10+ can't-miss Houston business and innovation events for August

Where to be

From startup competitions to thought-provoking talks, here's where you need to be in August. Getty Images

If you subscribe to the idea that your net worth is your network, then here's your guide to networking this month in Houston's innovation ecosystem. August has meetups, pitch nights, and networking aplenty.

If you know of innovation-focused events for this month or next, email me at natalie@innovationmap.com with the details and subscribe to our daily newsletter that sends fresh stories straight to your inboxes every morning.

August 1 — Sixth Annual Bayou City Startup Showcase

Rice University's OwlSpark and University of Houston's RED Labs are coming together again for a startup pitch and showcase — this time in The Cannon's new building.

Details: The event is from 3 to 5:30 pm on Thursday, August 1, at The Cannon/Bayou City Fellowship (1400 Brittmoore Road). Learn more.

August 6 — Houston Unfiltered with Jeff Garoon, COO of FlowCommand

Station Houston has rebooted its Open Coffee series to Houston Unfiltered. Each month has a new speaker, and in August, startups can hear from Jeff Garoon, COO of FlowCommand.

Details: The event is from 8 to 9 am on Tuesday, August 6, at Station Houston (1301 Fannin Street, #2440). Learn more.

August 6 — Managing Your Sales Function 

Capital Factory's next Houston Founder's Academy installation is focused on sales.

Details: The event is from noon to 2 pm on Tuesday, August 6, at The Cannon (1336 Brittmoore Road). Learn more.

August 7 — Deep 6 AI: Advancing Clinical Research @ TMC

Imagine knowing every patient you want to recruit on day 1 of your trial. Doug Cassidy, vice president of Clinical and Academic Research at Deep 6 AI, explains how Deep 6 AI can help you find more better matching patients for trials in minutes, not months.

Details: The event is from 4:30 to 5:30 pm on Wednesday, August 7, at Third Coast Restaurant (6550 Bertner Avenue, 6th Floor). Learn more.

August 8 — Summer Salon: Broadband Internet Access & Digital Inclusion

The Center for Houston's Future is hosting a fireside chat to focus on all things digital.

Details: The event is from 6:30 to 8:30 pm on Thursday, August 8, at the Omni Houston Hotel (4 Riverway). Learn more.

August 13 — Entrepreneurship Burn-out: The Power of Nutrition Psychology

Entrepreneurs are creative, highly driven, and high-performing individuals. But in the pursuit of success, entrepreneurs often neglect their health. Our guest speaker will share practical tips/advice for entrepreneurs to prioritize nutrition to prevent burnout and/or help in the recovery process.

Details: The event is from 5:30 to 7:30 pm on Tuesday, August 13, at Impact Hub Houston #PopHUB @HX (410 Pierce Street). Learn more.

August 15 — SPE Talk: The Energy Dot

This inaugural digital innovation event will combine oil and gas, academia, and Silicon Valley innovation with multiple tracks of engaging programming.

Details: The event is from 8 am to 5 pm on Thursday, August 15, at Midtown Arts and Theatre Center (3400 Main Street). Learn more.

August 17 — Enventure Basecamp - Business Building Workshop

Basecamp is an inclusive environment for those who are interested in adapting their life science experiences to real business applications. All are welcome, and the event is free.

Details: The event is from 9 am to noon on Saturday, August 17, at the TMC Innovation Institute (2450 Holcombe Blvd). Learn more.

August 17 — re:3D's sixth birthday, discount print day, and design contest

re:3D is turning six, but the party is actually for you. Discount printing, plus a contest with $100 credit on the line.

Details: The event is from 10 am to 2 pm on Saturday, August 17, at re:3D Houston HQ (1100 Hercules Ave, STE 220). Learn more.

August 22 — TMCxAlpha: August meeting with Ashok Gowda

TMC alpha provides a pathway for any innovator affiliated with a TMC member institution to find support for the development and commercialization of their idea or product. Lunch and parking validation will be available.

