Houston-based HighRadius has reported reaching unicorn status following a $125 million raise. Photo via highradius.com

Following the closing of a $125 million series B investment round, a Houston software-as-a-service company is boosting a new title: Unicorn.

HighRadius, an artificial intelligence-powered fintech software company, has announced its unicorn status, which is defined as being valued at over $1 billion. The series B round, which achieved this status for HighRadius, was led by ICONIQ Capital, with participation from existing investors Susquehanna Growth Equity and Citi Ventures, according to a news release from the company.

"Today marks an important milestone for HighRadius and we're thrilled to have ICONIQ join us in our vision to modernize the Order to Cash space," says Sashi Narahari, founder and CEO of HighRadius, in a news release. "ICONIQ combines patient capital with a long-term vision of investing in category-defining businesses, and the firm has worked with some of the world's most successful tech entrepreneurs. We are building HighRadius into a self-sustaining, long-term category leader, and ICONIQ is a great partner for us in this journey."

The company, which offices in West Houston, was founded in 2006 founded in 2006 and employs more than 1,000 people in North America, Europe, and Asia. In November, HighRadius opened an office in Amsterdam. According to the news release, the company will use the funds to further expand its global footprint.

"We're thrilled to support HighRadius' efforts to bring innovative AI capabilities to the financial side of the enterprise," says Will Griffith, partner at ICONIQ Capital, in a news release. "As we have seen in many of our portfolio companies and past investments, including BlackLine and Coupa, digital transformation is increasingly a CFO priority."

HighRadius' AI-powered software is designed to streamline accounts-receivable and cash-management processes. For instance, HighRadius' Cash Application software relies on AI to comb through documents like emails and invoices to automatically match incoming payments with customers' accounts.

"The HighRadius platform is game-changing for CFOs and finance departments, and the company has earned tremendous customer loyalty by enabling receivables and treasury teams to perform more efficiently and effectively, and by delivering mission-critical ROI," Griffith continues in the release. "HighRadius fits squarely into our commitment to invest in best-in-class, long-term technology businesses driven by incredible teams, and we look forward to working alongside Sashi and the rest of the HighRadius team through their next phase of growth."

The East End Maker Hub receives a huge grant, Chevron commits to two tech companies, and more in this Houston innovation news roundup. Courtesy of The East End Maker Hub

City council approves $24M for East End hub, TMCx opens apps, and more Houston innovation news

Short stories

Houston is busting at the seams with innovation news as the ecosystem prepares to wrap up its year of growth. From grants and M&A activity to expansions and awards, there's a lot of news you may have missed.

In this latest news roundup, millions of federal funds are doled out, a female networking app commits to Houston, an accelerator launches applications, and more.

Makerspace in the East End to receive $24 million in federal funds

The East End Maker Hub

The East End Maker Hub plans to move tenants in next summer. Courtesy of TXRX

Last week, the Houston City Council voted in approval of $24 million in federal funds going toward a makerspace in the East End. The renovated 307,000-square-foot East End Maker Hub will be a place for education, training, and small-batch manufacturing.

The project is a collaboration between Urban Partnerships Community Development Corp., or UP CDC, and TXRX Lab, which will occupy around 60,000 square feet in the facility. The rest of the space will be leased out to startups.

The $37 million project is also being funded by a $5 million grant from the Economic Development Association, $7 million from New Market Tax Credits, and around $1.25 of TXRX's funds, including funds the nonprofit raised in donations.

The new facility is expected to create over 400 jobs, reach 14,000 young people annually, and support 100 small urban manufacturers, including 20 startups. The purchase close is planned for this month, and construction will begin next month. The first tenants are slated to move in next summer.

TMCx opens applications for redesigned accelerator program

The revamped TMCx program is accepting applications until December 13. Courtesy of TMC

Applications for the Texas Medical Center Innovation Institute's new and improved accelerator program are open for the spring 2020 cohort. Life science startups from around the world can apply online.

After celebrating five years of digital health and medical device startup acceleration, TMCx announced its team had been working to rethink the program to make it more something TMC's member institutions can benefit from.

