Exclusive: Plug and Play announces 15 energy tech companies for inaugural Houston cohort

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Plug and Play Technology Center has named its first 15 startups in its Houston Energy and Sustainability cohort. Getty Images

A Silicon Valley accelerator program has announced the companies that will participate in its first Houston cohort just as the program begins to foster energy tech innovation in town.

Plug and Play Technology Center, which announced its entry into the Houston market this summer, named the 15 companies that will complete the program. While there are only two Houston-based companies in the mix this time around, all 15 companies will be operating locally with Houston corporate partners and startup development organizations.

"By being a part of this Plug and Play cohort, our corporate partners have validated that there is an interest in these startups' technology solutions," says Payal Patel, director of corporate partnerships for Plug and Play in Houston. "This will encourage these non-Houston based startups to spend more time in Houston, likely (and hopefully) leading to them doing business with our corporations, raising money from local investors, hiring local talent, and setting up an office in Houston."

Patel says the selection process was similar to the due diligence done in investor research, since Plug and Play treats its startups like a portfolio of sorts. Plug and Play hosted a pitch night in September as a way to introduce the cohort finalists to the ecosystem before making the final selection.

"We used the technology focus areas of our corporate partners to source 100 startups with commercial viability in Houston," Patel says. "Through consultation with our partners and voting at our Selection Day event in September, we ultimately narrowed the group to 15 startups we believe we can provide value to over the next few months."

The startups are off to Plug and Play's headquarters in California for a Focus Week, Patel says, then will return to Houston for various corporat events, converences, and more as part of the program.

Here are the 15 companies that will participate in the energy and sustainability accelerator from Plug and Play Tech Center.

Alchera Inc.

Founded: 2016
Money raised: $6 million
Employees: 45 full time, 60 part time
Headquarters: South Korea
About: Alchera's technology uses artificial intelligence image to prevent the loss of lives and money in dangerous situations on site.

Ario Technologies Inc.

Founded: 2016
Money raised: $2.3 million
Employees: 8 full time, 1 part time
Headquarters: Norfolk, Virginia
About: Ario has a augmented reality technology that allows its users to search its data in the real world.

Blacksands Inc.

Founded: 2012
Money raised: $1 million
Employees: 5 full time, 7 part time
Headquarters: Sunnyvale, California
About: Blacksands has a secured connection as a service business model for fast-paced cybersecurity.

BlastPoint

Founded: 2016
Money raised: $1.3 million
Employees: 7 full time, 3 part time
Headquarters: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
About: Using internal insights and data, BlastPoint helps make innovative ideas a reality in the workplace.

ForePaas

Founded: 2015
Money raised: $10 million
Employees: 40 full time, 1 part time
Headquarters:
About: The ForePaas platform combines cloud-based technology and data applications to optimize and accelerate industrial internal enterprise data initiatives.

Capella Space

Founded: 2016
Money raised: $50 million
Employees: 50 full time, 0 part time
Headquarters: San Francisco
About: Capella Space is building a large commercial radar satellite constellation to speed up the informed decision making process for industrial workers down on earth.

Cumulus Digital Solutions

Founded: 2018
Money raised: $4.5 million
Employees: 14 full time, 4 part time
Headquarters: Cambridge, Massachusetts
About: Using data collection and cloud-based software, Cumulus is eliminating poor work quality that causes accidents in the field.

Data Gumbo

Founded: 2016
Money raised: $3.2 million
Employees: 19 full time, 4 part time
Headquarters: Houston
About: Data Gumbo has developed a blockchain network for automated contract execution for industrial clients

Latium Technologies

Founded: 2019
Money raised: $1 million (Canadian)
Employees: 8 full time, 0 part time
Headquarters: Edmonton, Canada
About: Latium has developed a better industrial IoT platform for heavy industry.

Indegy

Founded: 2014
Money raised: $18 million
Employees: 53 full-time, 0 part-time
Headquarters: New York
About: Indegy specializes in real-time security for industrial campuses.

Ingu Solutions

Founded: 2014
Money raised: $2.1 million (Canadian)
Employees: 10 full-time, 0 part-time
Headquarters: Calgary, Canada
About: Ingu wants to revolutionize the economics of the pipeline industry with new technology and initiatives.

Cemvita Factory

Founded: 2017
Money raised: None disclosed.
Employees: 8 full time, 10 part time
Headquarters: Houston
About: Cemvita has patented technology that can mimic photosynthesis to lower carbon emissions.

KX

Founded: 1999
Money raised: None disclosed.
Employees: 2,500 full-time and 0 part-time
Headquarters: Northern Ireland
About: KX is a data company that uses its global technology in the finance, retail, pharma, manufacturing, and energy industries.

