City of Houston opens applications for 2023 business competition

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Small businesses in Houston can apply for the annual Liftoff Houston competition. Photo via liftoffhouston.smapply.org

The City of Houston opened applications for its annual Liftoff Houston Startup Business Plan Competition, which helps local founders bring their months-old companies to new heights.

Now in its 11th year, the competition and educational program awards $10,000 in seed money to three founders after completing a four-month-long workshop series that culminates in a Pitch Day. Winners are named in three categories: Innovation, Product and Service.

Applications must be received by 4 p.m. on Friday, August 4. And Pitch Day will be held on November 18. To be eligible for the competition, applicants must live in Houston and operate their businesses here. Businesses must have only been in operation for less than a year and show verifiable revenue that does not exceed $10,000. Founders who do not meet these criteria are eligible for Liftoff's Educational Pathway track that does not include the competition portion of the program.

“For 11 years, Liftoff Houston has empowered participants to achieve financial mobility through entrepreneurship,” Mayor Sylvester Turner said in a statement. “These participants have become key drivers to the success of Houston’s economy, and they have contributed to our communities by creating jobs and by providing much needed goods and services.”

Liftoff Houston is sponsored by Capital One Bank and administered by the Houston Public Library and the City's Office of Business Opportunity. According to a statement, the program has helped serve historically marginalized populations in Houston. In last year's cohort, 95 of participants identified as people of color, 77 percent were female, 44 percent had no college degree and 54 percent made less than $50,000.

Last year's winners in the Innovation, Product and Service were:

  • Innovation: Aditya Aggarwal, founder of Maritime XR, which aims to supplement conventional maritime training with virtual reality simulations.
  • Product: Hannah Le, founder of RE.STATEMENT, a marketplace for designers to upcycle old fashion into wearable art
  • Service: Natasha Roberts, founder of ActIVate Drip Spa, which provides medical-grade IV drips that help eliminate toxins and aid hydration and recovery

"I wanted to see how far I could go," Le told Innovation Map earlier this year. "I had pitched before, but this was the first time that I was onstage and I just felt like I belonged there."

Le shared more about the founding of RE.STATEMENT and how Liftoff Houston impacted her business in an episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast




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This week's roundup of Houston innovators includes Hannah Le of RE.STATEMENT, Misha Govshteyn of MacroFab, and Kelli Newman of Newman & Newman Inc. Photos courtesy

3 Houston innovators to know this week

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

Hannah Le, founder of RE.STATEMENT

Hannah Le founded RE.STATEMENT to provide a much-needed platform for sustainable fashion finds. Photo courtesy of RE.STATEMENT

It's tough out there for a sustainable fashion designer with upcycled statement pieces on the market. First of all, there historically hasn't been a platform for designers or shoppers either, as Hannah Le explains on this week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast.

"Most designers give up if they haven't sold an item within three months," Le says. "That's something RE.STATEMENT has dedicated its business model to — making sure that items sell faster and at a higher value than any other marketplace."

RE.STATEMENT won one of the city of Houston's startup competition, Liftoff Houston's categories last year. Le shares what's next for the early-stage company on the show. Read more and listen to the episode.

Misha Govshteyn, CEO of MacroFab

MacroFab has secured fresh investment to the tune of $42 million. Photo courtesy of MacroFab

MacroFab, a Houston-based electronics manufacturing platform, has announced $42 million in new growth capital. The company was founded by Misha Govshteyn and Chris Church, who built a platform that manage electronics manufacturing and enables real-time supply chain and inventory data. The platform can help customers go from prototype to high-scale production with its network of more than 100 factories across the continent.

“Electronics manufacturing is moving toward resilience and flexibility to reduce supply chain disruptions,” says Govshteyn, MacroFab’s CEO, in a news release. “We are in the earliest stages of repositioning the supply chain to be more localized and focused on what matters to customers most — the ability to deliver products on time, meet changing requirements, and achieve a more sustainable ecological footprint. MacroFab is fundamental to building this new operating model.”

The company has seen significant growth amid the evolution of global supply chain that's taken place over the past few years. According to the company, shipments were up 275 percent year-over-year. To keep up with growth, MacroFab doubled its workforce, per the release, and opened a new facility in Mexico. Read more.

Kelli Newman, president of Newman & Newman Inc.

In her guest column, Kelli Newman explains how to leverage communications at any stage your company is in. Photo courtesy of Newman & Newman

Kelli Newman took actionable recommendations from investors, customers, advisers, and founders within Houston to compose a guest column with key observations and advice on leveraging communications.

