Annual report highlights Houston's big innovation wins across tech, life science, space, VC funding, and more

by the numbers

The Greater Houston Partnership's annual Houston Facts report recently released. Here's what to know across the city's five most innovative sectors. Photo via Getty Images

Houston, a city known for its energy legacy, is rapidly transforming into a diverse hub of innovation, life science, technology, and aerospace, according to the 2023 Houston Facts report, released by the Greater Houston Partnership.

Here are some highlights from the report.

​The thriving tech ecosystem

Chart via 2023 Houston Facts

With over 230,800 tech workers representing 6.9 percent of the workforce, Houston has firmly established itself as a digital tech talent hub, per the report, which adds that the city is home to a staggering 9,100 tech-related firms, including more than 1,000 venture-backed startups. These startups have secured $6.42 billion in venture capital funding over the past five years, with $1.95 billion in funding in 2022 alone, according to GHP analysis of Pitchbook data.

Houston's technology landscape witnessed significant growth in 2022, with the most heavily invested industries being Energy, Information Technology, and Business Products and Services. A study by Dice revealed that Houston led all cities in tech job posting growth in 2022, boasting a remarkable 45.6 percent year-over-year increase.

Among Houston's largest employers are tech giants such as Asurion, AWS, Dell, HighRadius, HP Enterprise, HP Inc., IBM, PROS, BMC Software, Siemens, Honeywell, Oracle, and Microsoft.

Health startups and biotech advancements

Houston's health tech and life science innovation sector will continue to grow with Helix Park. Courtesy of Elkus Manfredi Architects

Houston's life science and biotech sector is continuing to develop, the GHP finds, with a vast pool of medical professionals, including over 161,800 healthcare practitioners and technical workers, as well as 15,400 life science and biotech researchers.

In 2022, several health startups received significant venture capital funding, showcasing Houston's commitment to advancing medical technologies. The largest deals were from: NuProbe, RadioMedix, Medical Informatics, XCath, Stream Biomedical, Decisio, Adient Medical, Coya Therapeutics, Octagos Health, and Luna Genetics. Collectively, these startups raised over $220 million in funding to develop innovative solutions in diagnostics, monitoring, therapeutics, and more.

The Texas Medical Center Innovation Factory serves as the nucleus of Houston's life science startup activity. With the TMC's Helix Park continuing to rise as an expanded campus, even more activity is on its way to Houston.

Growing innovation infrastructure

Houston's innovation corridor continues to develop. Map via 2023 Houston Facts

When it comes to the development of Houston's innovation ecosystem, the report called out a few milestones the region reached in 2022. Here are some of those wins from last year.

  • The Houston area grew to include more than 80 SDOs, including incubators and accelerators, makerspaces, coworking spaces, nonprofits, and academic institutions. Per the report, there are at least 30 incubator and accelerator programs currently running in Houston — including MassChallenge, Ion Smart Cities Accelerator, Gener8tor, JLABS, Greentown Labs, TMC Innovation and more.
  • The Houston Innovation corridor, which consists of a a four-mile expanse across the city’s urban core and is anchored by Rice University's Ion, continues to take shape.
  • Both Rice University and University of Houston held onto the top spots on The Princeton Review's report on top entrepreneurship programs. And, the annual Rice Business Plan Competition remains the richest pitch competition in the country, according to the Princeton Review, doling out nearly $2.0 million in prizes.

Aerospace advancement

Axiom Space — as well as a few other Houston space tech companies — had some big wins in 2022. Photo courtesy of NASA

Anchored by NASA's Johnson Space Center and the Houston Spaceport, the city's aerospace industry continues to play a major role in the future of space exploration and commercialization.

The Orion, Gateway, and Human Landing System programs, which are part of NASA's Artemis missions, are headquartered at JSC.

