European app expands to Houston, partners with local vendors to combat food waste

sustainable impact

Since expanding to Houston, this innovative European company has saved nearly 30,000 meals from being wasted. Photo via toogoodtogo.com

Since expanding into Houston just over two months ago, an app that combats food waste has saved over 28,000 meals.

By partnering with locally owned vendors like the Village Bakery, as well as larger chains like Tiff’s Treats, Too Good To Go offers Houstonians a variety of discounted goodies. Users can browse a range of stores and sign up for a “surprise bag,” an assemblage of surplus food that typically costs $5.

The free mobile app now connects savvy shoppers to 130 Houston area stores, allowing them to enjoy food that would otherwise be thrown away. Based in Denmark, Too Good To Go previously launched in Texas in Austin in 2021, before its statewide expansion into Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio in July.

"We are excited to expand our app across Texas to partner with the dynamic food scene and culture," says Chris MacAulay, Too Good To Go US Country Director, in a press release. "In partnership with the incredible local food businesses across Texas, we want to make reducing food waste accessible to all. Together, with the great restaurant community and residents in Texas, we know we will have an immediate impact."

Sarah Soteroff, senior PR manager of Too Good To Go’s North American branch, shared the European based corporation’s scaling up of operations in Texas is part of their plan to move across the United States, going into more cities where food waste persists.

“Our goal is to reduce food waste everywhere that it occurs. So in the long term, we want to eliminate food waste globally,” Soteroff says.

The move into U.S. cities has been gradual, as Soteroff said Too Good To Go works to get an initial network of 50 businesses signed up for the app before officially launching. Beyond getting vendors to list their surplus stock on the app, Too Good To Go representatives aid in marketing and educating the stores on how to use the app.

“We want to make sure that we are setting those businesses up for success and ensuring that consumers know about it through PR, through the stories we share. That businesses do feel as though there’s a value to them for being on the app,” Soteroff explains.

Though the surprise bags are typically priced at about one-third their retail values, vendors can still bring in business through these mystery deals. Roughly 8,500 unique users in Houston have made purchases through the app since it debuted, preventing over 28,000 meals from ending up in landfills.

“For us to ensure that we are able to reduce food waste, we do have to be going into markets like Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, and Austin–in those larger cities where there’s a larger concentration of stores,” Soteroff shares.

According to the Too Good To Go website, every surprise bag purchased prevents the “CO2e emission of charging one smartphone fully 422 times,” and in 2022 the company averted nearly 200,000 tons of CO2e emissions through its community partnerships.

A Houston-area family has made it their business to help Houstonians reduce waste in a convenient, sustainable way. Photo courtesy of Happy Earth Compost

Family-owned composting startup redesigns how Houston disposes of waste

don't worry, be happy

Jesse Stowers has always strived to do his part for the environment. From recycling and making eco-conscious choices, the Stowers were doing everything right, but was it enough?

The family of five was throwing away two trash bags of waste a day that would later end up in landfills until Stowers stumbled on composting as a solution. In May, he launched Happy Earth Compost, a company set on making Houston more sustainable.

If you're unfamiliar with composting, get ready for a crash course. Composting is a sustainable method of decomposing organic solid wastes and turning that waste into compost, a substance that helps plants grow. Food scraps and household items like rice, pasta, meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, fruits, coffee grounds, spoiled food, and tea bags are just a few of the many things that can be composted rather than thrown away.

"Your food waste and compostable waste is anywhere from 25 to 50 percent depending on the family," explains Stowers. According to Happy Earth Compost, one human creates an estimated 1,642 pounds of trash each year.

When looking at striking statistics, it's clear composting has a direct impact on the future of our environment. In Houston, 81 percent of waste ends up in landfills that pile high, and the city exceeds the national waste average by 25 percent. While the smell of landfills may make you wince, the repercussions of exhausting those landfills are even more displeasing.

Not only are the plots of land permanently lost from agricultural and home development, but the landfills also emit methane gas, a greenhouse gas that's 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide, according to The Independent.

