10+ can't-miss Houston business and innovation events online in March

where to be online

March marks a full year of attending online events — from Zoom panels to virtual conferences. But, the shows must go on with another month full of online innovation and startup events that Houston innovators need to know about.

Here's a roundup of virtual events not to miss this month — from workshops and webinars to summits and pitch parties. Note: This post might be updated to add more events.

March 1-5 — CERAWeek by IHSMarkit

In lieu of the week-long, in-person mega-conference that is the annual CERAWeek by IHSMarkit, the 2021 iteration will be completely virtual. Need some ideas of what panels and talks not to miss? Click here for five recommendations of what to attend.

The conference takes place Monday, March 1, to Friday, March 5. Click here to register.

March 2 — Houston Innovates: Digital transformation and Innovation in Oil & Gas

Digital forces are changing the skills an executive needs to manage organizations. In a world that's become increasingly digital, energy companies can sometimes find it hard to adapt. Join General Assembly Houston for a panel discussion with:

Sameer Khan, digital leader (MarTech and Transformation) at ExxonMobil
Sarah Vega, vice president of IT & Change at SmartestEnergy
Ricky Burns, business transformation team lead at BP
Jose Beceiro, senior director of Global Energy 2.0 at the Greater Houston Partnership

The event is on Tuesday, March 2, at 9:30 am. It's free and can be accessed online. Click here to register.

March 2 — Ladies Who LaUNCH #13: The Female Superpower

In 2020, 40 percent of US businesses were owned by women and generated $1.8 trillion. With these numbers in mind, it comes as no surprise that the presence of women in entrepreneurship and investing is growing.

Why do women-led companies financially outperform their male counterparts? And what are the "female superpowers" behind our ability to excel in these fields? Join featured speaker, Megan Bent, as she explores the research, data, and her own experience in the importance of female leadership in entrepreneurship and investing, and how to leverage your differences to your advantage.

The event is on Tuesday, March 2, at noon. It's free and can be accessed online. Click here to register.

March 3 — What's Next in Crypto?

Baker Botts and TeamBlockchain are hosting a webinar discussing trends in cryptocurrency. Key speakers from the sector include:

Ali Dhanani, partner at Baker Botts
Sarah Beaumont, associate at Baker Botts
Jonny Fry, co-founder & CEO at TeamBlockchain Ltd
Spencer Randall, principal & co-founder at CryptoEQ
Ankush Jain, chief investment officer at Aaro Capital

The event is on Wednesday, March 3, at 11 am. It's free and can be accessed online. Click here to register.

March 9 — Investing in Medical Devices

Join the Texas HALO Fund for a conversation with three of the fund's portfolio companies: Adient Medical, Allotrope Medical, and PathEx.

The event is on Tuesday, March 9, at noon. It's free and can be accessed online. Click here to register.

March 10 — Open Project Night: Achieving Gender Equality in Houston and Beyond

Impact Hub Houston is bringing you a monthly opportunity to come together to work on solutions for some of Houston's most pressing issues. Our city is full of changemakers across all ages, cultures, skillsets, and industries. This is your chance to conned and collaborate for the greater good.

The event is on Wednesday, March 10, at 5 pm. It's free and can be accessed online. Click here to register.

March 10 — Conversations with Latinx Entrepreneurs in Houston

Latinx entrepreneurs are starting small businesses faster than the rest of the startup population and becoming a bigger part of the total U.S. market every day. Join General Assembly for a panel of Houston Latinx leaders as they share stories about their heritage, failures and success.

The event is on Wednesday, March 10, at 6 pm. It's free and can be accessed online. Click here to register.

March 11 — How to Sell Without Being "Salesy"

In celebration of Women's History Month, Catherine Brown and Leela Madan, both serial entrepreneurs and founders of Houston-based Founder's Compass offer their advice on selling your business.

The event is on Thursday, March 11, at 10 am. It's $30 and can be accessed online. Click here to register.

March 11 — Inspire Seminar with Leslie Wise

Join Enventure for a talk and Q&A with the president and principal consultant of Evidence Matters, Leslie Wise. Inspire is one part of Lilie's three-program career exploration series. The goal of Inspire is to share an individual's career journey so that trainees can see one of the many paths that can be taken, learn about the reality of working in these fields, and gain valuable advice from key leaders to better prepare themselves for their own career journey.