Three Houston space tech companies made major moves recently, as Houston Facts calls out:

  • Axiom Space broke ground on the first phase of a 22-acre campus that will house astronaut training and develop Axiom Station, a commercial module that will attach to the ISS.
  • Intuitive Machines, which went public last year, started construction on a 12.5-acre campus. "Intuitive will build lunar landers, operate its mission control center, and make guidance, navigation, and make guidance, navigation, and control products at its site," per Houston Facts.
  • Collins Aerospace, which has a significant presence in Houston, began operations at their eight-acre campus where it will develop systems for NASA’s human spaceflight programs. The company is working with Axiom Space to create the next generation of NASA spacesuits via a NASA contract that is valued at up to $3.5 billion.

Tracking the energy transition

Chart via 2023 Houston Facts

The report highlights the fact that last year Houston's energy transition brought in $6.1 billion in financing from private market investments, which represents a 61.9 percent increase compared to 2021.

"Over the last five years, Houston has seen constant growth in annual energy transition investments, with a notable surge observed from 2020 onwards," reads the report.

Corporate and strategic merger and acquisition investments are what dominated the five deal types, according to the report, representing 68.8 percent of the total investment in 2022. Additionally, private equity accounted for 19.3 percent of all deals, with venture capital comprising 9.5 percent.

EnergyCapital, a sister site to InnovationMap, covered the complete section on the energy industry in the Houston Facts in an article. Read it here.

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"Houston is a thriving hub of digital tech talent." Photo via Getty Images

Report: Venture capital funding, tech jobs up in Houston

by the numbers

In just a five-year span, Houston's annual haul of venture capital has skyrocketed by nearly 200 percent.

Startups in the region raised $283.8 million in 2016, according to Pitchbook data cited in the Greater Houston Partnership's newly released 2021 Houston Facts report. Last year, the figure climbed to a record-breaking $823.9 million. That represents a five-year jump of 190.3 percent.

Health care attracted by far the most venture capital of any sector last year — $323.9 million — with the IT sector in second place ($203.7 million), the report says.

Over the five-year span, the health care sector also reigns as the area's VC leader, with a total of more than $1.1 billion in venture capital, making up 41 percent of the region's venture capital. IT ranks second, collecting $722.7 million in venture capital, or 27 percent of the entire VC pie.

In all, the Houston area is home to over 700 VC-backed startups, with at least 10 of them valued at more than $100 million, the report says.

The Houston Facts report also sheds light on other facets of the regional economy. Here are six of them.

Tech workforce

Economically speaking, Houston may be best known for energy and health care. But the Greater Houston Partnership report shows the tech sector deserves to be part of the conversation.

With more than 243,900 tech workers, the Houston area boasts the 11th largest tech workforce in the U.S. In 2019, Houston's tech industry contributed $29.2 billion to the region's gross domestic product (GDP), a key measure of economic activity.

To put the size of the region's tech workforce into perspective, the number of tech workers in the Houston area is roughly double the population of Pearland.

"Houston is a thriving hub of digital tech talent," the report says.

Economic power

Citing data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, the report notes the Houston area's GDP stood at an estimated $512.2 billion in 2019. That makes Houston the seventh largest economy of U.S. metro areas.

If the Houston area were a state, its GDP would rank 15th, behind Michigan ($536.9 billion) and ahead of Maryland ($426.7 billion) and Colorado ($393 billion).

If the region were an independent nation, it would rank as the world's 27th largest economy, behind Belgium ($529.7 billion) and ahead of Nigeria ($448.1 billion) and Austria ($446.3 billion).

Expanding corporate hub

The Houston area ranks third in the U.S. for the Fortune 500 headquarters and fifth for Fortune 1000 headquarters. The 20 companies on the Forbes Global 2000 list that are based in the Houston area have combined revenue of $413.6 billion.

International reach

The Houston areas maintains trading relationships with more than 200 countries.

The Houston/Galveston Customs District handled 266.6 million metric tons of exports valued at $129.5 billion in 2020, according to WISERTrade data cited in the report. These exports accounted for 65.8 percent of the total value that passed through the region last year, up from 44.5 percent in 2011.

