdallah continues.

Using 80,000 brain scans, the team was able to train their model to figure out how brain activities related to one another. Over time, this created the BrainLM brain activity foundational model. BrainLM is now well-trained enough to use to fine-tune a specific task and to ask questions in other studies.

Abdallah said that using BrainLM will cut costs significantly for scientists developing treatments for brain disorders. In clinical trials, it can cost “hundreds of millions of dollars,” he said, to enroll numerous patients and treat them over a significant time period. By using BrainLM, researchers can enroll half the subjects because the AI can select the individuals most likely to benefit.

The team found that BrainLM performed successfully in many different samples. That included predicting depression, anxiety and PTSD severity better than other machine learning tools that do not use generative AI.

“We found that BrainLM is performing very well. It is predicting brain activity in a new sample that was hidden from it during the training as well as doing well with data from new scanners and new population,” Abdallah says. “These impressive results were achieved with scans from 40,000 subjects. We are now working on considerably increasing the training dataset. The stronger the model we can build, the more we can do to assist with patient care, such as developing new treatment for mental illnesses or guiding neurosurgery for seizures or DBS.”

For those suffering from neurological and mental health disorders, BrainLM could be a key to unlocking treatments that will make a life-changing difference.

At Rezvani Lab in MD Anderson Cancer Center, scientists train immune cells to fight cancer. Photo via Getty Images

Unique cell therapy developed in Houston doses inaugural patient

cancer-fighting innovation

Replay, a genome-writing company headquartered in San Diego, has announced that its first patient has been dosed with an engineered T-Cell Receptor Natural Killer (TCR-NK) cell therapy for relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

What does that have to do with Houston? Last year, Replay incorporated a first-in-class engineered TCR-NK cell therapy product company, Syena, using technology developed by Dr. Katy Rezvani at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Rezvani, a professor of stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy, is the force behind MD Anderson’s Rezvani Lab, a group of 55 people, all focused on harnessing natural killer cells to combat cancer.

“Everybody thinks that the immune system is fighting viruses and infections, but I feel our immune system is capable of recognizing and killing abnormal cells or cells that are becoming cancerous and they're very powerful. This whole field of immunotherapy really refers to the power of the immune system,” Rezvani tells InnovationMap.

Dr. Katy Rezvani is a professor of stem cell transplantation and cellular therapy and the force behind MD Anderson’s Rezvani Lab, which is focused on harnessing natural killer cells to combat cancer. Photo via mdanderson.org

At Rezvani Lab, scientists train immune cells to fight cancer. While cancer drugs like chemotherapy are still the norm, immunotherapy has gained ground, led by Houston research, including the work of Nobel laureate Jim Allison. The harnessed cells are taught to attack cancerous cells, while ignoring healthy ones, says Rezvani. “We’re turning them into heat-seeking missiles,” she explains.

However, there must be a beacon to signal to those “missiles” that there is something to attack. Much of the field has used chimeric antigen receptors (CARs) to achieve that. But they have limitations.

“CARs can only recognize beacons that sit on the surface of the tumor cells,” Rezvani says. “So basically, it's like the tumor cell has to have a hat on it.”

She says that this usually means that the targets that send off a signal are relatively limited, mostly blood cancers. Using T cell receptors (TCRs) may be able to open up the field to look beyond the “hat.” In other words, TCRs can peer inside cells and see what differentiates a tumor cell from healthy cells. With Replay, Rezvani Lab has developed a first-in-class and first-in-human approach of engineering natural killer cells to express the TCR.

There are six different FDA-approved products that use CAR-T cells, but Rezvani says that her TCR-NK-based technology, though still in its early phases, shows great promise.

“We could use it to target many different types of antigens, many different types of cancers, especially solid tumors," she explains. "These cell therapies have a lot of potential — we call them living drugs… It's not like chemotherapy where you have to keep giving different multiple cycles, these cells are very long lived.”

Rezvani, who started her career in London, says that Houston has been instrumental in the success of her lab.

“There are so many opportunities because we have access to some of the most brilliant minds in research,” Rezvani says. “We have some of the best clinicians in the world. We have patients who come to us who are willing to participate in our clinical trials — really put their trust in us — and are committed and want to participate in these clinical studies.”

The role of funding also plays a part. As Rezvani admitted, bringing a new technology to the market is expensive. The philanthropists who help support trials can’t be forgotten among Houston’s finest.

Whether or not Syena produces the first TCR-NK product on the market, Rezvani is enthusiastic and hopeful for the future of her patients.

“The field of immunotherapy is really expanding, the field of cell therapies is expanding, and there is so much promise,” she says. “The promise of AI, big data, all the engineering tools that we have available, the promise of CRISPR — all of that is going to bring what we've learned from biology, from basic science, together to help us make the cell therapies that are going to be safe and and also very effective for our patients.”