The event is on Thursday, March 11, at noon. It's free and can be accessed online. Click here to register.

March 16-20 — SXSW

Another conference is pivoting to virtual attendance this year. SXSW has flipped the switch to being online only for 2021. SXSW's seven conference themes are A New Urgency; Challenging Tech's Path Forward; Cultural Resilience in the Arts; The Rebirth of Business; Transforming the Entertainment Landscape; Connection in Disconnection; and An Uncharted Future. Stay tuned to InnovationMap for a Houston innovator's guide to the conference.

The conference takes place Tuesday, March 16, to Saturday, March 20. Click here to register.

March 17 — Top Legal Considerations for Startups

Join Rice University's Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship for a session with corporate and securities lawyer Aaron Barker, who specializes in advising companies from formation to exit, will give you the inside knowledge to help you launch your venture, and possibly save you from making a rookie mistake.

The event is on Wednesday, March 17, at 4 pm. It's free and can be accessed online. Click here to register.

March 23 — Igniting Leadership: Elevating Professionalism

Join Ignite's conversation between Board Member Kelli Newman and Baylor College of Medicine's Dr. Ellen Friedman focus on insights the Director of BCM's Center for Professionalism has to share. In addition to the importance of emotional intelligence, practical methods for addressing problems before they escalate and professionalism for "women in a man's field," Dr. Friedman will answer your questions with practical advice for elevating your own professionalism.

The event is on Tuesday, March 23, at 6 pm. It's free and can be accessed online. Click here to register.

March 24 — Houston Startup Showcase

The Houston Startup Showcase is a flagship event from The Ion, formerly known as Demo Day. This event will allow for developing companies to receive feedback from subject matter experts and showcase their successes thus far. The event is a year-long series of monthly pitch competitions, and results in a final winner to close the series in November. Companies are encouraged to apply online to pitch.

The event is on Wednesday, March 24, at 6 pm. It's free and can be accessed online. Click here to register.

This week's innovators to know include Steve Jennis of Founder's Compass, Denise Hamilton of WatchHerWork, and Chris DuPont of Galen Data. Courtesy photos

3 Houston innovators to know this week

who's who

Editor's note: Houston's innovation ecosystem continues to grow. Last week, a group of startup mentors formed a new program that's a masterclass for aspiring entrepreneurs. Plus, a Houston innovator is writing the book on inclusion while another has a new partnership with a medical device company.

Steve Jennis, co-founder of Founder's Compass

Steve Jennis, along with three other Houston entrepreneurs, have teamed up to create a program based on each of their expertise that provides a launch pad for aspiring startup founders. Photo courtesy of Steve Jennis

Steve Jennis, a founder and mentor within the Houston innovation ecosystem, was thinking about opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs. While there are several accelerators within the ecosystem, they tend to be months-long programs that might require equity.

"A few months ago it struck me that maybe there was a gap in the market between the aspiring entrepreneur," says Jennis, "and the accelerator or incubator program."

Jennis tapped a few of his fellow founder-mentors to create Founder's Compass, an online masterclass for people who have a business idea but don't know what to do next. Read more about the new program.

Denise Hamilton, founder and CEO of WatchHerWork

Denise Hamilton is publishing a book that helps guide Black Lives Matter allies to make changes that will help them change the world. Photo courtesy of WatchHerWork

After developing a long career as a corporate executive, Denise Hamilton was fielding tons of requests to lunch or coffee to "pick her brain." While she loved helping to mentor young businesswomen, it was starting to become exhausting. "Frankly, there weren't enough hours in the day," she says on this week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast.

So, five years ago, she turned the cameras on and started a library of advice from female executives like herself and created WatchHerWork. The company evolved to more, and now she's focused on diversity and inclusion consulting and leadership — and, amid COVID-19 and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, she's particularly busy now. Stream the episode and read more.

Chris DuPont, CEO of Galen Data

Houston-based Galen Data, led by Chris Dupont, is collaborating with an Austin health device company on a cloud-based platform that monitors vital signs. Photo via galendata.com

Houston-based Galen Data Inc., which has developed a cloud platform for medical devices, and Austin-based Advanced TeleSensors Inc., the creator of the Cardi/o touchless monitor. Together, the two health tech companies are collaborating to take ATS's device and adding Galen Data's cloud technology.

