Carolyn Rodz of Hello Alice and Aziz Gilani of Mercury Fund discuss their advice for startups looking for federal grants. Courtesy photos

The United States Congress recently passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or the CARES Act, and it includes several initiatives that provide financial relief for startups and small businesses — but there are a few things these companies should know about the programs.

Houston Exponential hosted a virtual panel with Carolyn Rodz, CEO of Hello Alice, and Aziz Gilani, managing director of Mercury Fund. They broke down some of the concerns with some of the most popular programs.

The Payroll Tax Deferral stipulation allows you to push back paying your payroll tax, which is 6.2 percent of payroll, Gilani says in the livestream. Companies will be required to pay back half that tax in a year's time and the other half in two year's time.

Small businesses can also apply for emergency Economic Injury Disaster Loans, or EIDL loans, that won't require the first payment for a full year. The interest rate is 3.75 percent for for-profit businesses and 2.75 percent for nonprofits with up to a 30-year term. Businesses could even submit to receive a $10,000 grant on their application.

Then, there's the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP.

"The PPP program is probably the most lucrative of the three programs for startups," says Gilani, "It's the one that has the largest financial impact."

To submit for PPP, business owners look at their last year's worth of payroll and utility expenses, then average out their monthly expenses, and multiply that by 2.5. Small businesses can submit for that amount or up to $10 million. If the loan is spent on their employees and utilities, it's turned into a grant and not required to be paid back. Gilani recommends checking with the SBA for the specific details, but notes that contract workers can't benefit from PPP and must submit individually for aid.

Regarding these programs, Rodz and Gilani shared some other advice as it pertains to Houston's small businesses and tech startups.

Apply ASAP

Banks are already overwhelmed with applications, and some have paused accepting new applications from some entities. Plus, you have no excuse, Rodz says, since the application is simple and can be completed in one sitting.

"Compared to what a normal government loan application looks like, it is light years better in terms of simplicity," says Rodz.

Go to your own bank

Banks are giving priority to existing customers, Rodz explains.

"Go talk to your banker, and really take the time," Rodz says. "They are prioritizing the clients they have relationships with."

There's a technical reason too, Gilani adds. It's easier for banks to submit for a pre-existing customer, and new customers require more paperwork.

Document everything

Currently, Gilani says, the way the program is working right now is it relies on good-faith self-certification of the business owner. The banks, based on approval, will just put the federal money into your bank account. However, there are people put in roles for this act that will come back to verify that everything was honest.

"Lying to the federal government about money they grant you is a felony that comes with jail time," Gilani says. "It's very important that — after all this craziness passes by and the government comes back to audit what happened — you have a lot of documentation in place in order to show that you were fulfilling your good-faith requirement of answering these questions honestly."

Gilani recommends keeping track of how you calculated your payroll, as well as being able to show the effect of the crisis is key. Then, after you receive the funds, you need to be able to show that you used the funds on your employees.

Consult a lawyer if you have questions on eligibility

There's been a lot of discussion on whether or not venture-backed startups qualify for PPP.

"One of the challenges of the program is that it is being administered by the Small Business Administration, which traditionally hasn't worked with venture-backed and angel-backed companies," Gilani says.

Usually, the SBA requires startups to indicate their employee count, which is not to exceed 500. However, if the company is venture-backed, the SBA requires the inclusion of all the employees of all the portfolio companies. Certain legislators have expressed that this wasn't the intention of the program and are working to provide solutions, Gilani explains, and he and Mercury Fund have been working with a legal team to find immediate work arounds.

"There have been lots of lawyers who have been working really hard on trying to solve this problem," Aziz "If anything, we've now created the lawyer stimulus act in the amount of billable hours we've had trying to figure out this problem."

Gilani also recommends getting your lawyer to sign a document confirming that, especially if you are a venture-backed company, that you intended to adhere to the rules of the program.

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New energy innovation and coworking spaces open at the Ion

moving in

Houston-based Occidental officially opened its new Oxy Innovation Center with a ribbon cutting at the Ion last week.

The opening reflects Oxy and the Ion's "shared commitment to advancing technology and accelerating a lower-carbon future," according to an announcement from the Ion.

Oxy, which was named a corporate partner of the Ion in 2023, now has nearly 6,500 square feet on the fourth floor of the Ion. Rice University and the Rice Real Estate Company announced the lease of the additional space last year, along with agreements with Fathom Fund and Activate.

At the time, the leases brought the Ion's occupancy up to 90 percent.

