Houston female-health focused tech company makes 2 key acquisitions

making moves

FemTec Health has acquired two companies — a women's reproductive platform and a nutrition platform. Image via avawomen.com

Last month, a Houston-based, tech-enabled health and beauty sciences company made two acquisitions of startups in the femtech space.

FemTec Health, creator of the Awesome Woman comprehensive health care subscription platform, has acquired Ava AG — a women's reproductive digital diagnostics and therapeutics company — and Nutrimedy — a clinical nutrition platform.

Ava, founded by Lea von Bidder in Zurich in 2014, uses artificial intelligence and clinical trials-backed science to help women conceive faster. Per a news release, the FDA-cleared technology has helped over 70,000 women get pregnant.

"What Lea and the Ava team have built is truly innovative. We are excited to add the leader in reproductive health to our portfolio and onto our team," says Dr. Kimon Angelides, FemTec Health founder and CEO, in the July 19 release. "From fertility to contraception, pregnancy support, menopause management, and personalized health insights, Ava's technology is a great addition to make it even easier for women within the FemTec Health platform to take control of their health, all while keeping their data and personal health information one hundred percent private and secure."

FemTec Health's Awesome Woman platform will integrate Ava's technology, adding reproductive health to its list of female-focused health care services which includes vaginal health, hormone balance, sexual wellness, and beauty.

"Ava's vision has always been to be a companion to women along every stage of their lives. With Ava's female health AI integrated into FemTec's care platform, women will finally have access to a fully continuous health journey," says von Bidder in the release. "We are excited to join FemTec in building continuous support for women from puberty to menopause."

Last week, FemTec announced the acquisition of Nutrimedy, a HIPAA-compliant digital health platform founded by Karolina Starczak in Boston in 2016. With the acquisition, Awesome Women members will have access to Nutrimedy's guided nutritional support.

"For many health conditions, nutrition is a key but often neglected component," says Angelides, in the July 25 news release. "Adding Nutrimedy's robust, evidence-based clinical nutrition platform to the Awesome Woman program will be a gamechanger for our subscribers. Whether it's to optimize pregnancy planning, manage menopause symptoms, or for general wellness and prevention, research shows women are seeking personalized, science-backed nutritional support that's easy to use and that they can trust."

With its AI-powered platform, users can access real-time food recommendations and photo food logging. Nutrimedy empowers those suffering from chronic conditions and disruptive food allergies and sensitivities, to make informed dietary decisions in the moment.

"Nutrimedy was started with the mission to improve access to nutrition in healthcare and make it significantly more personalized and actionable in our hectic daily routines," says Starczak in the release. "Within the field of nutrition, conflicting and confusing misinformation is pervasive and prevents most people from making the best decision for their individual health."

Last fall, FemTec Health emerged from stealth with $35 million in fresh VC investment. The company has also acquired Birchbox, Mira Beauty, and Liquid Grids over the past year.

Angelides, a Houstonian, previously told InnovationMap that he was driven to found FemTech Health because there was no holistic platform focused on every phase of women's health.

"Women don't really have a program that's designed for them," Angelides says on the Houston Innovators Podcast. "We embarked in terms of building a platform and a company that would be a single destination for women — one that's not age specific but built around journeys."

This week's roundup of Houston innovators includes Kimon Angelides of FemTec Health, Sandy Guitar of HX Venture Fund, and Jill Chapman of Insperity. Courtesy photos

3 Houston innovators to know this week

who's who

Editor's note: In this week's roundup of Houston innovators to know, I'm introducing you to three local innovators across industries — from venture capital to femtech — recently making headlines in Houston innovation.

Kimon Angelides, CEO of FemTech Health

Dr. Kimon Angelides, a serial entrepreneur in Houston, joins the Houston Innovators Podcast to discuss how he plans to disrupt women's health and beauty. Photo courtesy

Founded in 2020 by Kimon Angelides, FemTec Health is creating a holistic approach to women's health in both a B2B and a direct-to-consumers capacity. He explains on the Houston Innovators Podcast that most treatment for women is centered around age, rather than the type of health care they are looking for and need.