Chris DuPont, co-founder and CEO, has led the company to meet compliance standards set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPPA), cybersecurity organizations, and others.

"We knew that our platform would be a great fit for Cardi/o," Chris DuPont, CEO of Galen Data, says. "Speed was critical, accentuated by the COVID-19 crisis. We were well positioned to address ATS' needs, and help those at-risk in the process." Read more about the innovative Texas partnership.

Four Houston entrepreneurs have teamed up to create a program based on each of their expertise that provides a launch pad for aspiring startup founders. Getty Images

Group of Houston entrepreneurs creates masterclass for aspiring founders

founders for founders

For some aspiring startup founders, the biggest thing holding them back is not knowing where to start. A group of former founders and mentors are teaming up to create that first step.

"A few months ago it struck me that maybe there was a gap in the market between the aspiring entrepreneur," says Steve Jennis, "and the accelerator or incubator program."

Jennis, who's a founder, consultant, and mentor in Houston, tapped a few of his fellow founder-mentors to create Founder's Compass, an online masterclass for people who have a business idea but don't know what to do next. Along with Jennis, founder of JCG and PrismTech, the program was created by Brittany Barreto, founder of Pheramor and Femtech Focus; Leela Madan, founder of Madan Law; and Catherine Brown, founder of ExtraBold Sales.

"We thought that the four of us could put together a masterclass comprising of four modules — each module relates to the skill set that we are individually bringing," Jennis tells InnovationMap. "All together, we're representing a framework for new entrepreneurs to get a kickstart to their business and help them with the next step of their journey — whatever that may be."

The four modules will be presented in virtual, interactive classes lasting three hours each and offered in two different ways each month. Students can register for a two-day option — six hours on a Friday followed by another six hours on a Saturday — or a four-week option — three hours on a weeknight once a week for four weeks.

The four modules will cover the following:

Validating your business concept and MVP product-market fit (led by Jennis)
Customer development, feedback, and target market definition (led Brown)
Protecting your intellectual property and managing your business risk (led by Madan)
Engaging with the innovation ecosystem and preparing to fundraise (led by Barreto)

Jennis says the program is not intended to be competitive with accelerators, rather Founder's Compass can act as a feeder into these programs. This is why, Jennis says, the masterclass is set up to be relatively cheap at $100 an hour — or $1,200 for the full program.

"We wanted something that was much more convenient, readily available, and easily affordable, so that's why we settled on the two-day or four-evening format to give people something that they didn't have to think about for months," Jennis says. "We saw an opportunity here — not just to be another accelerator — but to be something for people in the game."

Registration for Founder's Compass is open now for September and October, and participants who sign up before August 1 will receive half off — making the course just $600.

Ad Placement 300x100

Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

Rice University lands $18M to revolutionize lymphatic disease detection

fresh funding

An arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded $18 million to scientists at Rice University for research that has the potential to revolutionize how lymphatic diseases are detected and help increase survivability.

The lymphatic system is the network of vessels all over the body that help eliminate waste, absorb fat and maintain fluid balance. Diseases in this system are often difficult to detect early due to the small size of the vessels and the invasiveness of biopsy testing. Though survival rates of lymph disease have skyrocketed in the United States over the last five years, it still claims around 200,000 people in the country annually.

Early detection of complex lymphatic anomalies (CLAs) and lymphedema is essential in increasing successful treatment rates. That’s where Rice University’s SynthX Center, directed by Han Xiao and Lei Li, an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, comes in.

Aided by researchers from Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, the center is pioneering two technologies: the Visual Imaging System for Tracing and Analyzing Lymphatics with Photoacoustics (VISTA-LYMPH) and Digital Plasmonic Nanobubble Detection for Protein (DIAMOND-P).

Simply put, VISTA-LYMPH uses photoacoustic tomography (PAT), a combination of light and sound, to more accurately map the tiny vessels of the lymphatic system. The process is more effective than diagnostic tools that use only light or sound, independent of one another. The research award is through the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Lymphatic Imaging, Genomics and pHenotyping Technologies (LIGHT) program, part of the U.S. HHS, which saw the potential of VISTA-LYMPH in animal tests that produced finely detailed diagnostic maps.