Additionally, New York-based Industrious plans to launch its coworking space at the Ion on May 8. The company was tapped as the new operator of the Ion’s 86,000-square-foot coworking space in Midtown in January.

Dallas-based Common Desk previously operated the space, which was expanded by 50 percent in 2023 to 86,000 square feet.

CBRE agreed to acquire Industrious in a deal valued at $400 million earlier this year. Industrious also operates another local coworking space is at 1301 McKinney St.

Industrious will host a launch party celebrating the new location Thursday, May 8. Find more information here.


Oxy Innovation Center. Photo via LinkedIn.

Houston improves ranking among best U.S. cities to start a business

Business News

Houston's reputation for being an entrepreneurial and business powerhouse was confirmed in WalletHub's new list of the "Best Large Cities to Start a Business" in 2025. The Energy Capital of the World moved up four spots this year and ranked No. 34 nationwide.

The annual report ranked 100 U.S. cities based on 19 metrics across three main categories: business environment, access to resources, and costs. Factors considered in the report include five-year business survival rates, job growth comparisons from 2019 and 2023, office space affordability, and more.

The sunny Florida city of Orlando (No. 1) topped the list as the best large city for starting a business this year.

Houston's business climate has improved slightly since 2024, when the city previously ranked No. 38.

Houston performed the best in the national business environment category, ranking No. 33 out of all 100 cities in the report. It fell behind in the categories for "business costs" and "access to resources" ranking No. 50 and No. 65, respectively.

"Starting a business can be very scary, considering one in every five startups doesn’t make it past the first year," said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. "That’s why it’s especially important to live in a city that provides an environment where new businesses can thrive, with enough capital, workers and customers to keep it going long-term."

Elsewhere in Texas
Austin was the only Texas city to rank among the top 10 best big cities to start a business in 2025, climbing up into the No. 3 spot.

"Businesses that are currently in Austin are thriving, as the city has a very high growth rate in the number of small businesses," the report said. "It also has the best employment growth in the country, which makes it more likely that new businesses will be able to find employees."

Dallas-Fort Worth had the greatest concentration of cities on the list, contributing six out of 13 total Texas cities, and all of them among the top 50: Fort Worth (No. 11), Arlington (No. 15), Dallas (No. 16), Irving (No. 22), Garland (No. 29), and Plano (No. 43).

Other large Texas cities that were named among the best places to start a business in 2025 include Lubbock (No. 33), Laredo (No. 44), San Antonio (No. 64), El Paso (No. 67), and Corpus Christi (No. 70).

The top 10 best large cities to start a business in 2025 are:

  • No. 1 – Orlando, Florida
  • No. 2 – Tampa, Florida
  • No. 3 – Austin, Texas
  • No. 4 – Jacksonville, Florida
  • No. 5 – Miami, Florida
  • No. 6 – St. Petersburg, Florida
  • No. 7 – Boise, Idaho
  • No. 8 – Atlanta, Georgia
  • No. 9 – Raleigh, North Carolina
  • No. 10 – Hialeah, Florida
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A version of this story originally appeared on our sister site, CultureMap.com.

Houston space tech leader lands up to $10 million for Earth re-entry vehicle and lab

space funding

Houston-based space technology, infrastructure, and services company Intuitive Machines has been awarded a state grant of up to $10 million to help develop an Earth re-entry vehicle and in-space biomanufacturing lab.

The Texas Space Commission approved the grant, which is coming from the state’s Space Exploration and Research Fund.

Intuitive Machines says the money will support its “critical risk-reduction platform” for returning lunar samples to Earth. The funding will go toward an early 12-month phase of the project.

“Returning samples from space is one of the most complex challenges in exploration,” says Tim Crain, chief growth officer at Intuitive Machines.

In 2022, Intuitive Machines began preliminary design work on an Earth re-entry vehicle for missions returning from low Earth orbit, the moon, or Mars. In tandem with development of the re-entry vehicle, the company has teamed up with Houston-based biotech company Rhodium Scientific on in-space biomanufacturing. This biomanufacturing will involve certain materials, processes and pharmaceuticals that can be handled more efficiently in space or that exhibit unique non-Earth properties.

Gámez Holzhaus, founder and CEO of Rhodium Scientific, says his company’s federally backed work “has enabled us to establish all hardware and protocols necessary for a pipeline to develop and scale biomanufacturing in space.”

Intuitive Machines and Rhodium Scientific say the state grant should pave the way for future grants and large-scale projects to bring the re-entry system closer to flight readiness.