"Women don't really have a program that's designed for them," Angelides says on the show. "We embarked in terms of building a platform and a company that would be a single destination for women — one that's not age specific but built around journeys." Click here to continue reading.

Sandy Guitar, managing director of HX Venture Fund

Sandy Guitar of HX Venture Fund explains how they're working with out-of-town VCs to fund Houston companies in a recent Q&A. Photo courtesy

Last week, the HX Venture Fund — a fund of funds that makes investments as a limited partner in venture capital funds across the country — hosted Washington D.C.-based Revolution Ventures in Houston to introduce the firm to local entrepreneurs. Tige Savage, co-founder and managing partner of Revolution Ventures, and Sandy Guitar, managing partner of HX Venture Fund, join InnovationMap for a Q&A about how the two organizations are working together to put funding in the hands of Houston tech entrepreneurs.

"This is our second event this year already, and we've done about half a dozen of these so far of what we call VC engage days," Guitar says. "The idea of the VC engage day is to really connect all of our communities together." Click here to read more.

Jill Chapman, senior performance consultant with Insperity

Gen Z is predicted to represent more than 25 percent of the workforce by 2025 — here's how you can prepare your workplace for their imminent arrival. Photo courtesy of Insperity

Gen Z workers — they are coming. In a guest column for InnovationMap, Jill Chapman, senior performance consultant with Insperity, shares tips on preparing your workplace for the future.

"As business leaders prepare for an influx of Zoomers in the workplace by promoting mission/values, employee well-being, DEI and technology, they are also making significant strides toward improving the work environment, which leads to increased employee engagement, retention and performance for sustained business success." Click here to read more.

Dr. Kimon Angelides, a serial entrepreneur in Houston, joins the Houston Innovators Podcast to discuss how he plans to disrupt women's health and beauty. Photo courtesy

Houston innovator taps into tech to give women a holistic platform for health and wellness

houston innovators platform episode 131

When it comes to women's health and wellness, there's never been a one-stop shop. Over the past few years, tons of femtech startups have popped up with health-focused apps or niche products, but no company has emerged to provide a comprehensive approach for women.

That is until FemTec Health emerged from stealth mode last fall — already with over 100 employees and $35 million in funding. The company was founded in 2020 by Kimon Angelides — a serial entrepreneur who founded Livongo Health, a digital health system focused on diabetes treatment, and Vivante Health, a gut health platform, as well as a handful of other businesses.

For his latest endeavor, Angelides had idea of creating a holistic approach to women's health in both a B2B and a direct-to-consumers capacity. He explains on the Houston Innovators Podcast that most treatment for women is centered around age, rather than the type of health care they are looking for and need.

"Women don't really have a program that's designed for them," Angelides says on the show. "We embarked in terms of building a platform and a company that would be a single destination for women — one that's not age specific but built around journeys."

A key differentiator for FemTec Health is its data analytics component. Angelides was in academia prior to starting his career as an entrepreneur, and he says that he's prioritizing lab research and data to identify specific biomarkers that can indicate more optimized treatment for everything from IVF and vaginal health to the best skincare based on genetics and hormones.

"Right now, we're analyzing data from 44 million women over a six-year period — it's medical claims data," he explains, "and we're using predictive analytics to find out what are some of the digital markers are."

FemTec Health has around 180 employees across the world, and Angelides says he's got a lab in Houston he's hoping to build out and grow to focus on diagnostics testing. Part of the company's growth strategy included acquiring companies, including beauty subscription box Birchbox, universal beauty store Mira Beauty, and beauty industry social marketing platform Liquid Grids, which has over 1.5 million members.

Angelides shares more about how he has observed Houston develop as an innovation ecosystem — as well as what's next for FemTec Health — on the podcast episode. Listen to the full interview below — or wherever you stream your podcasts — and subscribe for weekly episodes.



This week's roundup of Houston innovators includes Carolyn Rodz of Hello Alice, Kimon Angelides of FemTec Health, and Lara Cottingham of Greentown Labs. Courtesy photos

3 Houston innovators to know this week

who's who

Editor's note: In this week's roundup of Houston innovators to know, I'm introducing you to three local innovators across industries — from health tech to clean energy — recently making headlines in Houston innovation.

