University of Houston launches innovation lab focused on the shopping experience

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The University of Houston's College of Technology is looking to optimize the shopping experience. Photo via UH.edu

A new AI-powered lab at the University of Houston will supply real-time intelligence about the behavior of retail shoppers to help spur development of new technology for the retail industry.

The University of Houston College of Technology and Houston-based Relationshop announced the launch of the AI Retail Innovation Lab on November 10. Relationshop provides digital engagement and shopper loyalty technology to customers like Albertsons, United Supermarkets, Save On Foods, Market Street, and Big Y Foods.

The cloud-based lab, located at the College of Technology building in Sugar Land, will enable students, faculty, and industry professionals from across the U.S. to sift through in-store and online shopper data and then come up with new technology for the retail sector.

"This academic and commercial partnership with Relationshop accelerates the understanding and advancement of applied technology to keep pace with the unparalleled growth of digital retail as a result of COVID," Anthony Ambler, dean of the UH College of Technology, says in a news release.

The news release indicates new technology arising from the lab-supplied data "will optimize the shopper journey through more personalized and curated digital interactions across all forms of digital engagement and commerce … ."

Randy Crimmins, president of Relationshop, says his company will work alongside UH faculty and data science teams to advance the use of AI and big data in the retail sector.

"We see this partnership as a perfect blending of our strengths, with great synergy in the incredible work they are doing in academia, and our key areas of focus and experience in the retail marketplace," Crimmins says.

The AI lab, part of the College of Technology's Advanced Technology Innovation & Research Center, also will be a hub for industry training, undergraduate and graduate studies, and other initiatives.

The lab's activities will be carried out in concert with the AI Innovation Consortium, a think tank of IT and advanced technology thought leaders. Aside from UH, members of the consortium include Pennsylvania State University, Louisiana State University, and the University of Louisville.

The UH announcement comes two days after the official debut of a retail innovation lab at McGill University in Montreal. The lab, which includes a "fully frictionless" Couche-Tard Connecté convenience store, fosters collaboration among key players in the retail, emerging technology, and startup communities.

"By combining artificial intelligence and retail management, this retail innovation lab at the Bensadoun School of Retail Management will allow our researchers to develop new initiatives and technologies to improve the customer experience for the retail sector with the help of industry partners," says professor Morty Yalovsky, dean of McGill's Desautels Faculty of Management.

In the U.S., Alimentation Couche-Tard is the parent company of the Circle K chain of convenience stores. Circle K currently is rolling out frictionless technology, including AI-supported self-checkout systems, at stores in Tempe and Tucson, Arizona.

UH's Sugar Land campus has a new innovation hub focused on machine learning in the energy industry. Photo via UH.edu

University of Houston launches new AI lab geared toward oilfield tech

The University of Houston at Sugar Land is now home to an innovative lab that will work to find new ways to use artificial intelligence in the oilfield.

Dubbed the Artificial Intelligence Industry Incubator and Digital Oilfield Lab at the University of Houston, the facility will allow faculty, students, and energy professionals to develop technologies and solutions to increase efficiency and boost oil field safety through machine learning, according to a release from UH.

The lab opened in late 2020 and is part of the College of Technology's Advanced Technology and Innovation Laboratory. It represents a partnership with the UH College of Technology and the AI Innovation Consortium based in Louisville, Kentucky.

The consortium also includes Pennsylvania State University, the University of Louisville, Louisiana State University, and a number of corporations.

According to the release from UH, several companies have already agreed to work with the lab on projects that will find ways to use AI for predictive analytics, visual inspection, and health and safety measures.

"This incubator program emphasizes the need to build projects grounded in clear business value, with technologically rich and hands-on initiatives, and an engaging industry/academia partnership," Konrad Konarski, chair and director of operations at AIIC, says in a statement. "This allows us to focus on the most relevant AI technologies that have immediate impact and value to the oil and gas industry."

Too, the lab aims to provide students with valuable experiences that they can likely leverage into a job upon graduation.

