Google launches new program to serve Houston's minority small business owners

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The Grow with Google Digital Coaches program has expanded to Houston. Photo via Unsplash

A new Google initiative is expanding its Texas presence this month. The Grow with Google's Digital Coaches program, which has already launched in Austin, has expanded to the Bayou City — making the Lone Star State the only state to have two locations of this entrepreneur-centric tool.

The program aims to provide digital skills training and coaching to Black and LatinX small business owners and create economic opportunity. Houston is one of eight new cities the program has recently expanded into.

"Houston has a vibrant and growing Black and LatinX small business community," says Lucy Pinto, Google's Digital Coach program manager, in a news release. "The Digital Coaches program will provide business owners in these communities with ongoing workshops and hands-on coaching sessions focused on techniques and digital tools to reach new customers, thrive online and grow."

Houston entrepreneur Joy M. Hutton, founder of Joy of Consulting, will serve as the Grow with Google Digital Coach for Houston. Hutton also runs a restaurant-focused consulting business called The Restaurant Girl and founded go GLAM, a beauty on demand platform.

"The Grow with Google team is making an effort to close the gap in resources that Black and LatinX small business owners have not generally had access to — in Houston and beyond," Hutton says in the release. "I live and breathe entrepreneurship, so I'm honored to participate in the Google Digital Coaches program and excited to work with Houston entrepreneurs who are traditionally underrepresented."

Joy M. Hutton will lead Grow with Google in Houston. Photo courtesy

According to the release, the program is expanding with inclusion in mind. This year, the program will grow to 20 mentors.

"As the representative of Houston's 18th District, a diverse and historic district, I know firsthand the importance and positive impact that investing in diverse communities and their residents can have on the entire population," says Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in the release. "As Houston continues to prosper and grow, it is critical that we continue to invest in our minority-owned and small businesses to ensure an even brighter economic future for our city."

The program's first free workshop is called Connect with Customers and Manage Your Business Remotely and will be held virtually tomorrow, Friday, November 20, at 5:30 p.m. Moving forward, Grow with Google workshops will be hosted by Hutton on a regular basis, including the following sessions:

    • Dec. 3 at 5 p.m. CDT - Get Your Local Business on Google Search and Maps
    • Dec. 10 at 5 p.m. CDT - Reach Customers Online with Google
    • Dec. 17 at 5 p.m. CDT - Digital Skills for Everyday Tasks

    Both Google as well as local leadership are excited for the opportunities this program will provide Houstonians.

    "As a 'majority-minority' city that is the fourth-largest in the U.S., it is critical that our Black and LatinX business owners have the tools and knowledge to reach new customers, grow their businesses and help continue to make Houston a prosperous, skilled and inclusive city," Mayor Sylvester Turner says in the release. "The city of Houston is appreciative for the opportunity to provide invaluable resources and opportunities to our city's Black and LatinX small business owners."

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    Houston researcher builds radar to make self-driving cars safer

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    A Rice University researcher is giving autonomous vehicles an “extra set of eyes.”

    Current autonomous vehicles (AVs) can have an incomplete view of their surroundings, and challenges like pedestrian movement, low-light conditions and adverse weather only compound these visibility limitations.

    Kun Woo Cho, a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of Rice professor of electrical and computer engineering Ashutosh Sabharwal, has developed EyeDAR to help address such issues and enhance the vehicles’ sensing accuracy. Her research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation.

    The EyeDAR is an orange-sized, low-power, millimeter-wave radar that could be placed at streetlights and intersections. Its design was inspired by that of the human eye. Researchers envision that the low-cost sensors could help ensure that AVs always pick up on emergent obstacles, even when the vehicles are not within proper range for their onboard sensors and when visibility is limited.

    “Current automotive sensor systems like cameras and lidar struggle with poor visibility such as you would encounter due to rain or fog or in low-lighting conditions,” Cho said in a news release. “Radar, on the other hand, operates reliably in all weather and lighting conditions and can even see through obstacles.”

    Signals from a typical radar system scatter when they encounter an obstacle. Some of the signal is reflected back to the source, but most of it is often lost. In the case of AVs, this means that "pedestrians emerging from behind large vehicles, cars creeping forward at intersections or cyclists approaching at odd angles can easily go unnoticed," according to Rice.

    EyeDAR, however, works to capture lost radar reflections, determine their direction and report them back to the AV in a sequence of 0s and 1s.

    “Like blinking Morse code,” Cho added. “EyeDAR is a talking sensor⎯it is a first instance of integrating radar sensing and communication functionality in a single design.”

    After testing, EyeDAR was able to resolve target directions 200 times faster than conventional radar designs.

    While EyeDAR currently targets risks associated with AVs, particularly in high-traffic urban areas, researchers also believe the technology behind it could complement artificial intelligence efforts and be integrated into robots, drones and wearable platforms.

    “EyeDAR is an example of what I like to call ‘analog computing,’” Cho added in the release. “Over the past two decades, people have been focusing on the digital and software side of computation, and the analog, hardware side has been lagging behind. I want to explore this overlooked analog design space.”