What started as the Stowers family's resolution to be eco-friendly became a full-blown business plan. After Stowers attempted to compost at home for his own family, he soon partnered with New Earth Compost in Fulshear, Texas, as a drop-off location for the waste and did a test drive of the service with his neighbors back in March. Happy Earth Compost now serves 350 homes in the Greater Houston-area and has plans to expand to College Station.

Happy Earth Compost has created a service, with pricing ranging from $15 to $35, that provides Houstonians with the bins to compost and picks up the waste from your door. The buckets can be picked up weekly, bi-weekly or monthly while the company does all of the labor and dirty work to help you compost. A new $5 drop-off option is also available for Houstonians who are willing to drive to one of the applicable farmers' markets.

Subscribers can also get free compost to use in their gardens, what gardeners often call "black gold" because of its value and benefits, says Stowers.

Members receive equipment and instructions upon registration. Photo courtesy of Happy Earth

The family-owned business' typical week involves picking up buckets from 300 houses, dropping off compost, cleaning those buckets, and starting the process all over again.

"It's not the most glamorous thing, but it's getting people set up to do it. We're trying to make things easy for everybody by doing the hard work on our end," he says.

Ease is a key feature that helps the service stand out to Houstonians. Composting in Houston no longer requires the personal labor of investing in a compost bin, balancing the mixture of materials, measuring the temperature of your compost, and ordering worms to help accelerate the process (you read that right).

At various farmers' markets around Houston, Stowers is quick to point out the convenience of the program he's created. "It's hard to convince people to compost. It's easier to convince them to try something that's beneficial and simple," he explained.

Jenna Arbogast, a Happy Earth Compost customer, had dabbled in composting on her own but never committed to maintaining it at home. "When I found out about Happy Earth Compost, I so excited that someone was taking the initiative to extend this city-wide. Being that we are such a large city, we have such a great opportunity to heal our environment," says Arbogast. "I really love contributing to something as a collective. Even though I could compost at home, I really wanted to support this initiative," she says.

To Arbogast, who has been using the service for three months, convenience and transparency have made Happy Earth Compost a joy to work with. "You get all the benefits of composting without the maintenance, and you're supporting a good cause," she says.

Since its May launch, the Happy Earth Compost Instagram has grown by over 1,900 fans. The Stowers family has been amazed by the response and hopes to expand to more households in Houston.

"I think there's definitely a movement to be more sustainable to actually consider what we're doing and take care of our stuff, including the earth," says Stowers. He envisions a future where composting is taught to future generations as a fundamental need for the environment.

"It may not cost us now, but it will cost us eventually. What can we do now to make a difference now?" asks Stowers.


Jesse Stowers started his family business in May. Photo via happyearthcompost.com

From a lab in Rice University to a potential shelf life in stores, the innovation of food coating is just beginning. Photo courtesy of Rice University

Houston researchers find new eco-friendly way to preserve produce

preventing waste

Hunger impacts over 800 million people worldwide, leaving nearly 10 percent of the population suffering from chronic undernourishment. The distressing reality of food shortages co-exists in a world where 1.3 billion tons of food — nearly a third of what's produced — is wasted each year, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rice University's scientific research team's latest discovery takes a crack at ending food shortages and improving sustainability with a common kitchen necessity: eggs.

The discovery of egg-based coating is promising to researchers, as it manages to both prolong produce shelf-life by double while impacting the environment.

"We are reducing the cost, and at the same time we are reducing the waste," says Muhammad M. Rahman, a research scientist at Rice University. "One in every eight people are hungry...on the other side, 33 percent of food is wasted."

It's no secret that overflowing landfills contribute to the climate crisis, piling high with food waste each year. While the United States produces more than seven billion eggs a year, manufacturers reject 3 percent of them. The Rice University researchers estimate that more than 200 million eggs end up in U.S. landfills annually.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, half of all landfill gas is methane, a hazardous greenhouse gas that contributes to detrimental climate change. Landfills are the third-largest contributor to methane emissions in the country, riding the coattails of agriculture and the energy industry.