Details: The event is from noon to 1 pm on Thursday, August 22, at the TMC Innovation Institute (2450 Holcombe Blvd). Learn more.

August 22 — Federal Funding 101 Introduction to the SBIR

This program is purpose-made to provide seed money of up to $1.5M to small businesses to enable them to break into the market. Following the workshop, Inspiralia experts will be available for one-on-one technology validation meetings.

Details: The event is from from 3 to 7 pm on Thursday, August 22, at the CUBIO Innovation Center (7707 Fannin St., Ste 200). Learn more.

August 28 — Enventure Biodesign Workshops

Biodesign workshops is a free course designed to provide new entrepreneurs with an understanding of the innovation process, teaching them how to evaluate a life science technology as the basis for starting a new business. Whether you're an engineer, scientist, physician, or business expert, this class will bring you up to speed on the medical innovation process.

Details: The event is from 6 to 8 pm on Wednesday, August 28, at the TMC Innovation Institute (2450 Holcombe Blvd). Learn more.

​August 29 — The Greenlight Guru True Quality Roadshow

Enjoy specially selected drinks, hors d'oeuvres, and intimate networking with medical device professionals. Finish the night hearing from leaders in the industry.

Details: The event is from 4:30 to 6:30 pm on Thursday, August 28, at the JLABS @ TMC (2450 Holcombe Blvd). Learn more.

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23 Houston companies rank among America’s most future-ready businesses

future focused

By one measure, Spring-based tech giant Hewlett Packard Enterprises reigns as the most future-ready Houston-area company on the S&P 500 stock index.

HPE sits at No. 72 in a first-time ranking of the best S&P 500 companies for the future. Including HPE, 23 Houston-area companies appear on the list.

Published by The Wall Street Journal, the ranking was created by Bendable Labs for the WSJ Leadership Institute. It evaluates how S&P 500 companies stack up in six areas: AI readiness, innovation, talent readiness, financial fitness, resilience and agility. To be ranked, a company had to be part of the S&P 500 as of Dec. 31.

Among the six categories, HPE ranked highest for innovation (No. 30) among local companies. The WSJ didn’t say why HPE scored so well for innovation. However, the company stands out in this category thanks to:

  • Creation of the El Capitan and Frontier supercomputing systems
  • Research into photonic computing and quantum networking
  • Last year’s $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks, giving HPE an edge in AI-native networking
  • Establishment of the everything-as-a-service GreenLake hybrid cloud platform for data centers, colocation facilities and edge computing environments

In an interview with the Six Five podcast at HPE Discover 2025 in Las Vegas, CEO Antonio Neri said the company’s strategy is “basically founded on innovation, and that innovation drives shareholder value over the long term.”

While HPE fared well in the innovation category, it ranked toward the bottom for financial fitness. What’s behind the No. 430 ranking in the financial category? HPE’s low score likely reflects a debt-heavy acquisition strategy coupled with a historically low-margin hardware business.

Here’s the full list of the 23 Houston-area companies included in the ranking of the best companies for the future:

  • No. 72 Hewlett Packard Enterprise
  • No. 105 SLB
  • No. 120 Baker Hughes
  • No. 125 ConocoPhillips
  • No. 158 NRG Energy
  • No. 176 Targa Resources
  • No. 185 Chevron
  • No. 195 Halliburton
  • No. 223 Coterra Energy
  • No. 229 Waste Management
  • No. 235 Exxon Mobil
  • No. 250 Kinder Morgan
  • No. 257 Quanta Services
  • No. 276 CenterPoint Energy
  • No. 285 Sysco
  • No. 313 Occidental Petroleum
  • No. 318 Camden Property Trust
  • No. 333 EOG Resources
  • No. 365 LyondellBasell Industries
  • No. 373 Comfort Systems USA
  • No. 401 Crown Castle
  • No. 408 Phillips 66
  • No. 500 APA

Uber, Nuro and Lucid plan to roll out robotaxi services in Houston

autonomous autos

More autonomous vehicles are expected to hit the roads in Houston next year.