Top port

In 2019, the Port of Houston ranked first in total tonnage (foreign and domestic) — after 27 consecutive years in second place — and first in foreign tonnage (imports and exports) for the 24th consecutive year, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Globally, the Port of Houston ranked as the world's 16th largest port based on total tonnage.

Business presence

The Houston area was home to more than 160,000 business establishments in 2020, according to Texas Workforce Commission data cited in the report. The three industries with the most establishments were professional, scientific, and technical services; health care and social assistance; and retail. These three industries made up 38 percent of the region's business establishments.


The Greater Houston Partnership has released its 2020 Houston Facts — here's what you need to know. Getty Images

5 innovation-focused takeaways from the Greater Houston Partnership's annual report

BY THE NUMBERS

In an annual economic report from the Greater Houston Partnership, researchers and data scientists outlined the city's economy by the numbers, and Houston's industries such as technology, health care, energy, and more were all represented.

The 2020 Houston Facts was released in an virtual event hosted by GHP and its team of data specialists. Here's what you need to know from the event and the report, which can be found online.

The Texas Medical Center is focusing on five new institutes

Screenshot via Houston Facts 2020

The Texas Medical Center has established itself as a topic of its own in the Houston Facts report. The 61-member nonprofit that connects medical institutions across the city. The organization is working on a new campus, TMC3, that is expected to complete in 2022 and bring an annual economic impact of $5.2 billion to the state of Texas along with 30,000 jobs. From

According to the report, TMC is continuing to develop five institutes that compliment the organization's focus on innovation, regenerative medicine, health policy, and more:

  1. TMC Innovation Institute
  2. TMC Health Policy Institute
  3. TMC Clinical Research Institute
  4. TMC Regenerative Medicine Institute
  5. TMC Genomics Institute

Houston's port business continues to stay strong, with potential for growth following expansion

Screenshot via Houston Facts 2020

The Port of Houston has long been a key part of Houston's history and its economic impact. Across four seaports in the Houston area, the city moved 242.9 million metric tons of trade last year, and the district has been consistently named the busiest or one of the busiest by tonnage for over a decade.

With over 200 companies calling the port home and a busy port district, the Houston Ship Channel has been working on an expansion project, called Project 11. Construction on the project could begin as early as next year, per the report.

Venture capital is on the rise as tech jobs stays steady

Screenshot via Houston Facts 2020

Again, Houston Facts has called out the growth Houston has seen in venture capital investment. According to the report, top industries for VC funding include health tech, software, and energy. Houston Facts reports the ecosystem saw $600 million invested last year. While numbers vary based on sources, Houston Exponential recently reported over $466 million of venture capital invested in Houston between January and July of 2020.

Meanwhile, when it comes to tech jobs in Houston, the city has held its place as 12th in the nation for cities with the most tech jobs. Last year, Houston had 235,802 tech workers according to data from CompTIA, Cyberstates 2020. That count is slightly increased from 2018's 223,000 tech workers in Houston.

Houston's evolving demographics continues to shape the city

Screenshot via Houston Facts 2020

Houston is regularly touted as the most diverse city in the nation, and that diversity has affected the city's business sector. As of last year, largest ethnic population in Houston is hispanic. Houston now has the fourth largest hispanic population in the country, however, according to the report, Houston's percent of African-American citizens has remained consistent.

COVID-19's full effect on Houston is still to be determined, but business has taken a hit

Getty Images

The 2020 edition of Houston Facts doesn't have much on the impact of COVID-19 — the 2021 issue should have more facts and figures from looking back on the pandemic. However, the GHP's team did address some of the economic impacts the coronavirus had on the city.

According to Yelp data based on listings, 3,518 businesses closed due to COVID-19 — of which, only 578 had reopened by mid-June.