"The significance of effective communication and its contribution to a company’s success are points regularly stressed by conference panelists and forum speakers," she writes. "Yet for many founders it’s advice that fuels frustration for how to make communications a priority with a lack of understanding of the practice." Read more.

Hannah Le founded RE.STATEMENT to provide a much-needed platform for sustainable fashion finds. Photo courtesy of RE.STATEMENT

This Houston entrepreneur is enabling fashion upcycling for more sustainable style

houston innovators podcast episode 170

When shopping online one day, Hannah Le saw a need for a platform that allowed transactions between upcycling fashion designers and shoppers looking for unique, sustainable pieces.

Le created RE.STATEMENT, an online shopping marketplace for upcycled clothing. Before RE.STATEMENT, designers were limited to Etsy, which is focused on handmade pieces, or Poshmark and Depop, which are dedicated to thrift finds. Upcycle fashion designers didn't have their own, unique platform to sell on — and, likewise, shoppers were scattered across sites too.

"These marketplaces are really good for what they do," Le says on this week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast, "but, whenever I think of someone looking for something unique and sustainable, it's hard for me to imagine finding that on these marketplaces."

The platform soft launched in December with 25 upcycling designers and over 1,200 buyers that had been on the company's waitlist for almost nine months. Now that the site is live, Le hopes to give both buyers and sellers quick access to transactions.

"Most designers give up if they haven't sold an item within three months," Le explains. "That's something RE.STATEMENT has dedicated its business model to — making sure that items sell faster and at a higher value than any other marketplace."

Le says that she started with buyers to see what exactly they were looking for, then she searched and found the designers looking to sell their pieces, and the current platform is dynamic and flexible to the needs of users within her community.

"Even today, it changes every single day depending on how users are interacting with the website and what sellers are saying that they need — really communicating with buyers and sellers is how the marketplace is evolving," she says.

RE.STATEMENT's ability to quickly evolve has been due to its early stage, Le explains on the show. She's not yet taken on institutional funding or hired anyone else other than tech support. She says this allows her to quickly make changes or try out new things for users.

"For me, there are still so many things I want to prove to myself before I bring others involved," she says. "To start, it's coming up with new opportunities for buyers to interact with the website so that we can keep learning from them."

Le has already proven some success to herself. Last year, she took home one of three prizes offered at the city's Liftoff Houston competition. The contest, which gives Houston entrepreneurs pitch practice and mentorship, awarded RE.STATEMENT $10,000 for winning in the product category.

"I wanted to see how far I could go," Le says of the competition where she got to introduce her business to Mayor Sylvester Turner and a whole new audience of people. "I had pitched before, but this was the first time that I was onstage and I just felt like I belonged there."

Le shares more about her vision for RE.STATEMENT and the integral role Houston plays in her success on the show.


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Austin company to bring AI-powered school to The Woodlands

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Austin-based Alpha School, which operates AI-powered private schools, is opening its first Houston-area location in The Woodlands.

The 8,000-square-foot school, scheduled to be ready for the 2026-27 academic year, initially will serve students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Alpha says the school will offer “open workshop spaces and innovative classrooms that support personalized instruction, core academics, leadership development, and real-world life skills.”

Alpha sets aside two hours each school day for the AI-driven, self-paced study of core subjects like math, reading and science. The rest of each school day consists of life-skills workshops focusing on topics such as leadership and financial literacy.

Alpha’s school in The Woodlands has begun accepting applications for the 2026-27 school year. Annual tuition costs $40,000.

“The Woodlands is one of the most dynamic, forward-thinking communities in Texas, and Alpha is proud to bring

an innovative educational model that complements its strong academic foundation,” says Rachel Goodlad, head

of expansion for Alpha.

Founded in 2014, Alpha School combines adaptive technology-driven instruction with immersive life-skills workshops. Its model emphasizes mastery-based learning in core subjects alongside development of communication, critical thinking, financial literacy and leadership skills. It operates more than 15 schools across the country.

Elsewhere in Texas, Alpha operates schools in Austin, Brownsville, Fort Worth and Plano. Alpha also operates 12 Texas Sports Academy campuses in Texas, including locations in Houston, Pearland and Richmond, along with a NextGen Academy esports school in Austin, a school for gifted students in Georgetown, and lower-cost Nova Academy campuses in Austin and Bastrop.

Alpha has fans and critics. While supporters tout students’ high achievement rates, detractors complain about the high tuition and the AI-influenced depersonalization of education.

“Students and our country need to be in relationship with other human beings,” Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, a teachers union, tells The New York Times. “When you have a school that is strictly AI, it is violating that core precept of the human endeavor and of education.”