Carolyn Rodz, CEO and founder of Hello Alice

Carolyn Rodz joins the Houston Innovators Podcast this week. Photo courtesy of Hello Alice

Hello Alice exists to serve small business founders through their entrepreneurial journeys — that's why Carolyn Rodz founded the company — and SMBs needed support more than ever last year.

As challenging as the pandemic was for Hello Alice, it was validating too. Rodz says the company had a 700 percent increase in revenue and an 1,100 percent acquisition growth.

"We'd never operated in a downcycle, but what we learned through that process was that we're a really valuable resource for business owners when times are great, but we're also a really valuable resource for them when times are tough," she says on this week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast. Click here to read more and stream the episode.

Kimon Angelides, founder, chairman, and interim CEO of FemTec Health,

Dr. Kimon Angelides is also the founder of Houston health tech startups Livongo Health and Vivante Health. Photo via LinkedIn

Kimon Angelides, who has founded a handful of Houston health tech startups, has announced his latest venture launched FemTec Health, a tech-enabled women's health sciences and beauty company focused on transforming the total healthcare experience for women. The company is emerging from stealth mode this week with already 10 million members, two clinical trials in progress, $38 million in funding, and a team of over 150.

"Our platform can be implemented across all areas including specialty care, wellness and prevention, reproductive care, sexual wellness, mental health, chronic care, and beyond," Angelides says in the release. "It is driven by state-of-the-art genomics and digital technologies that empower women to take control of their health at every stage of their life journey, based on their individual health profiles."

FemTec Health's business and growth model is to expand via acquisitions — and the company has several under its belt already, including beauty subscription box Birchbox, universal beauty store Mira Beauty, and beauty industry social marketing platform Liquid Grids, which has over 1.5 million members, according to the release. Click here to read more.

Lara Cottingham, chief of staff for Greentown Labs

As of this week, Lara Cottingham is the chief of staff at Greentown Labs. Photo via LinkedIn

Lara Cottingham is the new chief of staff for Greentown Labs, a Boston-area company that opened in Houston earlier this year. Cottingham previously served as the city of Houston's chief sustainability officer and the chief of staff for the city's Administration and Regulatory Affairs Department for the past seven years. In her new role, Cottingham will oversee the day-to-day operations and communications for Greentown's CEO Emily Reichert, along with key stakeholder engagements and strategic initiatives for the incubator.

"In working with Mayor Turner and Climate Mayors across the U.S., I saw how important partnerships are to helping cities decarbonize," says Cottingham in the release. "There is no better partner or place for climate action at work than Greentown Labs. Greentown is 100 percent committed to attracting and nurturing the energy companies of the future and making Houston the energy transition capital of the world. I'm excited to join the team and see how climatetech can help cities reach their climate goals." Click here to read more.

The new startup has acquired Birchbox and plans to relaunch the beauty subscription service with its patented health customization. Photo via birchbox.com

New women's health and beauty biz led by Houston entrepreneur emerges from stealth with $35M in funding

beauty tech

A Houston health tech entrepreneur who's started six businesses in his career has announced his latest endeavor.

Dr. Kimon Angelides, founder of Houston health tech startups Livongo Health and Vivante Health, launched FemTec Health, a tech-enabled women's health sciences and beauty company focused on transforming the total healthcare experience for women. The company is emerging from stealth mode this week with already 10 million members, two clinical trials in progress, and a team of over 150.

FemTec Health is building the data analytics platform to support products and services for women in every life stage. The patent-pending BiomeAI™engine uses AI and deep machine learning to translate consumer, genetic, microbiome, and biometric data into the delivery of holistic healthcare personalized for every woman, according to a news release from the company.

"Our platform can be implemented across all areas including specialty care, wellness and prevention, reproductive care, sexual wellness, mental health, chronic care, and beyond," Angelides says in the release. "It is driven by state-of-the-art genomics and digital technologies that empower women to take control of their health at every stage of their life journey, based on their individual health profiles."