Themes for the upcoming cohort include remote monitoring, virtual care, hospital efficiency, accessibility, and ideating for the clinics and operating rooms of the future.

Applications close on December 13, and finalists for an in-person bootcamp will be announced by the end of January for the two-week program from February 24 to March 6. After the program, TMCx will select the cohort members on March 20. The program then will run five sessions from April to August before a showcase slated for September.

Chevron Technology Ventures makes two strategic investments

Chevron Technology Ventures, lead by CEO Barbara Burger, has committed to two California-based companies. Courtesy of CTV

Chevron's Houston-based tech investment arm, Chevron Technology Ventures, made two moves recently. Silicon Valley-based NovoNutrients was invited to join the CTV Catalyst Program and Palo Alto, California-based Orbital Insight closed a recent round with help from CTV.

NuroNutrients, which has developed a way to create proteins through carbon capture, is the first biotech company to join CTV's Catalyst Program. The program will help advance the company's technology through market validating opportunities like pilot programs.

Orbital Insight, a geospatial analytics software company, closed its series D funding round at $50 million. The round was led by Sequoia Capital and Clearvision Ventures with contribution from CTV, as well as from Invicta Growth, Bunge Ventures Ltd, Goldman Sachs, Tech Pioneers Fund, and others. The company has raised over $125 million of funding since its founding in 2013.

Houston SaaS company makes acquisition

Coworking Space

A Houston company specializing in digital workplace software solutions has made a strategic acquisition following an exit to private equity. Getty Images

Houston-based iOFFICE, a software-as-a-service company providing solutions in the digital workplace experience, recently acquired Canadian management software entity, Hippo CMMS.

"Incorporating Hippo's solution into iOFFICE's broader application suite is a logical next stage in our company's evolution," says Mark Peterson, CEO of iOFFICE, in a news release. "As one of the leading native SaaS, asset management systems on the market today, Hippo is an ideal fit to join our brand. Their culture is very much like our own - they're strong and they move fast. Their offerings are robust, agile and they share our passion for disrupting the market with solutions that are unlike any other."

iOFFICE was recently acquired by Chicago-based private equity, Waud Capital, which has opened doors for the company to grow at a rapid pace.

Two Houston companies rank on Deloitte's annual Technology Fast 500 list

Two Houston companies made Deloitte's international list of growing tech companies. Shobeir Ansari/Getty Images

Two Houston companies have secured spots on Deloitte's annual Technology Fast 500 annual Technology Fast 500. Onit came in at No. 249, and symplr just made the list at No. 495. In its 25th year, the list represents the fastest-growing tech, media, life science, energy tech, and telecommunications companies from around the world.

The top company on the list was New York-based UiPath, which also has a large office in Houston. The company reported 37,458 percent growth. The 500 companies represent 41 states and provinces in North America, and Silicon Valley companies made up 19 percent of the list. New York City companies held on to 12 percent of the list, the New England region comprised 8 percent of the list, Washington D.C. companies were 7 percent of the list, and Los Angeles companies represented 5 percent of the 500 companies.


HerHeadquarters app plans to launch in Houston ahead of relocation

herheadquarters

HerHeadquarters is rolling out its app locally ahead of relocating to Houston. Courtesy of HerHeadquarters

Female-founded, female-focused tech company, HerHeadquarters, has plans to relocate its business operations to Houston — but first, it's rolling out its app to local female executives. The app plans to go live for the over 103,000 female CEOs in Houston on November 25.

The app's user experience is focused on making digital connections between women-run organizations. The app is live in Los Angeles, Miami, and New York City and is expected to launch simultaneously in San Francisco.

"These collaborations give them the power to increase revenue, company exposure, and expand their territory. We're excited Houston women entrepreneurs get to experience a faster and easier way to secure powerful partnerships, " says founder and CEO of HerHeadquarters, Carina Glover, in a news release.