Ondaka Inc.

Founded: 2017
Money raised: $1.6 million
Employees: 8 full time, 2 part time
Headquarters: Palo Alto, California (has a local office at Station Houston)
About: Ondaka uses an alphabet soup of buzzword technologies — IoT, AI, VR — and allows oil and gas companies to really visualize their infrastructure.

Terrapin

Founded: 2016
Money raised: $3 million
Employees: 10 full time, 5 part time
Headquarters: Edmonton, Canada
About: Terrapin is a designer and developer of industrial heat recovery projects.

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Rice Business Plan Competition awards $1.4M to 2026 student teams

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Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct the total amount of investment and cash prizes awarded at the RBPC.

Another team from the Great Lakes State took home top honors and investments at this year's Rice Business Plan Competition.

BRCĒ, a material-tech startup from Michigan State University, took home the top-place finish and the largest investment total at the annual Houston event. It has developed Lattice-Grip technology to create utility-based polymers that can replace traditional fabric. The materials are stronger, fire-resistant and more stable than traditional textiles, according to the company. Last year, the University of Michigan's Intero Biosystems won first-place finish and the largest investment total of $902,000.

In total, the RBPC doled out more than $1.4 million in investment and cash prizes, according to Rice. Over the three-day event, held April 9-11, the 42 competing startups presented their business plans to 300 angel, venture capital and corporate investors. Seven finalists were selected and each competing startup received at least $950 in prizes for placement in the competition.

Three Texas teams, including one from Houston, were named among the finalists. Here's who won big this year.

BRCĒ, Michigan State University — $571,500

The recent Shark Tank alum finished in first place for its utility-based polymers technology.

$200,000 Goose Capital Investment Grand Prize
$100,000 The OWL Investment Prize
$100,000 Houston Angel Network Investment Prize
$75,000 The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Texas Angels Investment Prize
$50,000 nCourage Investment Network’s Courageous Women Entrepreneur Investment Prize
$25,000 New Climate Ventures Sustainable Investment Prize
$20,000 Aramco Innovator Cash Prize
$1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prize
$500 Mercury Fund Elevator Pitch Competition Prize – Consumer Hard Tech

Legion Platforms, Arizona State University — $425,500

The startup won second place for its multiplayer gaming platform that can be accessed with slow internet speeds.

$100,000 Anderson Family Fund & Finger Interests Second Place Investment Prize
$200,000 Goose Capital Investment Prize
$100,000 The OWL Investment Prize
$25,000 Pearland EDC Spirit of Entrepreneurship Cash Prize
$500 Mercury Fund Elevator Pitch Competition Prize – Consumer

Imagine Devices, University of Texas at Austin — $101,000

The pediatric medical device company won third place for its multifunction neonatal feeding tube, known as Trinity Tube

$50,000 Anderson Family Fund & Finger Interests Third Place Investment Prize
$25,000 Pearland EDC Spirit of Entrepreneurship Cash Prize
$25,000 The Eagle Investors Investment Prize
$1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prize

Altaris MedTech, University of Arkansas – $6,000

The startup won fourth place for its pain-free strep test.

$5,000 Norton Rose Fulbright Fourth Place Prize
$1,000 Mercury Fund Elevator Pitch Competition Prize — Overall Winner

Routora, University of Notre Dame & University of Texas at Austin – $5,500

The team won fifth place for its route optimization app that works to reduce fuel costs, travel time and carbon emissions

$5,000 Chevron Fifth Place Prize
$500 Mercury Fund Elevator Pitch Competition Prizes — Digital

DialySafe, Rice University — $5,500

The startup won sixth place for its technology that aims to make at-home peritoneal dialysis simpler and safer.

$5,000 ExxonMobil Sixth Place Prize
$500 Mercury Fund Elevator Pitch Competition Prizes — Life Science

Arrow Analytics, Texas A&M University – $6,000

The startup won seventh place for its AI-powered sizing system for carry-on baggage.

$5,000 Shell Ventures Seventh Place Prize
$1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prizes

Other significant prizes included:

BiliRoo, University of Michigan – $26,000

$25,000 Southwest National Pediatric Device Consortium Pediatric Device Cash Prize
$1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prizes

BeamFeed, City University of New York – $25,000

$25,000 Amentum and WRX Companies Rising Stars Space Technology and Commercial Aerospace Cash Prize

Grapheon, University of Pittsburgh — $20,000

$20,000 Aramco Innovator Cash Prize

Last year, the Rice Business Plan Competition facilitated over $2 million in investment and cash prizes. According to Rice, more than 910 startups have raised more than $6.9 billion in capital through the competition over the last 25 years.