Alpha co-founder MacKenzie Price, a podcaster and social media influencer, doesn’t share Weingarten’s views.

“Parents and teachers: We need to embrace this change,” Price wrote after President Trump signed an executive order promoting AI in schools.

The Times notes that Alpha doesn’t employ AI as a tutor or a supplement. Rather, the newspaper says, AI is “the school’s primary educational driver to move students through academic content.”

Houston space tech co. lands $175M and more innovation news to know

Trending News

Editor's note: The top Houston innovation news for the month includes major fundraising rounds for two Houston scaleups and local inductees into the National Academy of Inventors. Here are the five most-read InnovationMap headlines from March 1-15, 2026:

1. Intuitive Machines secures $175M equity investment to fuel growth

Intuitive Machines has landed a $175 million investment as it looks secure satellite deals and develop space-based data centers. Photo courtesy Intuitive Machines.

Houston-based space infrastructure and services company Intuitive Machines has secured a $175 million equity investment from unidentified institutional investors. The investors received shares of Class A stock in exchange for their funding. Publicly held Intuitive Machines (Nasdaq: LUNR) says it plans to use the capital to help build revenue and invest in technology, including communications and data-processing networks. Continue reading.

2. Houston e-commerce giant Cart.com raises $180M, surpasses $1B in funding

Cart.com has raised $180 million to scale its logistics network, expand AI capabilities and develop workflow automation tools. Photo courtesy of Cart.com

Houston-based commerce and logistics platform Cart.com has raised $180 million in growth capital from private equity firm Springcoast Partners, pushing the startup past the $1 billion funding mark since its founding in 2020. Cart.com says it will use the capital to scale its logistics network, expand AI capabilities and develop workflow automation tools. Continue reading.

3. Houston leads Texas with 7 new National Academy of Inventors senior members

The University of Houston has more faculty named to this year’s senior member class of the National Academy of Inventors than any other Texas institution. Photos courtesy UH.

The University of Houston is now home to seven new senior members of the National Academy of Inventors. According to UH, its seven new members represent the largest group from any single Texas institution this year, bringing the university's total senior member count to 46. Continue reading.

4. Booming Houston suburb launches innovation grant to attract startups

The City of Sugar Land is putting money on the table to support startups that relocate jobs to southwest Houston. Photo via Getty Images.

Think you’ve got a burgeoning startup? Consider moving it to southwest Houston. The City of Sugar Land announced the Sugar Land Starts Innovation Fund to support companies that move jobs to the area. Continue reading.

5. 6+ can't-miss Houston business and innovation events in March

From CERAWeek to H-Town Roundup, here's what not to miss this month and how to register. Photo courtesy of CERAWeek

March brings the return of some of Houston’s signature innovation events, plus insightful talks and celebrations in honor of Women's History Month. Here’s what not to miss and how to register. Continue reading.

Houston researcher secures $1.7M to develop drug for aggressive form of breast cancer

cancer research

A University of Houston researcher has joined a $3.2 million effort to develop a new drug designed to attack a cancer-driving protein commonly found in triple-negative breast cancer.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is one of the most difficult-to-treat forms of cancer and accounts for 10 percent to 15 percent of all breast cancer cases. The disease gets its name because tumors associated with it test negative for estrogen receptors, progesterone receptors and excess HER2 protein, making it difficult to target. Due to this, TNBC is often treated with general chemotherapy, which can come with negative side effects and drug resistance, according to UH.

UH College of Pharmacy research associate professor Wei Wang is developing a drug that can target the disease more specifically. The drug will target MDM2, a protein often overproduced in TNBC that also contributes to faster tumor growth.

Wang is working on a team led by Wei Li, director of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Pharmacy’s Drug Discovery Center. She has received $1.7 million to support the research.

Wang and UH professor of pharmacology and toxicology Ruiwen Zhang have discovered a compound that can break down MDM2. In early laboratory models, the compound has shown the ability to shrink tumors.

Wang and Zhang will focus on understanding how the treatment works and monitoring its effectiveness in models that closely mirror human disease.

“We will study how the drug targets MDM2 and evaluate the most promising drug candidates to determine effective dosing, understand how the drug behaves in the body, compare it with existing treatments and assess early safety,” Wang said in a news release.

Li’s team at the University of Tennessee will be working on the chemistry and drug design end of the project.

“This work could lead to an entirely new class of therapies for triple-negative breast cancer,” Li added in the release. “We’re hopeful that by directly removing the MDM2 protein from cancer cells, we can help more patients respond to treatment regardless of their tumor type.”

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