HighRadius expands to Amsterdam

The Houston-based SaaS company is opening its fourth office to support its growth in Europe. Photo via highradius.com

Houston-based HighRadius Corp., a growing fintech software-as-a-service company, has announced a new office in Amsterdam just three years after opening its London office. Since entering the European market, the region has seen a 400 percent increase in bookings. The company, which has its headquarters in West Houston, also has an office in India.

"Automating order-to-cash and treasury management is a problem that transcends borders," says Sashi Narahari, founder and CEO of HighRadius, in a news release. "Building on the recent addition of Jon Keating as our general manager for EMEA, we continue to invest aggressively in the European market with the opening of our Amsterdam office."

Fannin Innovation Studio granted $2 million for new study

microscope

Getty Images

Houston-based Fannin Innovation Studio has received a $2,000,000 Phase II Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institute of Health. The grant is for the development of the ChorioAnchor device, which is designed to reduce preterm birth and infections in fetal surgery.

The device is being developed in partnership with Fannin, Texas Children's Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, and Texas A&M University. The grant will be delivered over the next two years to devlop the device for pre-clinical and clinical testing.

"The ChorioAnchor has the potential to reduce these complications by providing mechanical support to the chorioamniotic membranes following fetal surgery, thus reducing the risk for chorioamniotic separation and PPROM," says Dr. Jimmy Espinoza of Texas Children's and BCM in a news release. "The additional support from the NICHD in the form of a Phase II SBIR grant will significantly help in refining the ChorioAnchor device with the objective of obtaining an investigational device exemption from the FDA to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the device in fetal surgeries."

Zibrio named honoree at CES Innovation Awards

The Zibrio SmartScale received national recognition at CES this year. Courtesy of Zibrio 

Houston-based Zibrio, which developed a scale for measuring balance, has been named an honoree for CES Innovation Awards. The company has been invited to exhibit in the 2020 showcase.

Zibrio, founded in 2015 by Katharine Forth and Erez Lieberman Aiden, has a technology that came out of the founders' research at NASA. The medical device allows users to keep track of their balancing abilities as its convenient for them, and is especially helpful for the aging population.

A Houston-based fintech company has taken a huge step in the right direction for growth. Getty Images

Houston fintech company forms partnership that allows for rapid expansion of its SaaS platform

Growing gains

Houston-based fintech company HighRadius Corp. has forged a partnership with Canadian conglomerate Thomson Reuters Corp. that will open up more markets for its enterprise software-as-a-service.

The partnership equips HighRadius to tap into the global network of Confirmation.com, a unit of Thomson Reuters. Confirmation's network features more than 1,000 banks. Credit managers at those banks will be able to use HighRadius' software to automate the credit process for online credit applications.

"This partnership will allow us to expand our credit inquiry solution to new markets," Mark Portanova, Confirmation.com's vice president of sales for the Americas, says in a release. "We will enhance workflows, reporting capabilities, and client authorization processes within the HighRadius platform. These measures will progress the traditionally slow, manual, and time-consuming credit approval processes … ."

HighRadius' AI-powered software is designed to streamline accounts-receivable and cash-management processes. For instance, HighRadius' Cash Application software relies on AI to comb through documents like emails and invoices to automatically match incoming payments with customers' accounts.

Sayid Shabeer, chief product officer at HighRadius, says the company's suite of product ultimately lets companies free up millions of dollars in working capital and reallocate employees' time to higher-value tasks.

Among HighRadius' customers are corporate heavyweights like healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson, apparel maker adidas, food company Danone, and Dr Pepper Snapple Group. In January, HighRadius reported it had passed the 350-customer mark last year and doubled the size of its European workforce.

"2018 was the year that the bets we've been making over the last few years started to pay off in scale," Sashi Narahari, founder and CEO of HighRadius, says in a release.

Among HighRadius' competitors are Billtrust, Rimilia Holdings, Cforia Software, and Financial National Information Services. The global market for credit management software is forecast to exceed $2.1 billion by 2022, up from $636.4 million in 2017.

HighRadius, founded in 2006, employs more than 1,000 people in North America, Europe, and Asia. Since its inception, HighRadius has raised more than $50 million from Philadelphia-based Susquehanna Growth Equity, and has collected strategic investments from banking behemoths Citi and PNC.

