3 Houston innovators to know this week

who's who

This week's Houston innovators to know includes Jon Lambert of The Cannon, Catherine Koerner of NASA, and Colton Robey of Revere Resources. Photos courtesy

Editor'snote: As we start on another week, it's time to introduce you to three movers and shakers within science, tech, and innovation in Houston. This week, we have a startup leader taking coworking online, a new NASA exec with moon-bound plans, and an entrepreneur looking out for mineral rights owners.

Jon Lambert, CEO of The Cannon

Jon Lambert, CEO of The Cannon, joins the Houston Innovators Podcast to discuss Cannon Connect and the growth of The Cannon. Photo courtesy of The Cannon

When Jon Lambert joined The Cannon as CEO, he was ready to hit the ground running to expand the coworking and entrepreneurial hub concept across Houston and beyond — and, six months in, he was doing just that. Then, a pandemic hit and he and his team were forced to rethink how to grow.

The Cannon Connect, a virtual platform that exists to recreate The Cannon community online, launched a few weeks ago. Now, Lambert is focused on developing the platform to be a tool for new markets The Cannon plans to expand into.

"[We can] bring the players of the ecosystem together inside the digital component so that we can then use those connections and that dialogue to then determine the right time and place to do the physical hub development," Lambert says, adding that the these pre-pandemic conversations have picked up again. "That's where we are right now." Read more.

Catherine Koerner, manager of NASA's Orion Program

Catherine Koerner is leading the Orion Program from Houston's Johnson Space Center. Photo courtesy of NASA

Earlier this month, Catherine Koerner was named to be the new manager of NASA's Orion Program, the spacecraft that will be used for the moon-bound Artemis missions. According to a press release, Koerner's position was effective Tuesday, September 8, and will be based at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

"I'm honored to be selected as the Orion Program Manager. Orion is a key element of the agency's Artemis infrastructure, and I look forward to leading the team responsible for developing and building America's deep space human spacecraft," Koerner says in the release. "Next year we'll be launching the Artemis I test flight — a major milestone — and the first of the Artemis mission series on our way to putting the first woman and the next man on the Moon." Read more.

Colton Robey, co-founder and senior vice president of Revere Resource

Colton Robey started Revere Resources to help mineral rights owners protect themselves from bad actors. Photo courtesy of Revere Resources

A few years ago, Colton Robey helped protect his grandmother from an unfair transaction within the mineral rights space, and it led to an idea for a company. So, he teamed up with other leaders in the oil, tech, and finance industries to found Revere Resources to help landowners like his grandmother make the right decisions for their assets.

Their recently launched online resource, RevereNet, provides a dollar figure and geographic view of an owner's mineral composition along with the historical value and extensive data on wells and well locations, giving owners the information they need to get the best deal.

"Our team has all worked in different capacities at different private equity-backed mineral rights funds," says Robey. "And it all came together after somebody tried to buy my grandmother's mineral rights unjustly, it wasn't until that moment that I realized that bad actors are prevalent in the industry." Read more.

A group of Houston entrepreneurs have created a technology to advocate for mineral rights owners. Photo via Getty Images

Houston company creates platform to help protect people's mineral rights

underground business

When a landman used predatory tactics to lure his grandma into selling her mineral rights, a Houston entrepreneur stepped in, and now he's empowering landowners with knowledge and advocating for transparency for mineral buying in the oil and gas industry.

"Whether a potential seller conducts a sale with us or not, our goal is to educate families through RevereNet so they can understand what is happening in the market and protect themselves financially," says Colton Robey, co-founder and senior vice president of Revere Resources.

Robey teamed up with other leaders in the oil, tech, and finance industries to found Revere Resources to help landowners like his grandmother make the right decisions for their assets. Their recently launched online resource, RevereNet, provides a dollar figure and geographic view of an owner's mineral composition along with the historical value and extensive data on wells and well locations, giving owners the information they need to get the best deal.

Robey and his partners are guided by the guiding principle of transparency and honesty, even going as far as helping clients get better deals with other mineral buying companies if they beat their price.