Angelides serves as the new company's chairman and interim CEO. Photo via LinkedIn

FemTec has already raised more than $35 million in funding from a myriad of investors, capital, and shareholders, including Longmont Capital, Ithaca LifeSciences, Unilever Ventures, Estee Lauder, Shiseido, e.Ventures, Viking Global, and Trinity Capital.

The company, which has been in the works since May of 2020, has assembled an all-star team of experts, including Dr. Kimberly Capone, chief scientific officer (formerly with Johnson & Johnson), and Dr. Laura Clapper, COO (formerly Cigna, CVS-Aetna).

"Women's health has been under-researched and underrepresented for too long," says Capone in the release. "As a woman and a scientist, I have often been the sounding board for friends and family on their wellness journey – offering advice and feedback on skincare, vaginal care, probiotics and supplements that can help with issues in skin and vaginal health, PMS and menopause. What I hear consistently is that women do not know where to go, or what products to choose that may help."

This is exactly the need the technology will help to solve.

"This is where FemTec Health's unified and coordinated platform comes in — we provide personalized services and science-based products that are meaningful and effective for women at all stages of their lives. I believe the future is female and FemTec Health will help get us there," Capone continues.

FemTec Health's business and growth model is to expand via acquisitions — and the company has several under its belt already, including beauty subscription box Birchbox, universal beauty store Mira Beauty, and beauty industry social marketing platform Liquid Grids, which has over 1.5 million members, according to the release.

"Our first acquisitions within women's health and beauty are key to our mission to revolutionize the women's healthcare and beauty industry," says Angelides, who is the company's executive chairman and interim CEO. "Women deserve a comprehensive, all encompassing model designed specifically for them. The starting point is to really understand a woman's healthcare needs and then apply smart technology like AI and predictive analytics to translate the data into actionable outcomes."

In the near future, the company plans on re-launching Birchbox, using the BiomeAI™ platform to give subscribers curated personalized skin and healthcare products. Birchbox was sold to private equity firm, Viking Global — one of FemTec's investors, in 2018.

"I have always believed in the power of women as a community, and I believe this is a natural step in the evolution of Birchbox," says Katia Beauchamp, founder of Birchbox, in the release. "Eleven years ago, we were compelled by an ability to build deep customer relationships month after month. FemTec's vision for the future of women's healthcare was inspirational to me and I could see the opportunity for the thousands of women in the Birchbox community to extend beyond consumer beauty products to a more holistic health and wellness offering."

According to the release, more strategic partnerships with health and wellness companies will be announced soon.

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7 innovative startups that are leading the energy transition in Houston

meet the finalists

Houston has long been touted as the energy capital of the world, and it's now it's also a leading player in the energy transition — home to numerous startups and innovators working toward a cleaner future.

As part of the 2025 Houston Innovation Awards, our Energy Transition Business category honors innovative startups that are providing solution within renewables, climatetech, clean energy, alternative materials, circular economy, and more.

Seven energy transition companies have been named finalists for the 2025 award. They range from a spinoff stimulating subsurface hydrogen from end-of-life oil fields to a company converting prickly pear cactus biogas into energy.

Read more about these climatetech businesses, their founders, and their green initiatives below. Then join us at the Houston Innovation Awards on Nov. 13 at Greentown Labs, when the winner will be unveiled at our live awards ceremony.

Tickets are now on sale for this exclusive event celebrating all things Houston Innovation.

Anning Corporation

Clean energy company Anning Corporation is working to develop geologic hydrogen, a natural carbon-free fuel, using its proprietary stimulation approaches and advanced exploration modeling. The company said that geologic hydrogen has the potential to be the lowest-cost source of reliable baseload electricity in the U.S.

The company was founded by CEO Sophie Broun in 2024 and is a member of Greentown Labs. Last month, it also announced that it was chosen to participate in Breakthrough Energy’s prestigious Fellows Program. Anning raised a pre-seed round this year and is currently raising a $6 million seed round.