COVID-19 has upended supply chains across the nation, and in recent months food waste has become an even more pressing issue. The disruptions of consumer purchasing habits and the indefinite closures of theme parks and select restaurants put a burden on farmers who planned for larger harvests and restaurants unsure of how to adjust. With more Americans cooking at home, panic-buying from grocery stores is also playing a role in accumulating waste.

To understand the challenges of the food industry, it's important to acknowledge the biggest menace to the supply chain: perishability. Fruits and vegetables only last a few days once arriving in grocery stores due to culprits like dehydration, texture deterioration, respiration and microbial growth. Rice University researchers sought to create a coating that addresses each of these issues in a natural, cost-effective way.

Brown School of Engineering materials scientist, Pulickei Ajayan, and his colleagues, were looking for a protein to fight issues like food waste. Rahman, a researcher in Ajayan's lab, received his Ph.D. from Cornell University studying the structure-property relationship in green nanocomposites. He and his fellow researchers found that egg whites were a suitable protein that wouldn't alter the biological and physiological properties of fruit. The study published in Advanced Materials took one year and three months to complete.

According to Rahman, the egg-based coating is non-toxic, biodegradable and healthier than other alternatives on the market. Wax is one common method of fruit preservation that can result in adverse effects on gut cells and the body over time.

"Long-term consumption of wax is not actually good and is very bad for your health," says Dr. Rahman. After wax is consumed, gut cells fragment the preservatives in wax to ions. This process can have a negative impact on "membrane disruption, essential metabolite inhibition, energy drainage to restore homeostasis, and reductions in body-weight gain," according to the research abstract.

Preservation efforts like wax, modified atmospheric packaging and paraffin-based active coatings are not only more expensive and less healthy, but they also alter the taste and look of fruits.

"Reducing food shortages in ways that don't involve genetic modification, inedible coatings or chemical additives is important for sustainable living," Ajayan states in a press release.

The magic of preservation is all in the ingredients. Rice University's edible coating is mostly made from household items. Seventy percent of the egg coating is made from egg whites and yolk. Cellulose nanocrystals, a biopolymer from wood, are mixed with the egg to create a gas barrier and keep the produce from shriveling. To add elasticity to the brittle poly-albumen (egg), glycerol helps make the coating flexible. Finally, curcumin—an extract found in turmeric—works as an antibacterial to reduce the microbial growth and preserve the fruit's freshness.

The experiment was done by dipping strawberries, avocados, papayas and bananas in the multifunctional coating and comparing them with uncoated fruits. Observation during the decaying process showed that the coated fruits had about double the shelf-life of their non-coated counterparts.

For people with egg allergies, the coating can be removed simply by rinsing the produce in water. Rice University researchers are also beginning to test plant-based proteins for vegan consumers.

For its first iteration, Rahman finds that the coating shows "optimistic results" and "potential" for the future of food preservation.

"These are already very green materials. In the next phase, we are trying to optimize this coating and extend the samples from fruits to vegetables and eggs," says Rahman.

Researchers will also work to test a spray protein, making it easier for both commercial providers as well as consumers looking for an at-home coating option. From a lab in Rice University to a potential shelf life in stores, the innovation of food coating is just beginning.

Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

Houston company wins AHA competition for pediatric heart valve design

winner, winner

Houston-based PolyVascular, which develops minimally invasive solutions for children with congenital heart disease, was named the overall winner of the American Heart Association’s annual Health Tech Competition earlier this month.

The company was founded in 2014 by Dr. Henri Justino and Daniel Harrington and was part of TMCi's 2017 medical device cohort. It is developing the first polymer-based transcatheter pulmonary valve designed specifically for young children, allowing for precise sizing and redilation as the child grows while also avoiding degradation. PolyVascular has completed preclinical studies and is working toward regulatory submissions, an early feasibility study and its first-in-human clinical trial thanks to a recent SBIR grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

With the new AHA honor, PolyVascular will be invited to join the association’s Center for Health Technology & Innovation Innovators’ Network, which connects entrepreneurs, providers and researchers to share and advance innovation in cardiovascular and brain health.

