Houston fitness guru takes her expertise mobile with new app

Fit tech

Lizzie DeLacy, founder of DeLacy Wellness, launched a new platform called Bodypeace offering wellness and exercise tips through the app. Courtesy of DeLacy Wellness

As time spent on mobile devices stretches longer and attention spans get shorter, a Houstonian thinks she has a solution to combine personal technology and a healthy lifestyle.

Lizzie DeLacy, founder of DeLacy Wellness, has launched a new app called Bodypeace that offers workout sessions, recipes, and tips for a healthier lifestyle, but in a different way than consumers might be used to.

"Rather than focusing on really long sessions, though we have a couple in there, we focus on short 5 minute sessions, so anyone can fit movement into their schedule and lifestyle," DeLacy tells InnovationMap. "Additionally, we break it down by body part focus, because oftentimes people don't know necessarily what exact movement or pose or stretch they might need."

DeLacy worked as a private fitness instructor for years before deciding to create the Bodypeace app to make her coaching and practices accessible to more people. Her goal is to help as many people as possible feel better so they can grow to be the best version of themselves, referring to this concept as "Eventual Energy."

The Bodypeace app, which launched on iTunes and Google Play on July 17, allows users to filter by body part, choosing between an all body session, or focus on a specific spot such as hamstrings, hips, back, shoulders, and more.

"In my experience as a yoga instructor, I saw that these are pain points for a lot of people," says DeLacy.

The app tailors content for the user by asking a series of questions about workout habits, and lifestyle. There is a free trial period for users to explore the app, as well as paid options, $17.99 a month or $119.99 a year.

"The busier people get the less they want to spend time in their cars or pay the fees that are associated with gym memberships, and having the ability to do something from the comfort of your own home or on demand that fits your schedule," says DeLacy. "I think it's really appealing to a lot of people, myself included."

DeLacy shares that many fitness apps out there geared towards getting a six pack or losing weight can be intimidating to those that have never worked out before or have an injury that they're recovering from. She designed her app to be accessible for all fitness levels, ages, and genders.

"The content on Bodypeace is really for the athletes and the 'never-evers' alike," DeLacy tells InnovationMap. "There is a whole group of people that are either new to working out or have never considered it before."

DeLacy founded DeLacy Wellness in 2016, a year after she moved to Houston. DeLacy is a certified yoga instructor and holds a health coaching certification. The company, which is privately funded, has two full-time staff, DeLacy and her partner and COO Jack Martin, two advisory board members, two instructors, and one community contributor.

DeLacy tells InnovationMap that on the community portion of the Bodypeace app, there is a lot of free information available for users to test the content. DeLacy and her team hope to connect wellness content creators and contributors with people who are looking for information to feel and live better.

"We're hoping to create a platform where you're doing movement and you're also going to learn about movement, nutrition, mental health, and other topics dealing with wellness," says DeLacy.

From what you wear to where you go, here are some Houston fitness startups changing the game. Courtesy of Accel Lifestyle

4 fitness-focused Houston startups changing the industry

Business exercise

Houston has developed into a city full of boutique fitness studios and updated parks, and now the city is seeing fitness startups popping up as well. From creating a smell-free fabric to engaging NASA technology into training, these Houston fitness startups are working out innovative ideas into the exercise industry.

Accel Lifestyle

Courtesy of Accel Lifestyle

Megan Eddings tried everything to get the stink out of her husband's workout clothes, but nothing worked completely. With her background in chemistry, she knew there was something she could do to create a fabric that didn't hold on to the bacteria that built up in normal fabrics. So, she got to work. Now, years later, she's finally perfected her product and is ready to launch by summer.

"I never thought it would take this so long to make a T-shirt," Eddings says. "But, if you do it right and in an ethical way, it just takes a little longer."

Eddings says she'll have six different styles of men's and women's shirts to start, and they will be available on the Accel website, which recently got a facelift. Read more about Accel's journey here.