"The data we collect allows us to gain a whole picture of the deal, so often of times we're not their natural highest bidder," says Robey. "However, we know the ins and out of the business and have helped our clients find better deals."

With RevereNet, they add a whole new layer of technology that is seldom seen in the archaic mineral rights sector, allowing landowners to check the value of their assets as easy as checking their stock portfolio.

"We believe this market is ripe for new technology," says Robey. "There are a lot of dinosaurs in this industry that need change, we collect tons of data and our online resource gives valuable information for free 365 days a week and 24/7 which definitely makes us more tech-driven than a lot of folks."

The project, which was already in production when the coronavirus pandemic changed the way we live and work, was rolled out quickly to meet landowner's immediate needs for data.

"We knew that during this time on uncertainty, a lot of people might be looking to divest," says Robey. "We're not brokers or flippers, we're long-term investors, and as mineral rights owners ourselves, I think that puts us in a different boat that other mineral rights companies."

With the successful launch of RevereNet, the team hopes to expand their efforts into new frontiers — getting this service into the hands of everyone in Texas.

"We know that only comes with people getting comfortable with learning what it is they own," says Robey. "We hope that over time we can educate landowners that can give them the confidence to manage their assets in the best financially beneficial way possible for them and their families."

The Revere Resources team wants to get all Texans on RevereNet. Photo courtesy of Revere

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Health tech startup launches Houston study improve stroke patients recovery

now enrolling

A Houston-born company is enrolling patients in a study to test the efficacy of nerve stimulation to improve outcomes for stroke survivors.

Dr. Kirt Gill and Joe Upchurch founded NeuraStasis in 2021 as part of the TMC Biodesign fellowship program.

“The idea for the company manifested during that year because both Joe and I had experiences with stroke survivors in our own lives,” Gill tells InnovationMap. It began for Gill when his former college roommate had a stroke in his twenties.

“It’s a very unpredictable, sudden disease with ramifications not just for my best friend but for everyone in his life. I saw what it did to his family and caregivers and it's one of those things that doesn't have as many solutions for people to continue recovery and to prevent damage and that's an area that I wanted to focus myself on in my career,” Gill explains.

Gill and Upchurch arrived at the trigeminal and vagus nerves as a potential key to helping stroke patients. Gill says that there is a growing amount of academic literature that talks about the efficacy of stimulating those nerves. The co-founders met Dr. Sean Savitz, the director of the UTHealth Institute for Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases, during their fellowship. He is now their principal investigator for their clinical feasibility study, located at his facility.

The treatment is targeted for patients who have suffered an ischemic stroke, meaning that it’s caused by a blockage of blood flow to the brain.

“Rehabilitation after a stroke is intended to help the brain develop new networks to compensate for permanently damaged areas,” Gill says. “But the recovery process typically slows to essentially a standstill or plateau by three to six months after that stroke. The result is that the majority of stroke survivors, around 7.6 million in the US alone, live with a form of disability that prevents complete independence afterwards.”

NeuraStasis’ technology is intended to help patients who are past that window. They accomplish that with a non-invasive brain-stimulation device that targets the trigeminal and vagus nerves.

“Think of it kind of like a wearable headset that enables stimulation to be delivered, paired to survivors going through rehabilitation action. So the goal here is to help reinforce and rewire networks as they're performing specific tasks that they're looking to improve upon,” Gill explains.

The study, which hopes to enroll around 25 subjects, is intended to help people with residual arm and hand deficits six months or more after their ischemic stroke. The patients enrolled will receive nerve stimulation three times a week for six weeks. It’s in this window that Gill says he hopes to see meaningful improvement in patients’ upper extremity deficits.

Though NeuraStasis currently boasts just its two co-founders as full-time employees, the company is seeing healthy growth. It was selected for a $1.1 million award from the National Institutes of Health through its Blueprint MedTech program. The award was funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. The funding furthers NeuraStasis’ work for two years, and supports product development for work on acute stroke and for another product that will aid in emergency situations.

Gill says that he believes “Houston has been tailor-made for medical healthcare-focused innovation.”