The Greater Houston Partnership has the facts. Nick Bee/Pexels

4 things you need to know from the Greater Houston Partnership's annual report as it pertains to innovation

By the numbers

Every year, the Greater Houston Partnership — the city's economic development arm — gathers up data and reports to paint a full picture of the Bayou City. In the past few editions, innovation has been a key component.

The GHP's innovation coverage spans three pages under the top industry and sectors category. From tech startup growth to money raised, here's what you need to know from the 2019 Houston Facts.

Houston has the 12th largest tech sector in the United States

Christina Morillo/Pexels

The innovation section starts pretty strong with this fun fact. The No. 12 tech sector ranking comes from Computing Technology Industry Association, which cites that Houston has more than 223,000 tech workers. According to the report, about two-thirds of Houston's tech workers are in industries outside of computer and software.

GHP credits Houston's large population of tech workers to its connection to aerospace and oil and gas.

"As the home of NASA's Johnson Space Center and headquarters to the global energy industry, Houston has long been a global hub of engineering talent," the report reads. "In recent years, those skills have given rise to a thriving ecosystem of digital technology companies."

GHP's data reflect that Houston has more than 8,200 tech-related firms, which includes over 500 tech startups.

Venture funding was up over 50 percent between 2017 and 2018

Via Houston Facts


Houston's recorded venture funding doesn't have a hockey stick chart to brag about. Over the past few years, venture funding has been up and down, according to S&P Capital IQ.

"Houston companies in clean energy, health innovation and digital technology have received $3.1 billion in venture capital and growth funding across 333 deals since 2014, averaging $576 million every year," the report reads.

But between 2018 and 2017, VC funds were up 50.9 percent. Of the three categories, clean energy technology pulled in the most money each year and was responsible for 64 percent of the funding during the 2014-2018 period. Sunnova, a residential solar company, had the most money raised during this time with $1.3 billion.

The largest deals reported in Houston in 2018 were:

  • Sunnova Energy — $183 million
  • OncoResponse — $40 million
  • Trisun Energy Services — $39 million
  • Arundo Analytics — $25 million
  • Procyrion — $16 million
  • QuVa Pharma — $15 million
  • NeoSensory — $12 million

University-backed entrepreneurship remains strong

Courtesy of Rice University

The Princeton Review ranks Rice University and the University of Houston as having among the best entrepreneurship programs in the country. Rice runs its Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship out of its Jones Graduate School of Business, while University of Houston's Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship is housed in the Bauer College of Business.

Both schools have run accelerator programs for seven years — the past six of which have been in collaboration. Rice's OwlSpark and UH's RED Labs finished this summer's program on August 1 at the Bayou Startup Showcase with 16 startup pitches.

Meanwhile, the Rice Business Plan Competition is deemed the "richest pitch competition" in the country. In 2019, the competition saw $3 million invested. RBPC companies have gone on to raise $1.2 billion in capital during the competition's 18-year history.

At UH, which has its own set of pitch events, the Wolff Center's graduate students manage a million-dollar Cougar Venture Fund. The fund has a group of experts that analyze and invest in early stage technology companies.

The life science industry continues to grow

Via Houston Facts

In 2018, Houston housed 20.5 percent of the country's clinical trials, with over 1,800 active. The city has more than 1,760 life sciences companies and over 25,100 biotech experts and 7,200 medical researchers.

Thankfully, the money seems to match this volume of activity. Last year, Houston's medical research grant funding from the National Institutes of Health, which totaled $668 million in 2018, was up almost 7 percent from 2017. The city's medical institutions have received nearly $3 billion from NIH since 2014 — an average of $600 million a year.