Kanthaka

Courtesy of Kanthaka

Finding a quality personal training session that fits your schedule and location hasn't really been done before Houston-based Kanthaka launched in 2017. Founder Sylvia Kampshoff wanted something that allowed her to exercise with someone on her own schedule, and with people who valued customer service.

The app uses location technology similar to that of ride sharing apps to allow users to book training sessions with certified personal trainers, all of whom are heavily vetted and background checked by Kampshoff and her team.

"Many trainers at gyms or who work privately aren't certified," she says. "And that was important to me, that we have professionals who understand training and the body. And making sure our clients felt safe was a huge priority for me. We interview every trainer personally to ensure they not only meet our standards but also share our goals."

Since launch, Kanthaka has expanded to Austin and is expanding to San Antonio in April and Atlanta in May. The company has secured angel investment and has seen a month over month growth of 10 to 50 percent since the end of 2018. Read more about Kanthaka here.

Muvve

Courtesy of Muvve

What would you get if you crossed a dating app with an event planner focused on creating friendships around fitness? Houston-based Muvve. The app, which was created by Avi Ravishankar and Julian Se, came from the idea that working out, training for a marathon, or just staying active is way better with a buddy.

"Intrinsic motivation is hard to find, especially in individual sports, like running, cycling, or yoga," Ravishankar says. "Whereas, in team sports, like basketball or volleyball, you have the team to train with and motivate you."

The app, which launched in May of 2018, acts like a network for fitness lovers — just like a dating app would connect potential romantic partners. Dating apps, actually, were a big influence on Ravishankar, he says.

"I fell in love with dating apps. It was this mind-blowing idea for me of how many people you can connect with — even if it's not for dating," he says. "The amount of people I have met just through technology always blows my mind. There's so much power in it."

Ravishankar plans on growing the app's user base to 10,000 users by summer. Read more about Muvve here.

Sutaria Training & Fitness

Blake Hobson/ST&F

Sutaria Training & Fitness LLC, a Houston-based personal training company, has a new partnership with NASA that aims to provide exclusive access to astronaut training equipment to clients.

Jay Sutaria, founder and lead trainer, says that the equipment at NASA, called the force plate, shows how much power a client's body is producing in specific areas and how that power drops over time. The data produced by these machines can help trainers customize and tweak workouts for each client to take training a step further.

Sutaria and his partners at NASA recently tested the equipment with the Chinese olympic boxing team to see how it can be applied to workouts at NASA's location in Clear Lake.

"It's exclusive access to the equipment that is not available openly in Houston," says Sutaria. "NASA is a reference for us to become better trainers." Click here to read more about ST&F.

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8 Houston companies earn spots on Fortune's most innovative list for 2025

top honor

Eight Houston companies have been named to Fortune’s third annual list of America’s Most Innovative Companies, joining another 16 from the state of Texas.

The group of 300 companies nationwide was rated based on production innovation, process innovation, and innovation culture, according to Fortune. In partnership with Statista, the magazine considered IP portfolios, employee, expert and customer opinions; and many other factors.

While many of the top-rated companies fell into the tech sector, Fortune reports that health care companies made up the largest portion of the 2025 list. Sixty-three honorees fell into the health care category, including Houston’s top-rated company, Houston Methodist.

Here’s what Houston companies made the list and where they ranked:

No. 35 Houston Methodist
No. 54. ExxonMobil
No. 137 NRG Energy
No. 158 Hewlett-Packard Enterprise
No. 169 BMC Software
No. 175 Texas Children’s Hospital
No. 227 Sysco
No. 268 Chevron

“This award is a true credit to the culture we have created around innovation and the incredible work of Roberta Schwartz, our Chief Innovation Officer, and her team at the Center for Innovation,” Marc Boom, CEO of Houston Methodist, said in a LinkedIn post. “They have really set the tone for how we can use innovation and technology to continue to deliver the highest quality care for our patients.”

Of the 16 companies from Texas, Houston was home to the second-most with eight hailing from the Bayou City. Dallas-Fort Worth claimed the largest number of Texas companies on the list, with 11 headquartered in the metroplex.