Capwell Services

Houston-based methane capture company Capwell Services works to eliminate vented oil and gas emissions economically for operators. According to the company, methane emissions are vented from most oil and gas facilities due to safety protocols, and operators are not able to capture the gas cost-effectively, leading operators to emit more than 14 million metric tons of methane per year in the U.S. and Canada. Founded in 2022, Capwell specializes in low and intermittent flow vents for methane capture.

The company began as a University of Pennsylvania senior design project led by current CEO Andrew Lane. It has since participated in programs with Greentown Labs and Rice Clean Energy Accelerator. The company moved to Houston in 2023 and raised a pre-seed round. It has also received federal funding from the DOE. Capwell is currently piloting its commercial unit with oil and gas operators.

Deep Anchor Solutions

Offshore energy consulting and design company Deep Anchor Solutions aims to help expedite the adoption of floating offshore energy infrastructure with its deeply embedded ring anchor (DERA) technology. According to the company, its patented DERA system can be installed quietly without heavy-lift vessels, reducing anchor-related costs by up to 75 percent and lifecycle CO2 emissions by up to 80 percent.

The company was founded in 2023 by current CEO Junho Lee and CTO Charles Aubeny. Lee earned his Ph.D. in geotechnical engineering from Texas A&M University, where Aubeny is a professor of civil and environmental engineering. The company has participated in numerous accelerators and incubators, including Greentown Labs, MassChallenge, EnergyTech Nexus LiftOff, and others. Lee is an Activate 2025 fellow.

Eclipse Energy

Previously known as Gold H2, Eclipse Energy converts end-of-life oil fields into low-cost, sustainable hydrogen sources. It completed its first field trial this summer, which demonstrated subsurface bio-stimulated hydrogen production. According to the company, its technology could yield up to 250 billion kilograms of low-carbon hydrogen, which is estimated to provide enough clean power to Los Angeles for over 50 years and avoid roughly 1 billion metric tons of CO2 equivalent.

Eclipse is a spinoff of Houston biotech company Cemvita. It was founded in 2022 by Moji Karimi (CEO and chairman of Cemvita), Prabhdeep Sekhon (CEO of Eclipse), Tara Karimi, and Rayyan Islam. The company closed an $8 million series A this year and has plans to raise another round in 2026.

Loop Bioproducts

Agricultural chemical manufacturing company Loop Bioproducts leverages the physiology of prickly pear cactus grown in Texas to produce bioenergy, food, and remediate industrial wastewater streams. The company uses its remote sensing technology, proprietary image-based machine learning model, and R&D innovation to capture raw biogas from the cactuses and is focused on scaling cactuses as an industrial crop on land.

Rhiannon Parker founded Loop Bioproducts in 2023.

Mars Materials

Clean chemical manufacturing business Mars Materials is working to convert captured carbon into resources, such as carbon fiber and wastewater treatment chemicals. The company develops and produces its drop-in chemical products in Houston and uses an in-licensed process for the National Renewable Energy Lab to produce acrylonitrile, which is used to produce plastics, synthetic fibers, and rubbers. The company reports that it plans to open its first commercial plant in the next 18 months.

Founded in 2019 by CEO Aaron Fitzgerald, CTO Kristian Gubsch, and lead engineer Trey Sheridan, the company has raised just under $1 million in capital and is backed by Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy, Shell, Black & Veatch, and other organizations.

Solidec

Chemical manufacturing company Solidec has developed autonomous generators that extract molecules from water and air and converts them into pure chemicals and fuels that are free of carbon emissions onsite, eliminating the need for transport, storage, and permitting. The company was founded around innovations developed by Rice University associate professor Haotian Wang.

The company was selected for the Chevron Technology Ventures’ catalyst program, Greentown Labs, NSF I-Corps and was part of the first cohort of the Activate Houston program. It won first place at the 2024 startup pitch competition at CERAWeek. Solidec was founded in 2023 by Wang, who serves as chief scientist, CEO Ryan DuChanois, and CTO Yang Xia. It closed a $2.5 million seed round earlier this year.

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Rice University team develops eco-friendly method to destroy 'forever chemicals' in water

clean water research

Rice University researchers have teamed up with South Korean scientists to develop the first eco-friendly technology that captures and destroys toxic “forever chemicals,” or PFAS, in water.