According to the GHP, the top Houston institutions receiving NIH funding in 2018 were:

  • Baylor College of Medicine — $255 million
  • University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center — $149 million
  • University of Texas Health Science Center — $90 million
  • University of Texas Medical Branch Galveston — $87 million
  • University of Houston — $24 million
  • Methodist Hospital Research Institute — $19 million
  • Rice University — $14 million
  • Texas Southern University — $3 million

As mentioned before, venture capital and private equity investment has increased in Houston, and that trend is also represented in the life science sector. In 2018, life science startups raked in $119 million, which represents a a 41.7 percent increase from $84 million in 201717, according to S&P Capital IQ.

In 2018, the top biotech firms receiving investment were:

  • OncoResponse — $40 million
  • Procyrion — $16 million
  • QuVa Pharma — $15 million
  • Pulmotect — $10 million
  • Tvardi Therapeutics — $9 million

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Houston healthtech leader launches clinical trial for innovative anxiety-treating device

making waves

Houston-based Nexalin Technology’s proprietary neurostimulation device will move forward with a new clinical trial evaluating its treatment of anxiety disorders and chronic insomnia in Brazil.

The first of Nexalin’s Gen-2 15-milliamp neurostimulation devices have been shipped to São Paulo, Brazil, and the study will be conducted at the Instituto de Psiquiatria university hospital (IPq-HCFMUSP). The shipments aim to support the launch of a Phase II clinical trial in adult patients suffering from anxiety and insomnia, according to a news release.

“Brazil is an important emerging market for mental health innovation, and this collaboration marks our first IRB-approved study in the region,” Mike White, CEO of Nexalin, said in the release.

The study will be led by Dr. Andre Russowsky Brunoni, who specializes in neuromodulation and interventional psychiatry. He currently serves as director of the interventional psychiatry division at IPq-HCFMUSP and this summer will join UT Southwestern in Dallas and its Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute as a professor of psychiatry.

The Phase II study plans to enroll 30 adults in São Paulo and assess the efficacy of Nexalin’s non-invasive deep intracranial frequency stimulation (DIFS™) of the brain in reducing anxiety symptoms and improving sleep quality, according to the company. Using the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), the trial’s goal is a reduction in anxiety symptoms, and assessments of sleep onset latency, total sleep time, overall sleep quality, depressive symptoms and clinical impression of improvement. The company plans to share results in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

“Anxiety and insomnia are very common conditions that often occur together and cause significant distress,” Brunoni added in the news release. “In this study, we are testing a new, non-invasive brain stimulation technology that has shown promising results in recent research. Our goal is to offer a safe, painless, and accessible alternative to improve people’s well being and sleep quality.”

The Nexalin Gen-2 15-milliamp neurostimulation device has been approved in China, Brazil, and Oman.

The company also enrolled the first patients in its clinical trial at the University of California, San Diego, in collaboration with the VA San Diego Healthcare System for its Nexalin HALO, which looks to treat mild traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder in military personnel and the civilian population. It also recently raised $5 million through a public stock offering. Read more here.

Texas university to lead new FAA tech center focused on drones

taking flight

The Texas A&M University System will run the Federal Aviation Administration’s new Center for Advanced Aviation Technologies, which will focus on innovations like commercial drones.

“Texas is the perfect place for our new Center for Advanced Aviation Technologies,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a release. “From drones delivering your packages to powered lift technologies like air taxis, we are at the cusp of an aviation revolution. The [center] will ensure we make that dream a reality and unleash American innovation safely.”

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, included creation of the center in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024. The center will consist of an airspace laboratory, flight demonstration zones, and testing corridors.

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi will lead the initiative, testing unstaffed aircraft systems and other advanced technologies. The Corpus Christi campus houses the Autonomy Research Institute, an FAA-designated test site. The new center will be at Texas A&M University-Fort Worth.

The College Station-based Texas A&M system says the center will “bring together” its 19 institutions, along with partners such as the University of North Texas in Denton and Southern Methodist University in University Park.

According to a Department of Transportation news release, the center will play “a pivotal role” in ensuring the safe operation of advanced aviation technologies in public airspace.