Ridesharing giant Uber announced that it plans to roll out its premium robotaxi service in the Bayou City in mid-2027. Houston will be Uber’s second planned market for the program, following the San Francisco Bay Area, where the program is expected to be rolled out later this year.

Uber, Nuro and Lucid Group will bring the robotaxi program to Houston with more markets planned for the future. Currently, Nuro is conducting autonomous on-road testing with safety operators in Houston. Testing includes simulation, closed-course testing and supervised public-road testing.

“Houston is a city Nuro knows well, and we’re excited to help bring this robotaxi service to the city through our partnership with Uber and Lucid,” Andrew Chapin, chief operating officer at Nuro, said in a news release. “Houston’s large, complex metro area is an ideal market for demonstrating how Nuro’s universal autonomy platform can generalize across different geographies and operating environments. We look forward to continued engagement with the community as we prepare to launch service in 2027.”

The fleet of 100 vehicles across California and Texas will feature Lucid Gravity EVs and future Lucid Midsize vehicles equipped with Nuro Driver technology, Nuro’s Level 4 universal autonomy platform, plus a redundant sensor suite with cameras, lidar, radar and a roof-mounted halo.

The vehicles will be owned and operated by Uber and its fleet partners and made available to riders through the Uber network, according to the company.

In addition to the fleet of autonomous vehicles, Uber also announced that it has secured a 50,000-square-foot depot facility and dedicated charging pitstop in Houston. The facility will allow Uber and its partners to control vehicle maintenance, repairs, charging, cleaning, and day-to-day operations.

“Houston marks an important next step in our partnership with Lucid and Nuro as we expand autonomous mobility to more riders throughout the world,” Sarfraz Maredia, global head of autonomous mobility & delivery at Uber, added in the release. “Together, we’re combining best-in-class vehicle and autonomy technology with Uber’s scale, fleet operations expertise, and infrastructure capabilities to build a service that can grow across dozens of markets in the years ahead.”

Waymo launched its autonomous vehicle program in Houston in February.

The company later suspended its driverless car services in Houston, other major Texas cities, and Atlanta, after one of its vehicles was stranded by flooding during heavy rains. However, according to the Houston Chronicle, the fleet has resumed activity in Houston and is fully active.

Houston fintech company closes $7M funding round

fintech funding

Houston-based fintech company Receipts Depositary Corporation has closed a $7 million oversubscribed funding round and plans to scale.

The round was led by Austin-based LiveOak Ventures, with participation from Hivemind Capital, Onigiri Capital, OTC Markets Group, GTS, and Redbeard Ventures, according to a release from RDC.

RDC's platform issues depositary receipts (DRs) to qualified investors on digital and alternative assets, making it easier for investors to buy and trade hard-to-access and less traditional assets. Currently, the company offers DRs for cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and XRP.

RDC says the new funding will allow it to launch new DR products across a wider range of asset categories, potentially including commodities. Additionally, it plans to grow its relationships with "banks, broker-dealers, market makers, custodians and exchange partners" and add to its product, operations, technology, and commercial functions teams. The company is actively hiring, according to a press release.

“Depositary Receipts are trusted, regulated capital markets products which RDC is bringing to an entirely new universe of assets, from commodities to digital assets, that have historically been out of reach of traditional securities markets," Krishna Srinivasan, founding partner at LiveOak Ventures, said the release. “The team's depth of experience in the DR business on a global scale, combined with the broad institutional validation from co-investors, anchor customers, and strategic partners across asset classes, makes RDC uniquely positioned to define this category. We're proud to lead this round and support the company as it scales.”

RDC was founded in 2022 by three Citibank alumni: CEO Ankit Mehta, CEO Bryant Kim and COO Ishaan Narain. It began offering its first DRs for Bitcoin in 2024.

“This funding round is a strong validation of what we’re building at RDC and the growing demand for modernized Depositary Receipt infrastructure,” Mehta added in the release. “With the support of LiveOak Ventures and our investor partners, we are accelerating development across our DR platform expanding our market reach, and building the team needed to support the next generation of DR product

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