See a full list of this year's winners and stream rounds from the competition here.

Here's the income it takes to live comfortably in Houston in 2026

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2026 report analyzing how much it costs to live "in sustainable comfort" in the biggest U.S. cities has found Houston residents have the 11th lowest salary requirement to live a comfortable life in 2026.

SmartAsset's annual report found single adult residents in Houston need to make $89,981 a year to qualify as "financially stable." Compared to last year, single Houstonians needed to make $83 more to live comfortably in the city.

Families with two working parents and two children need to make a household income of $204,672 to have a financially stable life in Houston, the report found. That's almost $2,000 less than what families needed to make last year.

To determine the rankings, SmartAsset's analysts examined 100 of the largest U.S. cities and used the latest cost of living data – such as the costs for housing, food, transportation, and income taxes where applicable – from the MIT Living Wage Calculator for childless individuals and for two working adults with two children.

For the purpose of the study, the 50/30/20 budgeting strategy was used to determine "comfortable lifestyle" costs for both individuals and families: 50 percent of income to cover needs and living expenses, 30 percent for "wants," and 20 percent for savings or paying down debt.

Here's breakdown of a Houston resident's comfortable lifestyle based on SmartAsset's findings:

$44,991 dedicated to needs and living expenses
$26,994 dedicated to wants
$17,996 dedicated to savings or debt repayment

This is SmartAsset's interpretation of a comfortable lifestyle for families of four:

$102,336 dedicated to needs and living expenses
$61,402 dedicated to wants
$40,934 dedicated to savings or debt repayment

SmartAsset said single individuals and families should compare the fluctuating local cost of living and their long-term goals to fully "understand the context" of their respective household incomes. But it's worth pointing out that a financially stable life in Houston isn't quite attainable for many residents: The city had a median household income of $64,361 in 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Comfortable salaries in other Texas cities

Elsewhere in Texas, the report found that families in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs Frisco and McKinney "are closest to a comfortable salary."

"In Frisco, the median household earns $145,444 – substantially higher than the national median of $83,730," the report's author wrote. "This figure also accounts for 63.1 percent of the $230,464 income a family of four in Frisco needs to live comfortably. In McKinney, TX, the $124,177 median household income accounts for 53.9 percent of the $230,464 needed."

Both cities also tied with Plano for the 29th highest salary needed nationally to live comfortably in 2026. Single adults living in these cities need to make $109,242 a year to live a financially stable life this year.

On the opposite end, San Antonio has the lowest salaries needed to live comfortably in the U.S. Single adults only need to make $83,242 a year, and $192,608 for families of four.

Houston medtech startup clears FDA approval for new surgical tool

precision surgery

Houston-based Prana Surgical will soon bring a new electrosurgical tool to operating rooms around the country. The Prana System officially cleared U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval earlier this month.

"Receiving FDA clearance for the Prana System represents a defining milestone for our company," Joanna Nathan, CEO and co-founder of Prana Surgical, said in a news release. "Surgeons today are increasingly focused on achieving precise outcomes while minimizing disruption to healthy tissue. The Prana System was designed to support that shift by integrating targeting and excision into a single, streamlined tool."

Prana Surgical began as Prana Thoracic in 2022. Back then, the company primarily focused on developing screening tools for lung cancer diagnosis. It raised $6 million in series A funding rounds in 2023 and 2024 before transitioning to broader surgical needs in 2025.

The Prana System is a minimally invasive, image-guided, single-use tissue extraction tool designed to retrieve samples without damaging healthy tissue. The tool is still designed with the respiratory system in mind, helping Prana in the fight against lung cancer and other thoracic diseases.

Reducing the impact of tissue extraction via electrosurgery and enhanced image scanning can significantly reduce complications. The Prana System combines localization and tissue-cutting capabilities in one, which keeps surgeons from having to swap out components during a procedure, making for a smoother process. It can core, cut and feel blood vessels on the way toward the intended target, giving surgeons greater control over tissue preservation.

"Electrosurgery is foundational to modern surgery, but there is still opportunity to improve how energy-based tools are applied in minimally invasive settings," Nathan added. "Our goal is to introduce a new class of image-guided surgical tools that enable more precise intervention across a range of procedures."

The company projects sales of $7.5 billion from the Prana System in the United States, estimating that 2.5 million surgical modules will be able to use the new tool. While starting out focused on biopsies, the company plans to evolve the system into other procedures, such as ablation, in the future. It is also planning for a controlled U.S. clinical rollout as it moves toward commercialization

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