Meet 5 of the fastest-growing scaleup companies in Houston

houston innovation awards

These five scaleups stood out to the judges of the 2024 Houston Innovation Awards. Photo via Getty Images

The 2024 Houston Innovation Awards will feature a new category: Scaleup of the Year, which honors a Bayou City company that's seen impressive growth in 2024.

From biotech companies to decarbonization startups, the inaugural finalists have expanded internationally, moved to larger facilities, completed clinical trials and more. Read on to learn more about these fast-growing startups.

Secure your tickets to the 2024 Houston Innovation Awards next Thursday, November 14, at TMC Helix Park.


Cart.com, a unified commerce and logistics solutions provider for B2C and B2B companies

With the acquisition of Amify, Cart.com has expanded its workforce and grown its suite of services. Photo courtesy of Cart.com

Clinching unicorn status with its 2023 series C raise, Cart.com is on a mission to unify commerce across sales and distribution channels and digital and physical capabilities with its omnichannel enterprise-grade software, services and logistics.

Founded in 2020 with nine acquisitions and $759.2 million raised to date, according to Crunchbase, Cart.com's recent achievements includes acquiring Pacsun’s fulfillment operators, brining a 2 million-square-foot facility online, expanding its executive team, and more.

"In the last 12 months, Cart.com has dramatically grown its fulfillment network’s scale and technological capabilities," writes CEO Omail Tariq in his Houston Innovation Awards application.

"We have been laser-focused on improving quality, performance and efficiency at scale while continuing to aggressively grow our customer base, expand our capabilities to customers in new industries and grow our physical presence to new locations," he continues. "Prioritizing our strategic growth initiatives has been critical in the current macroeconomic environment as profitable growth remains paramount for our team."

In 2021, Cart.com moved its headquarters to Austin, with most of the leadership team remaining in Houston. Two years later, the company announced its HQ return to the Bayou City.

"We've found Houston's business and university communities to be incredibly supportive of our efforts and have found the city to be a place that is both easier and more affordable to bring together our global employee population at more regular intervals," Tariq adds in the app.

Coya Therapeutics, a clinical-stage company developing therapies for neurodegenerative, autoimmune, and metabolic diseases

Houston company with revolutionary neurodegenerative disease treatment shares milestones since IPOCoya Therapeutics rang the closing bell at Nasdaq last week, celebrating six months since its IPO, new data from trials, and additions to its team. Photo via LinkedIn

Revolutionary biotech company Coya Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: COYA) may have closed its IPO in January 2023 for more than $15 million, but the company has made some of its most significant strides in the development of its lead product that prevents the further spreading of neurodegenerative diseases this year.

Known as COYA 302, the product uses a unique dual mechanism that is now being developed for the treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. The company published its phase 1 proof-of-concept study in the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Neurology that showed COYA 302's ability to stop clinical progression in ALS at 24 weeks in combination therapy, which helped earn the company a $5 million in strategic investment from the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation to continue to develop the product for a planned Phase 2 trial focused on FTD.

Last year the company also added to its C Suite, naming Dr. Arun Swaminathan as chief business officer and Dr. Fred Grossman as president and chief medical officer.

Coya merged with Nicoya Health Inc. and raised $10 million in its series A in 2020.

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

Growing Houston startup moves into 43,000-square-foot facility amid 'hypergrowth phase'NanoTech Materials celebrated its move into a new facility — a 43,000-square-foot space in Katy, Texas, this week

Mike Francis, co-founder and CEO of NanoTech Materials, told InnovationMap earlier this year that it was in a "hype growth" phase—and meant it.

NanoTech, known for its proprietary Insulative Ceramic ParticleTM (ICP) that uses nanotechnology to optimize energy efficiency and heat control in the built environment, expanded into a new 43,000-square-foot facility this year and tripled its valuation in the last two years, according to its Innovation Awards application. The company also expanded into the Middle East and Singapore and successfully scaled up its NanoTech Cool Roof Coat to commercial markets.

The company closed a $5 million seed round in 2020 and an oversubscribed Series A round last year for $13 million. It was the first company selected for the Houston-based Halliburton Labs in 2021 and joined the Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator in 2023.