“This is a tremendous honor for PolyVascular—we’re especially proud to bring hope to families and children living with congenital heart defects,” Justino said in a news release. “Our technology—a minimally invasive valve that can be expanded over time to grow with the child—has the potential to dramatically reduce the need for repeated open-heart surgeries.”

The Health Tech Competition is a live forum for health care innovators to present their digital solutions for treating or preventing cardiovascular diseases and stroke.

Finalists from around the world addressed heart failure, hypertension, congenital heart defects and other issues that exist in cardiovascular, brain and metabolic health. Solutions were evaluated on the criteria of validity, scientific rigor and impact.

The judges included Texas-based Dr. Eric D. Peterson, professor of medicine in the division of cardiology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and Dr. Asif Ali, clinical associate professor of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston and director at Cena Research Institute.

According to the American Heart Association, nearly half of U.S. adults live with some form of cardiovascular disease or stroke.

“The American Heart Association plays a pivotal role in advancing innovative care pathways, and we’re excited that our solution aligns with its guidelines and mission,” Justino said in a news release. “It’s time these life-changing technologies reach the youngest patients, just as they already do for adults.”

EO Houston is where ambitious founders go to scale smarter

Don't Go It Alone

Scaling a business from early traction into true growth is one of the most exciting — and punishing — chapters of entrepreneurship. Houston founders know this better than most. Our city is built on ambition: fast-moving industries, talent from around the world, and opportunities that expand as large as the Texas sky.

But as many entrepreneurs eventually learn, scaling isn’t simply “more of what worked.” It requires new systems, new thinking, and often, a new version of the founder. Even the most capable founders eventually face decisions, pressures, and turning points that only other entrepreneurs can truly understand.

Entrepreneurs’ Organization, a global peer-to-peer network of more than 18,000 business owners across 220 chapters in 75+ countries, exists for exactly this stage. One of the largest chapters in the organization, EO Houston brings that global community to life locally, offering founders the connection, learning, and accountability needed to grow sustainably and to grow up as leaders.

A community where founders learn at the highest level
The real value of EO emerges in the lived experiences of other entrepreneurs. When Houston-area founders talk about the moments growth nearly broke their companies, a universal theme appears: you can’t do it alone.

EO Houston member Robert De Los Santos of Sky High Party Rentals learned this the hard way when rapid post-COVID growth made expansion feel limitless — until it wasn’t.

“After COVID, we doubled every year and assumed inventory was the limit. In 2023 we overbought, only to realize demand had peaked. That taught us a hard truth: growth in one city has ceilings. Expanding into Austin and Dallas — the Texas Triangle — gave us new markets to put our inventory to work while we figured out how to penetrate Houston better. The challenge shifted from a strategy of ‘buy more units for demand’ to learning how to tackle the challenges of ‘leading across cities.’”

Founders often enter EO exhausted from trying to maintain control as things grow more complex. Many discover, like Jarred King of Summit Firms, that scaling requires the difficult shift from doing everything to building the team that can.

“We grew quickly because of my network, relationships, and hustle… but I was doing all the work,” King says. “I realized at that point you have to delegate — not just busy work, but important decisions to your key team, as well as set up really effective SOPs.”

“The uncomfortable truth is that you are no longer the best person for most jobs in your company," agrees Darren Randle of Houston Tents & Events. "Your inability to delegate or hire people smarter than you in key leadership and management level roles will become the single biggest drag on the entire business. You have to accept that your original 'hustle' is now a scalability risk."

Making hard decisions, such as walking away from customers or contracts, can feel like less of a sting when you know others have also been faced with tough choices. Aaron Gillaspie of West U's My Salon Suite recalls, “You can’t be everything to everyone, it’s ok to say no, and just understand some customers aren’t the right fit. It’s a two way street and both must win.”

Perspective is perhaps the most important reality check that members find at EO.

“Bigger volume will not make problems go away — you just got to get used to walking the tightrope," says Roger Pombrol of Emerald Standard. "Develop a system for good balance and do not freak out. Scared is no way to live your life. It’s ok if you fall. Your family will still love you. Money is just money. Love is love. The world tries to make you conflate them, but don’t."