VenoStent's innovative medical device is officially enrolling subjects in a clinical trial. Image courtesy of VenoStent

Houston startup with unique vascular innovation enrolls subjects in new trial

medical device momentum

A Houston-based company has enrolled the initial subjects in a first-of-its-kind trial.

VenoStent was created to improve vascular surgery outcomes for patients undergoing arteriovenous fistula (AVF) creation surgery.

“When a vein is connected to an artery, as in AVF creation, the vein experiences a 10x increase in pressure and flow that is traumatizing to veins. Many fail to become usable for dialysis,” Geoffrey Lucks, VenoStent COO and co-founder, says in a news release.

Enter VenoStent’s SelfWrap Bioabsorbable Perivascular Wrap, better known as simply SelfWrap. In May 2023, SelfWrap gained FDA approval to begin its US IDE Study, SAVE-FistulaS: The SelfWrap-Assisted ArterioVEnous Fistula Study.

Roughly half a million Americans need hemodialysis just to survive another day. Nearly all of those patients require a vascular access creation surgery, but the procedure has a 50-percent failure rate in its first year. VenoStent and SelfWrap are aimed at improving those odds. It works by using the body’s own healing mechanism.

SelfWrap is a flexible, bioabsorbable vascular wrap that helps to recreate the arterial environment in veins. Over time, the body replaces the SelfWrap with venous tissue.

The company has begun to enroll patients for what will eventually be a 200-subject study. Some of those people have radiocephalic fistulas, others have brachiocephalic ones. This is important, because it will likely prove that the technology works for most types of AVFs. The sites for this clinical trial are at the Surgical Specialists of Charlotte, P.A. in Charlotte, NC, and the Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons in Austin.

“While it’s ambitious and sets a high bar for FDA Approval, we owe it to the chronic kidney disease (CKD) patient community to provide the highest level of clinical evidence,” Timothy Boire, CEO and cofounder, says in the release. “We’re confident based on years of preclinical and clinical data that we’ll demonstrate superiority to standard of care with this breakthrough technology.”

VenoStent recently completed a $16 million Series A, financed by Good Growth Capital and IAG Capital. This is the first-ever randomized controlled trial of a medical device designed to improve outcomes from arteriovenous fistula (AVF) creation surgery in the United States.

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Top innovators: 2024 Houston Innovation Awards finalists revealed

best of the rest

After nearly 300 nominations, InnovationMap and its group of judges are ready to reveal the finalists for this year's Houston Innovation Awards.

Taking place on Thursday, November 14, the Houston Innovation Awards celebrates all of Houston's innovation ecosystem — startups, entrepreneurs, investors, mentors, and more. Over 50 finalists will be recognized in particular for their achievements across 13 categories, which includes the 2024 Trailblazer Legacy Awards that were announced earlier this month.

Scroll down to see the 2024 Houston Innovation Awards finalists.

This year, 35 startups, 14 individuals, and six organizations will all be recognized, and winners will be named at the event. The finalists were decided by this year's judges after they reviewed over 130 applications.

If you are interested in sponsorship opportunities, please reach out to sales@innovationmap.com. If you have questions about the Houston Innovation Awards, email awards@innovationmap.com.

Minority-founded business, honoring an innovative startup founded or co-founded by BIPOC or LGBTQ+ representation

  • CLS Wind, a self-erection wind turbine tower system provider for the wind energy industry
  • Corrolytics, a technology startup founded to solve microbiologically influenced corrosion problems for Industrial assets
  • Gold H2, a startup that's transforming depleted oil fields into hydrogen-producing assets utilizing existing infrastructure
  • Nap Bar, a white-glove rest sanctuary, with an integration of artificial intelligence for professionals, entrepreneurs, and travelers to rest, recharge, and rejuvenate
  • Speakerbox Media, a B2B video agency that turns experts into thought leaders with engaging webinars and video podcasts, providing end-to-end content strategy and production.

Female-founded business, honoring an innovative startup founded or co-founded by a woman

  • Dauntless XR, a developer of extended reality software
  • EveryDopeGirl, a community building an interracial and intergenerational culture of support amongst women globally
  • Koda Health, provider of a tech-enabled care coordination service for improving serious illness care planning
  • March Biosciences, a clinical-stage cell therapy company with a mission to transform patient care in the most challenging hematological malignancies
  • nVenue, machine learning and AI technology provider that generates and delivers real-time odds and predictive analytics to sportsbooks and media

Energy transition business, honoring an innovative startup providing a solution within renewables, climatetech, clean energy, alternative materials, circular economy, and beyond