Square Robot, an advanced robotics company serving the energy industry and beyond by providing submersible robots for storage tank inspections

Square Robot has a team of 15 in Houston. Photo courtesy\u00a0of Square Robot

Submersible robotics company Square Robot launched its Houston office in 2019 and expanded in the Bayou City this past year.

According to the company's Innovation Award application, the company doubled its fleet of autonomous, submersible robots that service the energy industry, deploying to Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Its robots are specifically used for storage tank inspections and eliminating the need for humans to enter dangerous and toxic environments.

Square Robot moved to a new, customer-facing Houston facility this year and also developed a new innovative technology that's able to gather phased ultrasonic readings on insulated tank shells while the tank is operational.

The company closed a Series A round in 2018 for $6 million.

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

Houston climatetech startup selected for inaugural global entrepreneur competitionSyzygy Plasmonics is going to be competing in Gastech's new startup competition. Photo courtesy of Syzygy

Known for the world’s first light-powered reactor cell for industrial chemical reactions, Syzygy Plasmonics began taking orders earlier this year for its Rigel reactor cell after meeting initial performance targets. The cell enables a customer to produce up to five tons of low-carbon hydrogen per day.

The groundbreaking technology earned the company regional, national and global attention. Fast Company magazine placed the company on its energy innovation list. It was also named a finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024 Gulf South Award and was invited to participate in Gastech's global entrepreneur competition.

The company most recently raised $76 million in a Series C round in 2022.

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Houston cell therapy company launches second-phase clinical trial

fighting cancer

A Houston cell therapy company has dosed its first patient in a Phase 2 clinical trial. March Biosciences is testing the efficacy of MB-105, a CD5-targeted CAR-T cell therapy for patients with relapsed or refractory CD5-positive T-cell lymphoma.

Last year, InnovationMap reported that March Biosciences had closed its series A with a $28.4 million raise. Now, the company, co-founded by Sarah Hein, Max Mamonkin and Malcolm Brenner, is ready to enroll a total of 46 patients in its study of people with difficult-to-treat cancer.

The trial will be conducted at cancer centers around the United States, but the first dose took place locally, at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Swaminathan P. Iyer, a professor in the department of lymphoma/myeloma at MD Anderson, is leading the trial.

“This represents a significant milestone in advancing MB-105 as a potential treatment option for patients with T-cell lymphoma who currently face extremely limited therapeutic choices,” Hein, who serves as CEO, says. “CAR-T therapies have revolutionized the treatment of B-cell lymphomas and leukemias but have not successfully addressed the rarer T-cell lymphomas and leukemias. We are optimistic that this larger trial will further validate MB-105's potential to address the critical unmet needs of these patients and look forward to reporting our first clinical readouts.”

The Phase 1 trial showed promise for MB-105 in terms of both safety and efficacy. That means that potentially concerning side effects, including neurological events and cytokine release above grade 3, were not observed. Those results were published last year, noting lasting remissions.

In January 2025, MB-105 won an orphan drug designation from the FDA. That results in seven years of market exclusivity if the drug is approved, as well as development incentives along the way.

The trial is enrolling its single-arm, two-stage study on ClinicalTrials.gov. For patients with stubborn blood cancers, the drug is providing new hope.

Elon Musk's SpaceX site officially becomes the city of Starbase, Texas

Starbase, Texas

The South Texas home of Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket company is now an official city with a galactic name: Starbase.

A vote Saturday, May 3, to formally organize Starbase as a city was approved by a lopsided margin among the small group of voters who live there and are mostly Musk’s employees at SpaceX. With all the votes in, the tally was 212 in favor to 6 against, according to results published online by the Cameron County Elections Department.

Musk celebrated in a post on his social platform, X, saying it is “now a real city!”

Starbase is the facility and launch site for the SpaceX rocket program that is under contract with the Department of Defense and NASA that hopes to send astronauts back to the moon and someday to Mars.

Musk first floated the idea of Starbase in 2021 and approval of the new city was all but certain. Of the 283 eligible voters in the area, most are believed to be Starbase workers.

The election victory was personal for Musk. The billionaire’s popularity has diminished since he became the chain-saw-wielding public face of President Donald Trump’s federal job and spending cuts, and profits at his Tesla car company have plummeted.