Actionable insights from entrepreneurs who’ve already scaled
Conversations like these are happening every month inside EO Forum Meeting. Each EO chapter is divided into several small Forums. These confidential, committed group of 7–10 entrepreneurs who meet to share the real five percent of what they’re experiencing. It’s not advice, but experience — shared candidly, respectfully, and with the kind of vulnerability that leads to breakthroughs.

What makes Forum so impactful is the honesty it draws out. Entrepreneurs are often surrounded by employees, partners, and even family members who rely on them for answers, but seldom do they have a group where vulnerability is not only welcomed, but expected.

Learning experiences that match your ambition
EO supports that growth far beyond peer groups. Through the organization’s global partnerships with institutions like Harvard, Oxford, and INSEAD, Houston members gain access to executive-level learning experiences designed specifically for entrepreneurs.

These programs help founders step out of the day-to-day and think strategically about competitive advantage, innovation, and organizational leadership. Paired with ongoing learning through EO Jumpstart, Nano Learning, and its global library of member-created content, founders stay informed, challenged, and ahead of emerging trends.

And through global communities — ranging from EO Women and EO Under 35 to industry-specific groups — Houston members tap into expertise that spans continents and sectors. Whether someone is navigating M&A, exploring international expansion, or integrating new technologies, the right perspectives are always within reach.

What truly distinguishes EO Houston, however, is its culture. Houston’s entrepreneurial landscape is uniquely diverse and resilient, filled with founders who are hungry to build, innovate, and elevate the city’s business community. EO Houston amplifies that spirit, creating relationships that are as supportive as they are strategic. Many members describe the chapter not simply as a network, but as a catalyst for becoming better leaders, better thinkers, and — just as importantly — better human beings.

Your next level starts here
For entrepreneurs who are ready to scale—beyond their first million, beyond their current comfort zone, and toward a future that requires sharper leadership and stronger community—EO Houston offers an unmatched platform. It is a place where ambitious founders grow faster, think bigger, and gain the confidence to take bold next steps.

If you’re ready to elevate your business and your leadership alongside people who understand the journey, EO Houston is ready to welcome you. Your next level starts with the peers who can help you reach it. Learn more and become a member here.

3 Houston companies land on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 list

trending up

Three Houston companies have made this year’s Deloitte North America Technology Fast 500 list.

The report ranks the fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences, fintech, and energy tech companies in North America. The Houston companies to make the list, along with their revenue growth rates from 2021-2024, include:

  • No. 16 Action1 Corp., a provider of cybersecurity software. Growth rate: 7,265 percent
  • No. 92 Cart.com, a commerce and logistics platform. Growth rate: 1,053 percent
  • No. 312 Tellihealth, a remote health care platform. Growth rate: 244 percent

“Houston’s unique blend of entrepreneurial energy and innovation continues to strengthen the local business community, and I’m thrilled to see Houston companies honored on the 2025 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 list. Congratulations to all the winners,” said Melinda Yee, managing partner in Deloitte’s Houston office.

Action1 is no stranger to lists like the Deloitte Technology Fast 500. For instance, the company ranked first among software companies and 29th overall on this year’s Inc. 5000, a list of the country’s fastest-growing private companies. Its growth rate from 2021 to 2024 reached 7,188 percent.

Mike Walters, president and co-founder of Action1, said in August that the Inc. 5000 achievement “reflects the dedication of Action1’s global team, who continue to execute against an ambitious vision: a world where cyberattacks exploiting vulnerabilities are entirely prevented across all types of devices, operating systems, and applications.”

Atlanta-based Impericus, operator of an AI-powered platform that connects health care providers with pharmaceutical and life sciences companies, topped the Deloitte list with a 2021-24 growth rate of 29,738 percent.

“Our mission is to set the standard for ethical AI-powered physician connections to pharma resources, accelerating and expanding patient access to needed treatments,” said Dr. Osama Hashmi, a dermatologist who’s co-founder and CEO of Impiricus. “As we continue to innovate quickly, we remain committed to building ethical bridges across this vital ecosystem.”

View All Listings