HighRadius recently hired Jon Keating as vice president and general manager of its Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) markets. Keating most recently was chief sales officer at San Francisco fintech company Taulia. Earlier in the year, the company tapped SaaS veteran Natalie Fedie as vice president of customer success to help propel its global growth.

"HighRadius continues to invest in talent across Europe and Asia to fuel its growth plans and keep ahead of the innovation curve," Shabeer says.

Last year, HighRadius moved its headquarters to 200 Westlake Park Blvd. in the Energy Corridor. More than 150 employees relocated there. HighRadius subleases the space from BP America.

"The expansion of HighRadius into the Katy area represents another high-tech company choosing to mature in our community," Lance LaCour, president and CEO of the Katy Area Economic Development Corp., said at the time. "HighRadius is projected to have an estimated regional economic impact of over $600 million over a five-year period."

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Microsoft partners with Rice University's OpenStax on AI teaching tool

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Rice University’s OpenStax and Microsoft are partnering to integrate the nonprofit’s content with the tech giant’s AI innovation, known as Learning Zone.

“At OpenStax, our mission is to make an amazing education accessible to all,” Richard G. Baraniuk, founder and director of OpenStax, said in a news release. “That’s why we’re excited to integrate our trustworthy, peer-reviewed content with Microsoft’s AI technology through the Microsoft Learning Zone. Together, we aim to help more instructors and their students access engaging, effective learning experiences in new and dynamic ways. We also share a strong commitment to the thoughtful and responsible application of AI to better ensure all learners can succeed.”

OpenStax is a provider of affordable instructional technologies and is also one of the world’s largest publishers of open educational resources (OER).

Microsoft Learning Zone promises to provide educators and students with “responsible AI technology and peer-reviewed educational content to support learning” on Microsoft Copilot+ PCs. Microsoft Learning Zone works by utilizing on-device AI to generate interactive lessons for students, and its integration with OpenStax content means educators can rely on OpenStax’s digital library of 80 openly licensed titles.

The goal is for educators to create effective and engaging learning experiences safely, thereby bypassing the need to source and vet content independently. Included is a library of ready-to-use lessons, opportunity for immediate feedback and differentiated learning. Educators will maintain control of instructional content and pedagogical strategies and will be able to update or edit lessons or activities prior to sharing them with students.

Other tools included in the Microsoft Learning Zone are additional languages, reading coaching, public speaking help, math and reading progress, and a partnership with the online quiz platform Kahoot!

OpenStax resources have been reported as used across 153 countries, and this current collaboration combines the power and potential of responsible AI usage in education with content that has been utilized by 13,569 K-12 schools and 71 percent of U.S. colleges and universities, according to Rice.

“Through our partnership with OpenStax, we’re combining the power of on-device AI in Copilot+ PCs with OpenStax’s trusted and diverse peer-reviewed content to help educators quickly create high-quality, personalized, engaging lessons,” Deirdre Quarnstrom, vice president of Microsoft Education, added in the news release. “We’re excited about how this collaboration will empower classrooms globally.”

Houston ranks among the 15 best cities in America for 2025

Ranking It

A new national report ranking the best cities in America has declared Houston is the 13th best U.S. city in 2025.

The annual "America's Best Cities" report from Resonance Consultancy, a Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing firm, ranks the relative qualities of livability, cultural "lovability," and economic prosperity in America's principal cities with metropolitan populations of 500,000 or more.

These top 100 cities "brilliantly weave local culture with economic prospects, aligning with global and domestic travel trends to create premier experiences for both residents and travelers."

Houston's new placement is three spots lower than its triumphant No. 10 rank in 2024. Though it no longer holds a prized top-10 spot, the report hails Houston as a "coveted hometown for the best and brightest on earth."

Among Houston's other shining attributes are its booming population growth – which has now grown to a staggering 7.51 million people – plus its competitive real estate market and a vibrant hospitality and culinary scene. Additionally, Houston earned a well-deserved No. 4 rank in the report's "restaurants" subcategory.