"The laboratory and incubator will allow our students to contribute to the various applied research and proof of concept work currently underway and in the future," David Crawley, professor of practice in the College of Technology, says in a statement. "This includes working with the AIIC's commercial partners to create opportunities to move their incubator experience and advanced academic background into jobs at participating operations."

The university has also made headway in recent months using machine learning to better the search for "super hard" materials, such as diamonds. It also launched a new drug discovery institute in November.
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Houston startup raises $6M to scale home-based healthcare platform

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As healthcare systems race to expand care beyond hospitals and into the home, investors are placing bigger bets on the infrastructure needed to make that shift possible.

This month, Rosarium Health announced it has raised $6 million in seed funding led by Kalos Ventures, with participation from ResilienceVC, Rock Health Capital, Symphonic Capital, Black Tech Nations Ventures and others.

The investment will help the Houston-based startup continue to build its platform, which features a national network of 800-plus clinicians and 3,000-plus contractors to coordinate home accessibility upgrades and modifications for seniors and people living with disabilities.

For founder and CEO Cameron Carter, the company’s mission grew out of firsthand caregiving experiences.

“From my own personal caregiving experiences, I realized that the benefits exist on paper, but not in reality,” Carter said in a news release. “Families are being left to figure out the paperwork and installations all on their own, which shouldn’t be how this works.”

While Medicare Advantage and Medicaid plans have expanded coverage for home-based services and accessibility modifications, the logistics behind delivering those services often remain fragmented.

Rosarium’s platform coordinates the entire process, from clinical assessments and referrals to contractor management, documentation, reimbursement and installation.

“A clinician can document that a home isn’t safe and a plan can approve a benefit, but there’s no one that’s responsible for making sure the work actually gets done,” Carter says. “We built the missing piece.”

The company was founded in 2021 as Rose Health and was a 2023 participant in the Texas Medical Center’s Accelerator for HealthTech program. It has scaled quickly, building a network of more than 800 clinicians and 3,000 contractors across 34 states.

Rosarium is currently in-network for 1.2 million Medicare and Medicaid lives, with projected coverage expected to reach nearly 4 million by the end of the year, according to the release.

“We’re excited to back Cameron because he and the team at Rosarium are building the infrastructure healthcare needs right now to make the home a safe and comfortable place of care,” Kate Ballinger, investor at Kalos Ventures, added in the release.

As part of the recent investment, Ballinger will join Rosarium’s board of directors.

With eyes on the future, Rosarium plans to grow its partnerships with Medicaid and Medicare Advantage plans, including CalViva and Community Health Plan of Imperial Valley, strengthening its presence in California while expanding access to underserved communities.

Additionally, Carter predicts that home-based healthcare will be part of a broader transformation happening across the industry.

“There’s a growing recognition that health outcomes are shaped by what happens in the home,” he said in the release. “The future of healthcare isn’t just treating people after something goes wrong. It’s creating environments that help prevent those problems in the first place.”

Houston business mogul Tilman Fertitta acquires Caesars in $17.6B deal

Money Moves

Houston billionaire Tilman Fertitta may currently be serving as America’s ambassador to Italy, but his company is as busy as ever. Fresh off its move to revive the Houston Comets WNBA franchise, his company, Fertitta Entertainment, has announced a $17.6 billion deal to acquire Caesars Entertainment, Inc.

Speculation about the deal has been circulating since at least March, according to various media reports. The deal combines Fertitta’s well-known Golden Nugget casino brand with all of the properties in the Caesars’ portfolio, including Las Vegas hotels Caesars Palace, Harrah's, Paris Las Vegas, Planet Hollywood, Horseshoe, The LINQ Hotel, Flamingo, and The Cromwell.

Overall, the combined company will include 60 domestic casino resorts and gaming facilities; online gaming including sports betting, iCasino, and Caesar’s online poker platform; retail sports betting at over 200 third-party locations through the William Hill brand; and over 550 Fertitta Entertainment outlets, including more than 450 Landry's full-service restaurants across America. The companies will combine their loyalty programs, Caesars Rewards, Golden Nugget's 24 Karat Select Club, and Landry's Select Club.