Austin is home to only four of the companies on the list, however, companies from the capital city ranked higher on average, with Oracle, Tesla and Dell Technologies claiming the top 3 spots for the state. Beloved Texas grocer H-E-B was the one company to represent San Antonio on the list.

Here's what other Texas companies made the list and where they ranked:

No. 6 Oracle
No. 11 Tesla
No. 14 Dell Technologies
No. 37 AT&T
No. 59 Texas Instruments
No. 89 Charles Schwab
No. 91 McKesson
No. 113 Jacobs Solutions
No. 125 Baylor, Scott & White Health
No. 165 Frontier Communications
No. 201 H-E-B
No. 210 CBRE Group
No. 219 TTEC Holdings
No. 223 GameStop
No. 251 American Airlines Group
No. 271 Caterpillar

California-based tech conglomerate Alphabet Inc. topped the list for the third year in a row, and California companies again represented the majority of companies on the list, according to Fortune. Alphabet, Microsoft, Apple, IBM and Salesforce made up the top five, of which three are headquartered in California.

The 2025 group had a median revenue of $22 billion over the last 12 months, according to Fortune. See the full report here.

Intuitive Machines engineer talks STEM, innovation, and second chances

Innovator Interview

Mario Romero is an assembly, integration, and test engineer at the innovative Houston aerospace company Intuitive Machines. He previously served as a Navy SEAL and an EVA Flight Simulator Specialist at NASA.

Intuitive Machines landed its IM-2 mission on the moon last month, before calling an early end of mission. The company reported that its lunar lander was on its side, preventing it from completing the mission as planned.

Still, the IM-2 mission landed closer to the lunar South Pole than any previous lander, according to NASA. And the company still has plenty of innovative projects in the works.

The company secured about $2.5 million from NASA to study challenges related to carrying cargo on the company’s lunar lander and hauling cargo on the moon. The lander will be used for NASA’s Artemis missions to the moon and eventually to Mars.

“Someone has to do it; in fact, the more the merrier,” Romero says on being part of an innovative culture.

“Competition forces innovation, and if I can be selfish for a moment, I think it’s of particular importance for Intuitive Machines because my extremely capable team is more than worthy of having their place stamped in history. We, as a species, have to strive to become a multiplanetary species. Incidentally, part of the trickle-down effect of innovation often leads to spin-off technology that in some way benefits humanity here on Earth.”

Last year, Romero was awarded the key to the city from his hometown of Vineland, New Jersey, and made it a point in his speech to give kids a chance to succeed in the future.

“I am the product of many chances, secondary, tertiary, and more, given to me,” Romero says. “Many of these were admittedly entirely undeserving. I look back now and recognize that those teachers, judges, police, etc. might have all seen something in me that I couldn’t then see in myself. … This is precisely why I often emphasize giving kids multiple chances. Kids are kids, and you can never fully know how you’re inspiring them in the moment, nor how the chances that you give them will affect the trajectory of their lives.”

Texas is expected to represent nearly 10 percent of future STEM opportunities in the nation, and nine of the 20 biggest employers in Texas are STEM-related.

As STEM has become increasingly popular in high schools and at the university level, and the aerospace industry continues to innovate, it is possible that many young future innovators may take the same path a young Romero did.

“I think it’s natural that when new leaps are made in the STEM fields, and in the aerospace realm at large, the youth in general become galvanized by it,” Romero says.

“It’s exciting and reinvigorating to understand that humanity is on the cusp of the next great adventure. As fantastic and essential as this is, I want to emphasize the importance of the arts as well. It has an important place and an important role to play in our evolution, so I personally don’t limit youthful interest to STEM alone. There are fantastic works of art awaiting us, in all their variety, that will come as a result of the efforts and innovation.”