"A 221-room Home2 Suites/Tru by Hilton debuted near Toyota Center in March, while Marriott’s newly renovated Residence Inn NASA/Clear Lake keeps surging visitors happy," the report said. "West Houston’s Greenside will convert 35,000 square feet of warehouses into a park-laced retail hub by 2026, while America’s inaugural Ismaili Center, rising along Allen Parkway, remains on schedule for later this year, adding yet another cultural jewel to H-Town’s festival-fueled mosaic."

The report additionally puts a large focus on Houston's innovative energy sector and its numerous large companies that boost the local economy and create thousands of jobs. Several of these Houston-based companies are some of the best places to work, according to U.S. News and World Report.

One such company that was specifically praised in the report was the HyVelocity Hub, which aims to "ensure economic resilience and long-lasting, domestic energy production" along the Gulf Coast.

"The HyVelocity Hydrogen Hub just locked in up to $1.2 billion from the U.S. DOE, targeting 45,000 jobs and slicing 7.7 million tons of CO₂ a year," the report said.

Elsewhere in Texas

Dallas (No. 14) and Austin (No. 15) ranked right behind Houston in the top 20, while San Antonio sank into the No. 41 spot after previously ranking 32nd last year. El Paso also fell from No. 83 in 2024 to No. 100 this year.

Jason McGrath, the executive vice president and head of U.S. Corporate Reputation at Ipsos, said in the report that American cities are proving their resiliency as they are faced with "climate issues, increasing infrastructural demands, and shifting geopolitical landscapes affecting international relations and travel."

"Despite these hurdles, cities are creatively reinventing themselves to shine as examples of cultural vibrancy and innovation, keeping their competitive edge both locally and globally," McGrath said. "Our report shows that the allure of American cities remains strong, thanks to their rich diversity and vast attractions — from natural wonders to buzzing cultural hubs."

The top 10 best cities in America in 2025 are:

  • No. 1 – New York City, New York
  • No. 2 – Los Angeles, California
  • No. 3 – Chicago, Illinois
  • No. 4 – San Francisco, California
  • No. 5 – Seattle, Washington
  • No. 6 – Miami, Florida
  • No. 7 – Boston, Massachusetts
  • No. 8 – Washington, D.C.
  • No. 9 – Las Vegas, Nevada
  • No. 10 – San Diego, California
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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Houston biosciences company opens new sequencing center for drug development

bioscience breakthroughs

Houston-based Avance Biosciences has launched the Next-Generation Sequencing Center of Excellence, designed to enhance the company’s sequencing capabilities for drug development. Specifically, the facility at the company’s main campus in Northwest Houston will pursue breakthroughs in biologics, cell therapy and gene therapy.

In the drug industry, sequencing refers to studying nucleotides in DNA and RNA molecules. Nucleotides are the building blocks of DNA and RNA.

“This is a major milestone for Avance Biosciences as we continue to support the evolving needs of biologics and cell and gene therapy developers,” Xuening “James” Huang, co-founder, CEO and chief technology officer of Avance, said in a news release. “By consolidating state-of-the-art sequencing platforms and scientific talent, we’ve created a highly capable organization ready to solve complex genomic challenges with precision and compliance.”

In 2013, Avance rolled out next-generation sequencing (NGS) that complies with federal guidelines. Since then, Avance “has remained at the forefront of regulated sequencing services,” the company said. “The launch of the (new center) strengthens the company’s ability to deliver accurate, reproducible, and regulatory-aligned sequencing data across a wide array of therapeutic modalities.”

Cal Froberg, senior vice president of sales and marketing at Avance, said pharmaceutical and biotech clients trust the company’s technical capabilities and regulatory compliance.

“With the ever-changing global landscape and increasing scrutiny around international sample shipments, conducting advanced, cost-effective NGS testing domestically is now more feasible than ever,” Froberg said. “Our clients have confidence that their samples will remain in the U.S.”

Avance, founded in 2010, plans to hold an open house at the new facility in September to showcase its capabilities, technology, talent, and services. The company’s services include sequencing, molecular biology, cell-based testing, and bioanalytical testing.