NeuraStasis, he continues, has benefited greatly from its advisors and mentors from throughout the TMC, as well as the engineering talent from Rice, University of Houston and Texas A&M. And the entrepreneur says that he hopes that Houston will benefit as much from NeuraStasis’ technology as the company has from its hometown.

“I know that there are people within the community that could benefit from our device,” he says.

Latest Houston health tech news dominates this week's top stories

trending news

Editor's note:Let's roundup the top Houston innovation news from the week. Trending Houston tech and startup articles on InnovationMap included introducing the Texas Medical Center's ongoing cohort, generative AI at Baylor College of Medicine, and more.

TMC names latest cohort of health tech innovators for 2024 program

Here are the eight companies currently being accelerated by Texas Medical Center Innovation. Photo courtesy of TMC

The Texas Medical Center Innovation has named its new cohort of health tech companies it's currently accelerating.

This first batch of companies for 2024 was selected from last fall's TMC Bootcamp. Eight of the 10 startups from the bootcamp have moved on to the Accelerator for HealthTech.

"Hailing from diverse corners of the globe—from the tech corridors of Texas and California to Ireland and Australia—these companies converge with a shared mission—to move healthcare forward," Devin Dunn, head of the Accelerator for Health Tech, writes in a TMC blog post. "Through personalized mentorship and guidance, these eight companies are able to navigate complex challenges and refine their strategies, while leveraging the expertise of Texas Medical Center ecosystem to validate their innovations and drive real-world impact." Continue reading.

Houston researches tap into GenAI for communicating genetic test results

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine’s Human Genome Sequencing Center have trained an AI assistant to explain genetic test results to patients. Photo via Getty Images

Artificial intelligence in the health care setting has a lot of potential, and one Houston institution is looking into one particular use.

Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine’s Human Genome Sequencing Center have trained an AI assistant to explain genetic test results to patients. According to findings published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA), the team has developed generative AI to understand and interpret genetic tests. They have also tested its accuracy against Open AI’s ChatGPT 3.5.

“We created a chatbot that can provide guidance on general pharmacogenomic testing, dosage implications, and the side effects of therapeutics, and address patient concerns,” explains first author Mullai Murugan in a press release. Murugan is director of software engineering and programming at the Human Genome Sequencing Center. “We see this tool as a superpowered assistant that can increase accessibility and help both physicians and patients answer questions about genetic test results.” Continue reading.

2 Houston cleantech companies named to top 10 ranking of innovative energy

Fervo Energy and Syzygy Plasmonics were recognized for their energy innovation. Photo via Getty Images

A pair of Houston energy startups have been named among the 10 most innovative energy companies for 2024.

Fast Company magazine just placed Fervo Energy and Syzygy Plasmonics on its energy innovation list. In all, 606 companies and organizations across a variety of industries were recognized for “reshaping industries and culture.”

Fervo produces carbon-free geothermal energy. Its existing geothermal project is in Nevada, and it’s building a geothermal project in Utah. The company recently raised $244 million.

“Solar and wind are cheap, but they don’t provide the kind of always-on dispatchable electricity that hydropower, hydrogen, and nuclear do; even at current high prices, enhanced geothermal is still cheaper than those other sources,” Fast Company notes. Continue reading.

University of Houston names new leaders within innovation, tech

Haleh Ardebili (left) has been appointed as assistant vice president of Entrepreneurship and Startup Ecosystem, and Michael Harold as assistant vice president for Intellectual Property and Industrial Engagements at the University of Houston. Photo via UH

Two professors have assumed new leadership roles in the University of Houston’s Office of Technology, Transfer, and Innovation.

Haleh Ardebili, the Kamel Salama Endowed Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has been named assistant vice president of entrepreneurship and startup ecosystem. Michael Harold, Cullen Engineering Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, has been named assistant vice president for intellectual property and industrial engagements.

Ardebili and Harold “are both tested leaders in their respective areas —they are already contributing to our rich academic environment with their knowledge, expertise and commitment to innovation,” says Ramanan Krishnamoorti, vice president for energy and innovation at UH, in a statement. “Having them helm our growing team will help UH continue its culture of innovation and contribution to society.” Continue reading.