  • Amperon, an AI platform powering the smart grid of the future
  • ARIX Technologies, an integrated robotics and data analytics company that delivers inspection services through its robotics platforms
  • Elementium Innovations, a battery technology with liquid electrolyte solutions
  • InnoVent Renewables, a startup with proprietary continuous pyrolysis technology that converts waste tires, plastics, and biomass into valuable fuels and chemicals
  • Sage Geosystems, an energy company focused on developing and deploying advanced geothermal technologies to provide reliable power and sustainable energy storage solutions regardless of geography
  • Tierra Climate, a software provider that helps grid-scale batteries reduce carbon emissions

Health tech business, honoring an innovative startup within the health and medical technology

  • Allterum Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company creating a treatment for cancer
  • Bairitone Health, an AI-driven, sonar-based diagnostic imaging technology platform
  • Ictero Medical, a medical device company developing the first minimally-invasive cryoablation solution to treat gallstone disease
  • InformAI, a technology company dedicated to advancing healthcare through the development of AI-driven solutions in radiology, oncology and transplant surgery
  • Koda Health, provider of a tech-enabled care coordination service for improving serious illness care planning
  • March Biosciences, a clinical-stage cell therapy company with a mission to transform patient care in the most challenging hematological malignancies

AI/data science business, honoring an innovative startup utilizing artificial intelligence and data science within a tech solution

  • ARIX Technologies, an integrated robotics and data analytics company that delivers inspection services through its robotics platforms
  • Cognitive Space, an automated satellite operations provider that enables constellations to scale
  • Enovate Ai, a provider of business and operational process optimization for decarbonization and energy independence
  • nVenue, machine learning and AI technology provider that generates and delivers real-time odds and predictive analytics to sportsbooks and media
  • Voyager Portal, a software plaform that helps commodity traders and manufacturers in the O&G, chemicals, agriculture, mining, and project cargo sectors optimize the voyage management lifecycle

Deep tech business, honoring an innovative startup providing technology solutions based on substantial scientific or engineering challenges

  • FluxWorks, developer and manufacturer of magnetic gears and magnetic gear-integrated motors
  • Gold H2, a startup that's transforming depleted oil fields into hydrogen-producing assets utilizing existing infrastructure
  • Hertha Metals, developer of a technology that cost-effectively produces steel with fewer carbon emissions
  • Venus Aerospace, a deep tech company developing reusable hypersonic technology for aviation, defense, and beyond

Scaleup of the year, honoring an innovative later stage startup that's recently reached a significant milestone in company growth

  • Cart.com, a unified commerce and logistics solutions provider for B2C and B2B companies
  • Coya Therapeutics, a clinical-stage company developing therapies for neurodegenerative, autoimmune, and metabolic diseases
  • NanoTech Materials, a chemical manufacturer that integrates novel heat-control technology with thermal insulation, fireproofing, and cool roof coatings to drastically improve efficiency and safety
  • Square Robot, an advanced robotics company serving the energy industry and beyond by providing submersible robots for storage tank inspections
  • Syzygy Plasmonics, a company that's decarbonizing chemical production with a light-powered reactor platform that electrifies the production of hydrogen, syngas, and fuel with reliable, low-cost solutions

People’s choice: Startup of the Year, a startup celebrating a recent milestone or success and the winner will be selected by the community via online portal and announced at the event

  • Corrolytics, a technology startup founded to solve microbiologically influenced corrosion problems for Industrial assets
  • FlowCare, a startup advocating for free menstruation products in business and academic settings
  • InnoVent Renewables, a startup with proprietary continuous pyrolysis technology that converts waste tires, plastics, and biomass into valuable fuels and chemicals
  • MendIt, an app that quickly and easily connects users to professionals who specialize in mending and repairing clothing
  • Passport Journeys, an app connects mother-daughter pairs with licensed therapists
  • TrueLeap, an education technology company on a mission to accelerate access to quality education for emerging markets by integrating e-learning software, content, training, analytics, and community

Community champion organization, honoring a corporation, nonprofit, university, or other organization that plays a major role in the Houston innovation community

  • Energy Tech Nexus, a new global energy and carbon tech hub focusing on hard tech solutions that provides mentor, accelerator and educational programs for entrepreneurs and underserved communities.
  • Greentown Houston, a climatetech incubator and convener for the energy transition community that provides community engagement and programming in partnership with corporations and other organizations.
  • Houston Angel Network, supports Houston startups with capital, connections, and counsel and provides accredited investors access to startup deals in which they can invest, both locally and nationally.
  • Impact Hub Houston, a nonprofit that serves as a pivotal hub within the city's innovation ecosystem, fostering a dynamic environment where changemakers, entrepreneurs, and community leaders converge to drive social impact and innovation forward.
  • Microsoft, a global tech company that supports the local innovation ecosystem with mentorship and opportunities in underserved communities.
  • University of Houston, a Tier One research institution that fosters entrepreneurship, innovation, and commercialization of new technologies and leverages its research capabilities and diverse student body.