    Houstonians make Forbes billionaires list and more top innovation news

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    Editor's note: The top innovation news of the month finds leading Houstonians in the Forbes and Inc. spotlight. Plus, we see where Texas ranks among the most innovative states right now. Below are the five most-read InnovationMap stories published March 16-30, 2026:

    1. Kinder leads 19 Houstonians on Forbes' World's Billionaires List 2026

    Kinder leads 19 Houstonians on Forbes' World's Billionaires List 2026Pictured: Nancy and Richard Kinder, the richest Houstonian, according to the Forbes 400. Photo by Michelle Watson/Catchlight Group

    According to Forbes, there has “never been a better time to be a billionaire” than in 2026, and the publication's newest World’s Billionaires List has revealed the 19 Houston billionaires that have risen among the wealthiest worldwide. Kinder Morgan chairman Richard Kinder surpassed hospitality honcho Tilman Fertitta as the richest billionaire in Houston, ranking No. 232 on the global list with an estimated net worth of $13 billion. His net worth has grown by $2.4 billion since last year. Continue reading.

    2. 6 Houston entrepreneurs land on coveted Inc. Female Founders 500 list

    Houston founders Laureen Meroueh, LaToshia Norwood, Sassie Duggleby, Nina Magon, Stephanie Murphy and Lauren Rottet were named to Inc. Magazine's 2026 Female Founders 500. Photos via LinkedIn and company websites

    Six Houston female entrepreneurs and innovators were named to the 2026 Female Founders 500 list. The annual list compiled by Inc. Magazine recognizes female founders based in the U.S. who have built businesses that have moved their industries forward. The group collectively generated approximately $12.3 billion in 2025 revenue and $12.2 billion in funding to date, according to Inc. Five Houstonians were named to the list last year. Continue reading.

    3. Texas ranks as the No. 13 most innovative state in 2026 study

    WalletHub assigns Texas a No. 13 ranking for innovation among the states. Photo via Getty Images

    During a SXSW reception March 12 at the Governor’s Mansion in Austin, Gov. Greg Abbott hailed Texas as the No. 1 state for innovation. Personal finance website WalletHub doesn’t see it that way, though. A new study from WalletHub assigns Texas a No. 13 ranking for innovation among the states and the District of Columbia. D.C. comes out on top, followed by Massachusetts, California, Colorado and Washington. Mississippi appears at the bottom of the list. Continue reading.

    4. Rice to lead Space Force tech institute under $8.1M agreement

    Rice University will lead a new U.S. Space Force-backed consortium to fast-track breakthrough remote sensing technologies. Photo via Getty Images

    Rice University has signed an $8.1 million cooperative agreement to lead the U.S. Space Force University Consortium/Space Strategic Technology Institute 4 (SSTI). The new entity will be known as the Center for Advanced Space Sensing Technologies (CASST) at Rice and will focus on developing innovative remote sensing technologies. Continue reading.

    5. Houston startup is off to the races with its innovative running shoes

    Veloci Running was founded by a Rice University cross country runner. Photo via velocirunning.com

    Despite Houston’s reputation as a sneaker town, there are few actual shoe companies headquartered in the Bayou City. One that is up and running is Veloci Running, an innovative enterprise that combines the founder’s history as a track runner for Rice University with the realities of running in a changing world. Continue reading.

    12 winners named at CERAWeek clean tech pitch competition in Houston

    top teams

    Twelve teams from around the country, including several from Houston, took home top honors at this year's Energy Venture Day and Pitch Competition at CERAWeek.

    The fast-paced event, held March 25, put on by Rice Alliance, Houston Energy Transition Initiative and TEX-E, invited 36 industry startups and five Texas-based student teams focused on driving efficiency and advancements in the energy transition to present 3.5-minute pitches before investors and industry partners during CERAWeek's Agora program.

    The competition is a qualifying event for the Startup World Cup, where teams compete for a $1 million investment prize.

    PolyJoule won in the Track C competition and was named the overall winner of the pitch event. The Boston-based company will go on to compete in the Startup World Cup held this fall in San Francisco.

    PolyJoule was spun out of MIT and is developing conductive polymer battery technology for energy storage.

    Rice University's Resonant Thermal Systems won the second-place prize and $15,000 in the student track, known as TEX-E. The team's STREED solution converts high-salinity water into fresh water while recovering valuable minerals.

    Teams from the University of Texas won first and second place in the TEX-E competition, bringing home $25,000 and $10,000, respectively. The student winners were:

    Companies that pitched in the three industry tracts competed for non-monetary awards. Here are the companies named "most-promising" by the judges:

    Track A | Industrial Efficiency & Decarbonization

    Track B | Advanced Manufacturing, Materials, & Other Advanced Technologies

    • First: Licube, based in Houston
    • Second: ZettaJoule, based in Houston and Maryland
    • Third: Oleo

    Track C | Innovations for Traditional Energy, Electricity, & the Grid

    The teams at this year's Energy Venture Day have collectively raised $707 million in funding, according to Rice. They represent six countries and 12 states. See the full list of companies and investor groups that participated here.

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    This article originally appeared on our sister site, EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

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