Houston startup recognized for inclusivity on journey to commercialize next-gen therapeutics

Spun out of Baylor College of Medicine, Phiogen was selected out of 670 companies to pitch at SXSW earlier this month. Photo via Getty Images

A new Houston biotech company won a special award at the 16th Annual SXSW Pitch Award Ceremony earlier this month.

Phiogen, one of 45 companies that competed in nine categories, was the winner for best inclusivity, much to the surprise of the company’s CEO, Amanda Burkhardt.

Burkhardt tells InnovationMap that while she wanted to represent the heavily female patient population that Phiogen seeks to treat, really she just hires the most skilled scientists.

“The best talent was the folks that we have and it ends up being we have three green card holders on our team. As far as ethnicities, we have on our team we have Indian, African-American, Korean, Chinese Pakistani, Moroccan and Hispanic people and that just kind of just makes up the people who helped us on a day-to-day basis,” she explains. Continue reading.

Texas Space Commission launches, Houston execs named to leadership

future of space

Governor Greg Abbott announced the Texas Space Commission, naming its inaugural board of directors and Texas Aerospace Research and Space Economy Consortium Executive Committee.

The announcement came at NASA's Johnson Space Center, and the governor was joined by Speaker Dade Phelan, Representative Greg Bonnen, Representative Dennis Paul, NASA's Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche, and various aerospace industry leaders.

According to a news release, the Texas Space Commission will aim to strengthen commercial, civil, and military aerospace activity by promoting innovation in space exploration and commercial aerospace opportunities, which will include the integration of space, aeronautics, and aviation industries as part of the Texas economy.

The Commission will be governed by a nine-member board of directors. The board will also administer the legislatively created Space Exploration and Aeronautics Research Fund to provide grants to eligible entities.

“Texas is home to trailblazers and innovators, and we have a rich history of traversing the final frontier: space,” Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick says in a news release. “Texas is and will continue to be the epicenter for the space industry across the globe, and I have total confidence that my appointees to the Texas Space Commission Board of Directors and the Texas Aerospace Research and Space Economy Consortium Executive Committee will ensure the Texas space industry remains an international powerhouse for cutting-edge space innovation.”

TARSEC will independently identify research opportunities that will assist the state’s position in aeronautics research and development, astronautics, space commercialization, and space flight infrastructure. It also plans to fuel the integration of space, aeronautics, astronautics, and aviation industries into the Texas economy. TARSEC will be governed by an executive committee and will be composed of representatives of each higher education institution in the state.

“Since its very inception, NASA’s Johnson Space Center has been home to manned spaceflight, propelling Texas as the national leader in the U.S. space program,” Abbott says during the announcement. “It was at Rice University where President John F. Kennedy announced that the U.S. would put a man on the moon—not because it was easy, but because it was hard.

"Now, with the Texas Space Commission, our great state will have a group that is responsible for dreaming and achieving the next generation of human exploration in space," he continues. "Texas is the launchpad for Mars, innovating the technology that will colonize humanity’s first new planet. As we look into the future of space, one thing is clear: those who reach for the stars do so from the great state of Texas. I look forward to working with the Texas Space Commission, and I thank the Texas Legislature for partnering with industry and higher education institutions to secure the future of Texas' robust space industry."

The Houston-area board of directors appointees included:

Gwen Griffin, chief executive officer of the Griffin Communications Group
John Shannon, vice president of Exploration Systems at the Boeing Company
Sarah "Sassie" Duggleby, co-founder and CEO of Venus Aerospace
Kirk Shireman, vice president of Lunar Exploration Campaigns at Lockheed Martin
Dr. Nancy Currie-Gregg, director of the Texas A&M Space Institute

Additionally, a few Houstonians were named to the TARSEC committee, including:

Stephanie Murphy, CEO and executive chairman of Aegis Aerospace
Matt Ondler, president and former chief technology officer at Axiom Space
Jack “2fish” Fischer, vice president of production and operations at Intuitive Machines
Brian Freedman, president of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership and vice chairman of Wellby Financial
David Alexander, professor of physics and astronomy and director of the Rice Space Institute at Rice University

To see the full list of appointed board and committee members, along with their extended bios, click here.

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