Ecosystem builder, honoring an individual who has acted as a leader in developing Houston’s startup ecosystem

Investor of the year, honoring an individual who is leading venture capital or angel investing

Mentor of the year, honoring an individual who dedicates their time and expertise to guide and support to budding entrepreneurs

Houston startup expands DOD partnership to provide clean energy at Texas site

seeing green

Expanding on its partnership with the United States Department of Defense's Defense Innovation Unit, Sage Geosystems has been selected to conduct geothermal project development initiatives at Naval Air Station in Corpus Christi.

Along with the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program, Sage will provide its proprietary Geopressured Geothermal Systems technology, will be able to evaluate the potential for geothermal baseload power generation to provide clean and consistent energy at the Naval Air Station base.

“We’re pleased to expand our partnership with the DOD at NAS Corpus Christi to demonstrate the advantages of geothermal technology for military energy independence,” Cindy Taff, CEO of Sage Geosystems, says in a news release.

Sage is also conducting initiatives at Fort Bliss and has completed an analysis at the Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base. The analyses could “pave the way for expanding geothermal energy solutions across additional U.S. military installations,” according to Sage.

The company’s proprietary technology works by leveraging hot dry rock, which is a more abundant geothermal resource compared to traditional hydrothermal formations, and it provides energy resilience for infrastructures. In addition, Sage is building a 3 megawatt commercial EarthStore geothermal energy storage facility in Christine, Texas, which is expected to be completed by December. Sage also announced a partnership with Meta Platforms. With Meta Platforms, Sage will deliver up to 150 megawatt of geothermal power generation east of the Rocky Mountains.

The Naval Air Station Corpus Christi is considered a critical training and operations hub for the U.S. Navy, and the partnership with Sage shows the Navy's commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2045. Sage’s technology will be assessed for its ability to create a microgrid, which can reduce reliance on the utility grid and ensure power supply during outages.

“As we advance our Geopressured Geothermal Systems, we see tremendous potential to not only provide carbon-free power, but also strengthen the operational capabilities of U.S. military installations in an increasingly digital and electric world,” Taff adds.

In September, the Air Force awarded Sage a grant of $1.9 million in a first-of-its kind contract to determine whether a power plant using Geopressured Geothermal Systems is able to generate clean energy needed for a base to achieve energy resilience.

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This article originally ran on EnergyCapital.

3 Houston innovators to know this week

who's who

Editor's note: Every week, I introduce you to a handful of Houston innovators to know recently making headlines with news of innovative technology, investment activity, and more. This week's batch includes three Houston startup founders celebrating big wins.

Shreyans Chopra, founder of Mstack

Shreyans Chopra, founder of Mstack, is celebrating the close of his company's $40 million series A. Photo courtesy of Mstack

Houston-based Mstack, whose platform helps manufacturers source specialty chemicals, has raised $40 million in a series A funding round. The company says the infusion of cash will enable it to “double down on its mission to disrupt a historically flawed supply chain for specialty chemicals.”

“This new funding affirms investor confidence in our vision and technology to transform global markets. It enables us to expand geographically and intensify our R&D efforts,” Mstack founder Shreyans Chopra says. Read more.

Scott Deans, co-founder and CEO of BeOne Sports

Rice University's athletic programs will be supported by Houston startup BeOne Sports' technology. Photo via LinkedIn

Rice University — in an effort to enhance athletics and research-driven innovation — has formed a partnership with a startup founded by its alumni.

BeOne Sports, a sports performance technology company developed a platform for mobile motion-capture AI and advanced data analytics, will integrate its technology within Rice's sports medicine and rehabilitation programs.

“BeOne Sports was born from the collaborative environment at Rice, where business leaders and engineers work together to solve real-world problems” Scott Deans, co-founder and CEO of BeOne Sports, says. “Our mission is to provide cutting-edge technology to maximize potential in the simplest, fastest and most versatile ways possible. This partnership with Rice is an exciting step toward democratizing access to sports technology for athletes and coaches at all levels.” Read more.

Henal Patel, founder and CEO of DocJuris

Henal Patel, CEO of DocJurisDocJuris has raised its first round of venture funding to grow its team to keep up with demand for its legal software platform. Photo courtesy of DocJuris

Houston-based DocJuris, a leader in AI contract review, announced the successful closure of its series A funding round by raising $8 million in new capital. This brings the total capital raised to date to $11.2 million.

"DocJuris AI has become an industry-leading platform that empowers enterprise legal, procurement, and sales teams to close deals faster while reducing risk," DocJuris CEO and Founder Henal Patel says in a news release. "With this funding, we will continue scaffolding our platform around generative AI, expand our customer success team, and grow our user base." Read more.

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