The terms will see Caesars’ shareholders receive $31 per share. Fertitta Entertainment will also acquire approximately $11.9 billion of Caesars' outstanding debt.

The transaction will be financed through a combination of equity contributed by Fertitta Entertainment, assumed Caesars' debt, and new committed debt financing arranged by a group consisting of 10 banks. It is subject to approval by Caesars’ shareholders and government regulators.

Fertitta Entertainment is the Houston-based company behind a diverse array of hospitality businesses, including The Golden Nugget, The Post Oak Hotel, River Oaks District, the Kemah Boardwalk, and Houston’s Downtown Aquarium.

It also operates a number of prominent restaurant brands, including Mastro's Restaurants, Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse, Morton's The Steakhouse, The Palm, McCormick & Schmick's, Landry's Seafood House, The Oceanaire Seafood Room, and Saltgrass Steak House.

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This article first appeared on CultureMap.com.

4 Houston-area institutions get $8M for cancer research facilities

fighting cancer

Cancer research capabilities in the Houston area just got an $8 million boost.

On Wednesday, May 20, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) awarded $8 million in grants to institutions in Houston and Bryan for the creation or expansion of so-called “core” cancer research facilities.

“Core facilities provide shared access to advanced technology, equipment, and scientific expertise that may not be available at every institution,” CPRIT says. “These core facilities are vital to not only cancer research but also to the study of diseases beyond cancer.”

Houston-area recipients of these $2 million grants are:

  • A facility at the University of Texas Health Science Center for preclinical support of cancer researchers in Texas to evaluate new safe, effective drugs and drug combinations.
  • The Accelerator for Cancer Therapeutics, operated by Houston’s Texas Medical Center Foundation. The accelerator helps researchers and startups move innovative cancer treatments from the lab to clinical trials.
  • Rice University’s Genetic Design & Engineering Center in Houston. The center enables researchers to collaborate on studies of custom DNA for cancer treatment.
  • A facility at the Texas A&M University System’s Health Science Center in Bryan that aims to speed up the development of cancer therapies.

In addition to those grants, the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Methodist Hospital Research Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, and Rice University shared $21 million to recruit cancer researchers from other institutions.

The largest of those grants—totalling $4 million—went to M.D. Anderson for the recruitment of renowned cancer researcher Andre Nussenzweig from the National Institutes of Health. His research focuses on how DNA damage and faulty DNA repairs lead to cancer.

Here are the totals for the other CPRIT grants awarded in the Houston area:

  • $12.8 million to Houston-based Indapta Therapeutics for the development of an off-the-shelf therapy that naturally kills cancer cells, combined with an immunity-targeting agent for a type of leukemia.
  • $11.1 million to MD Anderson, including $5 million for a statewide platform to improve long-term health outcomes in adolescents and young adults who survived cancer.
  • $8.4 million to Baylor College of Medicine, including $4.8 million for two training programs for cancer researchers.
  • $6.25 million to UT Health Houston, including $4 million for a biomedical informatics and genomics training program for cancer researchers.
  • $4.4 million to the Texas A&M Health Science Center’s Houston campus, including $2.4 million for a cancer therapeutics training program.
  • $2.75 million to Rice, including $250,000 for a study of ovarian cancer.
  • $2 million to Houston-based March Biosciences for the development of a targeted therapy for treating T-cell lymphoma.
  • $1.15 million to the University of Houston, including $900,000 for a platform for detection of lung cancer.
  • $900,000 to Texas A&M in Bryan to conduct clinical drug trials in rural and underserved communities around the state.
  • $800,000 to Houston- and Israel-based Xerient Pharma for the development of an oral form of a cell-protecting drug called amifostine to protect the upper GI tract from radiation damage during pancreatic cancer treatment.
  • $659,000 to Missouri City-based OmniNano Pharmaceuticals for the development of a two-drug combination to treat the most common form of pancreatic cancer.
  • $250,000 to the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston for a novel therapeutic to prevent colitis-related colorectal cancer.
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