SpaceX has generally drawn widespread support from local officials for its jobs and investment in the area.

But the creation of an official company town has also drawn critics who worry it will expand Musk’s personal control over the area, with potential authority to close a popular beach and state park for launches.

Companion efforts to the city vote include bills in the state Legislature to shift that authority from the county to the new town’s mayor and city council.

All these measures come as SpaceX is asking federal authorities for permission to increase the number of South Texas launches from five to 25 a year.

The city at the southern tip of Texas near the Mexico border is only about 1.5 square miles (3.9 square kilometers), crisscrossed by a few roads and dappled with airstream trailers and modest midcentury homes.

SpaceX officials have said little about exactly why they want a company town and did not respond to emailed requests for comment.

“We need the ability to grow Starbase as a community,” Starbase General Manager Kathryn Lueders wrote to local officials in 2024 with the request to get the city issue on the ballot.

The letter said the company already manages roads and utilities, as well as “the provisions of schooling and medical care” for those living on the property.

SpaceX officials have told lawmakers that granting the city authority to close the beach would streamline launch operations. SpaceX rocket launches and engine tests, and even just moving certain equipment around the launch base, requires the closure of a local highway and access to Boca Chica State Park and Boca Chica Beach.

Critics say beach closure authority should stay with the county government, which represents a broader population that uses the beach and park. Cameron County Judge Eddie Trevino, Jr. has said the county has worked well with SpaceX and there is no need for change.

Another proposed bill would make it a Class B misdemeanor with up to 180 days in jail if someone doesn’t comply with an order to evacuate the beach.

The South Texas Environmental Justice Network, which has organized protests against the city vote and the beach access issue, held another demonstration Saturday that attracted dozens of people.

Josette Hinojosa, whose young daughter was building a sandcastle nearby, said she was taking part to try to ensure continued access to a beach her family has enjoyed for generations.

With SpaceX, Hinojosa said, “Some days it’s closed, and some days you get turned away."

Organizer Christopher Basaldú, a member of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Nation of Texas tribe, said his ancestors have long been in the area, where the Rio Grande meets the Gulf.

“It’s not just important,” he said, “it’s sacred.”

Texas-based 'DoorDash for laundry' startup tumbles into Houston market

No Scrubs

Laundry may seem like an endless task that piles up, but a new service offers a solution to overwhelmed Houston families.

NoScrubs, an Austin-based home laundry pickup service has just expanded to Houston. Described by the company as "DoorDash — but for laundry," they wash customer's clothes at local laundromats and return them the same day, folded and ready to be put away.

The service took off like gangbusters in Austin, making an expansion to the state's largest city an obvious choice. It's not universal coverage just yet.

For now, only the following ZIP codes have NoScrubs service available: 77002, 77004, 77005, 77006, 77007, 77008, 77009, 77010, 77018, 77019, 77024, 77025, 77027, 77046, 77056, 77057, 77081, 77098, 77401, 77030, 77003.

A single pickup starts at $40 for 20 pounds of laundry, while the basic monthly subscription is $60 for two pickups. All services use hypoallergenic detergents.

The average American family spends about 240 hours a year on laundry, making it a very time-consuming chore. For people with disabilities, difficult work schedules, and other circumstances, it can be a real help, says co-founder Matt O'Connor.

"Some of our favorite customer stories simply revolve around saving people time when they have something challenging going on," he writes in an email. "For example, one customer reviewed NoScrubs saying 'So happy I could cry! (Partially because I'm pregnant and my emotions are heightened!)...1000% recommend if you have time restrictions or physical restrictions! ' So, whether it’s saving time, the affordability, or the pleasantly surprising turnaround time, NoScrubs has a variety of benefits for any customer."

NoScrubs is also a new opportunity for Houston's gig workers. Because there are no passengers, it can be a safer alternative to driving ride share for women and other people apprehensive about having strangers in their cars. As NoScrubs partners with local laundromats, drivers are also going to centralized locations rather than all over the map, leading to less wear and tear on their cars. The laundromats benefit as well, since NoScrubs loads are ones that would otherwise be done at home.

"Our model makes driving a tiny fraction of the time, so folks who don’t want to wear down their vehicles and spend a ton on gas love working at NoScrubs," added O'Connor.

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