The Department of Transportation says it chose the Texas A&M system to manage the new center because of its:

  • Proximity to major international airports and the FAA’s regional headquarters in Fort Worth
  • Existing infrastructure for testing of advanced aviation technologies
  • Strong academic programs and industry partnerships

“I’m confident this new research and testing center will help the private sector create thousands of high-paying jobs and grow the Texas economy through billions in new investments,” Cruz said.

“This is a significant win for Texas that will impact communities across our state,” the senator added, “and I will continue to pursue policies that create new jobs, and ensure the Lone Star State continues to lead the way in innovation and the manufacturing of emerging aviation technologies.”

Texas Republicans are pushing to move NASA headquarters to Houston

space city

Two federal lawmakers from Texas are spearheading a campaign to relocate NASA’s headquarters from Washington, D.C., to the Johnson Space Center in Houston’s Clear Lake area. Houston faces competition on this front, though, as lawmakers from two other states are also vying for this NASA prize.

With NASA’s headquarters lease in D.C. set to end in 2028, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, and U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, a Republican whose congressional district includes the Johnson Space Center, recently wrote a letter to President Trump touting the Houston area as a prime location for NASA’s headquarters.

“A central location among NASA’s centers and the geographical center of the United States, Houston offers the ideal location for NASA to return to its core mission of space exploration and to do so at a substantially lower operating cost than in Washington, D.C.,” the letter states.

Cruz is chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; and Babin is chairman of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. Both committees deal with NASA matters. Twenty-five other federal lawmakers from Texas, all Republicans, signed the letter.

In the letter, legislators maintain that shifting NASA’s headquarters to the Houston area makes sense because “a seismic disconnect between NASA’s headquarters and its missions has opened the door to bureaucratic micromanagement and an erosion of [NASA] centers’ interdependence.”

Founded in 1961, the $1.5 billion, 1,620-acre Johnson Space Center hosts NASA’s mission control and astronaut training operations. More than 12,000 employees work at the 100-building complex.

According to the state comptroller, the center generates an annual economic impact of $4.7 billion for Texas, and directly and indirectly supports more than 52,000 public and private jobs.

In pitching the Johnson Space Center for NASA’s HQ, the letter points out that Texas is home to more than 2,000 aerospace, aviation, and defense-related companies. Among them are Elon Musk’s SpaceX, based in the newly established South Texas town of Starbase; Axiom Space and Intuitive Machines, both based in Houston; and Firefly Aerospace, based in the Austin suburb of Cedar Park.

The letter also notes the recent creation of the Texas Space Commission, which promotes innovation in the space and commercial aerospace sectors.

Furthermore, the letter cites Houston-area assets for NASA such as:

  • A strong business environment.
  • A low level of state government regulation.
  • A cost of living that’s half of what it is in the D.C. area.

“Moving the NASA headquarters to Texas will create more jobs, save taxpayer dollars, and reinvigorate America’s space agency,” the letter says.

Last November, NASA said it was hunting for about 375,000 to 525,000 square feet of office space in the D.C. area to house the agency’s headquarters workforce. About 2,500 people work at the agency’s main offices. NASA’s announcement set off a scramble among three states to lure the agency’s headquarters.

Aside from officials in Texas, politicians in Florida and Ohio are pressing NASA to move its headquarters to their states. Florida and Ohio both host major NASA facilities.

NASA might take a different approach, however. “NASA is weighing closing its headquarters and scattering responsibilities among the states, a move that has the potential to dilute its coordination and influence in Washington,” Politico reported in March.

Meanwhile, Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat who represents D.C., introduced legislation in March that would prohibit relocating a federal agency’s headquarters (including NASA’s) away from the D.C. area without permission from Congress.

“Moving federal agencies is not about saving taxpayer money and will degrade the vital services provided to all Americans across the country,” Norton said in a news release. “In the 1990s, the Bureau of Land Management moved its wildfire staff out West, only to move them back when Congress demanded briefings on new wildfires.”

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