PFAS have been linked to immune system disruption, certain cancers, liver damage and reproductive disorders. They can be found in water, soil and air, as well as in products like Teflon pans, waterproof clothing and food packaging. They do not degrade easily and are difficult to remove.

Thus far, PFAS cleanup methods have relied on adsorption, in which molecules cling to materials like activated carbon or ion-exchange resins. But these methods tend to have limited capacity, low efficiency, slow performance and can create additional waste.

The Rice-led study, published in the journal Advanced Materials, centered on a layered double hydroxide (LDH) material made from copper and aluminum that could rapidly capture PFAS and be used to destroy the chemicals.

The study was led by Rice professor Youngkun Chung, a postdoctoral fellow under the mentorship of Michael S. Wong. It was conducted in collaboration with Seoktae Kang, professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and Keon-Ham Kim, professor at Pukyung National University, who first discovered the LDH material.

The team evaluated the LDH material in river water, tap water and wastewater. And, according to Rice, that material’s unique copper-aluminum layers and charge imbalances created an ideal binding environment to capture PFAS molecules.

“To my astonishment, this LDH compound captured PFAS more than 1,000 times better than other materials,” Chung, lead author of the study and now a fellow at Rice’s WaTER (Water Technologies, Entrepreneurship and Research) Institute and Sustainability Institute, said in a news release. “It also worked incredibly fast, removing large amounts of PFAS within minutes, about 100 times faster than commercial carbon filters.”

Next, Chung, along with Rice professors Pedro Alvarez and James Tour, worked to develop an eco-friendly, sustainable method of thermally decomposing the PFAS captured on the LDH material. They heated saturated material with calcium carbonate, which eliminated more than half of the trapped PFAS without releasing toxic by-products.

The team believes the study’s results could potentially have large-scale applications in industrial cleanups and municipal water treatments.

“We are excited by the potential of this one-of-a-kind LDH-based technology to transform how PFAS-contaminated water sources are treated in the near future,” Wong added in the news release. “It’s the result of an extraordinary international collaboration and the creativity of young researchers.”

Axiom Space announces new CEO amid strategic leadership change

new leader

Six months after promoting Tejpaul Bhatia from chief revenue officer to CEO, commercial space infrastructure and human spaceflight services provider Axiom Space has replaced him.

On Oct. 15, Houston-based Axiom announced Jonathan Cirtain has succeeded Bhatia as CEO. Bhatia joined Axiom in 2021. Cirtain remains the company’s president, a role he assumed in June, according to his LinkedIn profile.

In a news release, Axiom said Cirtain’s appointment as CEO is a “strategic leadership change” aimed at advancing the company’s development of space infrastructure.

Axiom hired Cirtain as president in June, according to his LinkedIn profile. The company didn’t publicly announce that move.

Kam Ghaffarian, co-founder and executive chairman of Axiom, said Cirtain’s “proven track record of leadership and commitment to excellence align perfectly with our mission of building era-defining space infrastructure that will drive exploration and fuel the global space economy.”

Aside from praising Cirtain, Ghaffarian expressed his “sincere gratitude” for Bhatia’s work at Axiom, including his leadership as CEO during “a significant transition period.”

Bhatia was promoted to CEO in April after helping Axiom gain more than $1 billion in contracts, Space News reported. He succeeded Ghaffarian as CEO. Axiom didn’t indicate whether Bhatia quit or was terminated.

Cirtain, an astrophysicist, was a senior executive at BWX Technologies, a supplier of nuclear components and fuel, for eight years before joining Axiom. Earlier, Cirtain spent nearly nine years in various roles at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. He previously co-founded a machine learning company specializing in Earth observation.

“Axiom Space is pioneering the commercialization of low-Earth orbit infrastructure while accelerating advancements in human spaceflight technologies,” Cirtain said. “I look forward to continuing our team’s important work of driving innovation to support expanded access to space and off-planet capabilities that will underpin the future of space exploration.”

Among other projects, Axiom is developing the world’s first commercial space station, creating next-generation spacesuits for astronauts and sending astronauts on low-Earth orbit missions.

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