18 Houstonians land on Forbes world's billionaires list for 2025

World's Richest

The world’s richest people are wealthier now than they've ever been, and more billionaires have made it onto the 2025 World's Billionaires List than ever before, according to Forbes. This year, 18 Houston-based billionaires are among the richest people in the world, with hospitality honcho Tilman Fertitta leading as the richest Houstonian.

Fertitta, 67, ranked No. 220 overall with an estimated net worth of $11.3 billion, which steadily increased from his 2024 net worth of $9.4 billion.

In addition to owning the Houston Rockets, the busy billionaire owns Texas-based hospitality and entertainment corporation Landry's, and he authored a book about business leadership in 2019. He most recently was nominated as the new United States ambassador to Italy by President Donald Trump.

Ranking 248th overall is oil and gas chairmanRichard Kinder. Forbes estimates his net worth at $10.6 billion, up from $8.1 billion in 2024.

Kinder cofounded pipeline giant Kinder Morgan in 1997, and stepped down as CEO in 2015, though he still retains his seat as chairman of the board. The company is the largest energy infrastructure firm in the U.S., Forbes says, and it owns 79,000 miles of pipeline.

New to the 2025 list is Perry Homes executive chair Kathy Britton, whose company has built over 65,000 homes across the U.S., according to Forbes. Her late father, Bob Perry, founded Perry Homes in 1967. Britton ranked No. 1408 with an estimated net worth of $2.6 billion.

Mercedes-Benz mega-dealer Joe Agresti is another newbie to the list, ranking No. 2790 with a net worth of $1.1 billion. He owns Dream Motor Group with former football coach Nick Saban.

14 additional Houston-area billionaires that made Forbes 2025 world’s richest list are:

Houston pipeline heir Randa Duncan Williams: ranked No. 307 with an estimated net worth of $9.3 billion, up from $7.7 billion in 2024. Fellow pipeline heirs Dannine Avara and Milane Frantz tie for 311th nationally. Each has an estimated net worth of $9.2 billion, up from $7.6 billion. Scott Duncan ranks No. 329 with a $9 billion estimated net worth, up from $7.6 billion in 2024.
Houston oil tycoon Jeffery Hildebrand: ties for No. 411; $7.7 billion, down from $12.6 billion
Toyota mega-dealer Dan Friedkin: ties for No. 411; $7.7 billion, up from $6.4 billion
Houston Texans owner Janice McNair and family: No. 561, $6.2 billion, up from $5.6 billion
Energy exploration chief exec George Bishop: No. 717, $5 billion, up from $3.2 billion (based in The Woodlands)
Westlake Corporation co-owners Albert Chao, James Chao and their families:tied for No. 902, $4 billion, down from $4.9 billion
Hedge fund honcho John Arnold: No. 1266, $2.9 billion, down from $3.3 billion
Houston Astros owner Jim Crane: No. 1513, $2.4 billion, unchanged from 2024
Former Houston Rockets owner Leslie Alexander: tied for No. 1850, $1.9 billion, unchanged from 2024
Frontier Airlines chairman William Franke: No. 2623, $1.2 billion, down from $1.3 billion

Elsewhere in Texas, Austin-based billionaire Elon Musk topped Forbes' list as the world's richest person in 2025. The Tesla and SpaceX founder knocked French luxury goods magnate Bernard Arnault down to second place this year.

Forbes declared Musk the first person to reach the $300 billion status. His current net worth stands at $342 billion, which is a staggering $147 billion more than his 2024 net worth.

"It’s another record-breaking year for the world’s richest people, despite financial uncertainty for many and geopolitical tensions on the rise," said Forbes senior editor of wealth Chase Peterson-Withorn. "And, from Elon Musk to Howard Lutnick and the other billionaires taking over the U.S. government, they’re growing more and more powerful."

In Dallas-Fort Worth, Walmart heiress Alice Walton became the wealthiest woman in the world in 2025. Forbes declared Walton's net worth at $101 billion, which is $28.7 billion more than her 2024 net worth of $72.3 billion. She is now one of 15 individuals to claim 12-figure fortunes, also known as the "$100 Billion Club."

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