“Thanks to ARPA-H’s award, we will build the most advanced PAT system to image the body’s lymphatic network with unprecedented resolution and speed, enabling earlier and more accurate diagnosis,” Li said in a news release.

Meanwhile, DIAMOND-P could replace the older, less exact immunoassay. It uses laser-heated vapors of plasmonic nanoparticles to detect viruses without having to separate or amplify, and at room temperature, greatly simplifying the process. This is an important part of greater diagnosis because even with VISTA-LYMPH’s greater imaging accuracy, many lymphatic diseases still do not appear. Detecting biological markers is still necessary.

According to Rice, the efforts will help address lymphatic disorders, including Gorham-Stout disease, kaposiform lymphangiomatosis and generalized lymphatic anomaly. They also could help manage conditions associated with lymphatic dysfunction, including cancer metastasis, cardiovascular disease and neurodegeneration.

“By validating VISTA-LYMPH and DIAMOND-P in both preclinical and clinical settings, the team aims to establish a comprehensive diagnostic pipeline for lymphatic diseases and potentially beyond,” Xiao added in the release.

The ARPA-H award funds the project for up to five years.

Houston doctor wins NIH grant to test virtual reality for ICU delirium

Virtual healing

Think of it like a reverse version of The Matrix. A person wakes up in a hospital bed and gets plugged into a virtual reality game world in order to heal.

While it may sound far-fetched, Dr. Hina Faisal, a Houston Methodist critical care specialist in the Department of Surgery, was recently awarded a $242,000 grant from the National Institute of Health to test the effects of VR games on patients coming out of major surgery in the intensive care unit (ICU).

The five-year study will focus on older patients using mental stimulation techniques to reduce incidences of delirium. The award comes courtesy of the National Institute on Aging K76 Paul B. Beeson Emerging Leaders Career Development Award in Aging.

“As the population of older adults continues to grow, the need for effective, scalable interventions to prevent postoperative complications like delirium is more important than ever,” Faisal said in a news release.

ICU delirium is a serious condition that can lead to major complications and even death. Roughly 87 percent of patients who undergo major surgery involving intubation will experience some form of delirium coming out of anesthesia. Causes can range from infection to drug reactions. While many cases are mild, prolonged ICU delirium may prevent a patient from following medical advice or even cause them to hurt themselves.

Using VR games to treat delirium is a rapidly emerging and exciting branch of medicine. Studies show that VR games can help promote mental activity, memory and cognitive function. However, the full benefits are currently unknown as studies have been hampered by small patient populations.

Faisal believes that half of all ICU delirium cases are preventable through VR treatment. Currently, a general lack of knowledge and resources has been holding back the advancement of the treatment.

Hopefully, the work of Faisal in one of the busiest medical cities in the world can alleviate that problem as she spends the next half-decade plugging patients into games to aid in their healing.

New accelerator joins the Ion and more Houston innovation news to know

Trending News

Editor's note: The Houston innovation scene is buzzing with big news this month, from a new accelerator joining the fold at the Ion to pre-IPO funding and national expansion plans. Below are the five most-read InnovationMap stories from Feb. 1-15, 2026:

New accelerator for AI startups to launch at Houston's Ion this spring

The new AI Native Dual-Use Sports, Health & Wellness Accelerator is expected to launch in March. Photo courtesy of the Ion

The Collectiv Foundation and Rice University have established a sports, health and wellness startup accelerator at the Ion District’s Collectiv, a sports-focused venture capital platform. The AI Native Dual-Use Sports, Health & Wellness Accelerator is scheduled to formally launch in March. Continue reading.

10+ can't-miss Houston business and innovation events in February

From recurring monthly favorites to the return of annual celebrations and summits, here's what not to miss in February. Photo courtesy the Ion.

February may be a short month, but its event calendar isn’t. From recurring monthly favorites to the return of annual celebrations and summits, here are the Houston business and innovation events not to miss — and how to register. Continue reading.

View All Listings

INNOVATIONMAP EMAILS ARE AWESOME