Houston hospital receives $37M in donations to continue its life-saving cancer care

guardian angels

Houston Methodist received millions in donations to support cancer patients. Courtesy of Methodist Hospital/Facebook

A $25 million gift will support expansion of research conducted at the Houston Methodist Cancer Center and may help the center earn top-tier federal designation.

In honor of the $25 million donation from Dr. Mary Neal and husband Ron Neal, the cancer center is being renamed the Houston Methodist Dr. Mary and Ron Neal Cancer Center. The hospital system will raise an additional $12 million in matching funds, bringing the total to $37 million.

Dr. Marc Boom, president and CEO of Houston Methodist, says the Bellaire couple's gift "plays an important role in advancing our leading medicine mission and bringing potentially life-saving cancer treatments to more patients throughout Houston and the nation."

Mary Neal, previously in private practice as an obstetrician-gynecologist, is now a part-time volunteer physician at Houston Methodist's San Jose Clinic. Ron Neal is co-founder and co-owner of offshore development company Houston Energy. He also is CEO of Houston-based HEQ Deepwater, a more than $400 million venture formed earlier this year by Houston Energy and Houston-based private equity firm Quantum Energy Partners to buy deepwater assets in the Gulf of Mexico.

With the donation from Dr. Mary Neal and husband Ron Neal, the cancer center is being renamed the Houston Methodist Dr. Mary and Ron Neal Cancer Center. Photo courtesy of Houston Methodist

The Neals' donation will boost ongoing research led by Dr. Jenny Chang, director of the cancer center and Emily Herrmann Presidential Distinguished Chair in Cancer Research. Chang's research has advanced cancer therapy with breakthroughs such as targeted drugs for treatment of breast cancer.

Mary Neal says she and her husband believe their contribution "will further advance pivotal and innovative research beyond chemotherapy and radiation."

The gift also will fund and retain three endowed chairs and complementary funding for early stage research and therapies, support recruitment and fellowship training, and expand clinical trials at all of the community hospitals within Houston Methodist. Part of the gift is dedicated to cancer innovation efforts within the Center for Drug Repositioning and Development.

"Our vision for the Dr. Mary and Ron Neal Cancer Center is to grow our network of cancer physicians offering comprehensive care with the latest technologies and clinical trials so that patients across the region have the best access to cancer care," Chang says. "While the gift from the Neal family will have direct impact for patients at the community level in areas that are often deserts for cancer care, my hope is that it will also propel our ongoing research and work to the national level toward NCI designation."

Cancer centers designated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) meet rigorous standards for research and clinical care. The Neals' gift is aimed at elevating research done at the cancer center and helping retain talent to accelerate Houston Methodist's pursuit of NCI designation.

Texas is home to four NCI-designated cancer centers:

  • Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center at Houston's Baylor College of Medicine.
  • University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, also in Houston.
  • Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
  • Mays Cancer Center at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio.

NCI designation represents "the highest federal rating a cancer center can achieve," according to the University of Chicago's NCI-designated cancer center. "It's the gold standard for cancer programs, and is bestowed upon the nation's top cancer centers in recognition of their innovative research and leading-edge treatments."

This designation can lead to benefits such as more research grants, quicker access to clinical trials for cancer treatments, and stepped-up recruitment of high-profile cancer researchers.

"At any given time, hundreds of research studies are under way at the cancer centers, ranging from basic laboratory research to clinical assessments of new treatments," the NCI says. "Many of these studies are collaborative and may involve several cancer centers, as well as other partners in industry and the community."
Progress and feedback will help you reach your organization's DEI goals. Photo via Pexels

Houston expert: 5 things to consider when tackling DEI at your organization

guest column

Houston is often touted as the most diverse city in the country, but with that comes the responsibility of making sure we are creating inclusive and equitable opportunities that reflect the communities we serve.

With the current state of our country dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as social and political issues, employers across the city have searched for the right thing to say and do to help their employees and customers during this time when personal feelings and beliefs impact the workplace more now than ever. While there isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to implementing DEI across an organization, here are a few steps and considerations companies can take to ensure DEI is a priority moving forward.

Understand your audience

It's important to understand the perspectives of those you serve. Identifying your audience will help develop a DEI strategy that addresses concerns from multiple lenses. At Houston Methodist, we focus on our patients, employees and the communities we serve. Anyone building a DEI program needs to not only be cognizant of their audience, but also understand their needs in today's climate before spending time and resources to develop initiatives that will address those needs. Ultimately, this will help shape a more impactful approach to DEI within your organization.

Define success

When developing a DEI strategy, success may seem overwhelming or lofty. But, viewing success as progress will help your organization accomplish your goals in a way that employees and other stakeholders will benefit from in the long run.

Set strategic and measurable goals that clearly state what your organization wants to achieve through its DEI efforts. These goals need not be big at the onset; make sure they are attainable. Most importantly, it's critical to revisit your goals on a regular basis and identify gaps, and be willing to pivot, if needed, along the way so your organization eventually reaches its goals. At the hospital, we've developed a DEI dashboard for all departments in our hospitals to help us with setting those measurable goals. Once measurable goals are identified, a DEI scorecard will be used to identify progress for departments and our organization year over year. When people are able to easily track and see progress or gaps, it will make it easier to reach desired goals.

An organization can't be successful with any new type of program if everyone within the organization doesn't understand the importance of DEI in their department and within the company as a whole. Progress often starts with one person. Providing training to employees about the impact that DEI can have on their day-to-day work will help them champion that within the organization. For example, we've launched something at our hospital called "Together We Grow," a training program aimed at building a foundation for what DEI is by exploring everyday scenarios employees may encounter. This program first started with leadership and is now available to all employees within the hospital system.

Establish a timeline

Once measurable goals have been established, develop a timeline for accomplishing those goals. By selecting two or three goals that can be focused on over a particular time period (i.e., six months or one year), your organization can implement targeted programs and best practices to drive the success of DEI for a more long-term plan. It's ok if not every program is up and running within the year; creating milestones along the way will give your organization time to grow its DEI efforts and aspire to something meaningful for your employees, customers or community. The need for DEI doesn't go away, so it's important to continue efforts year-round with a growth mindset.

Evaluate how DEI holistically fits into your business

A DEI department, team or individual can't be successful if the work isn't aligned with the mission of the organization. It does not help if an organization has competing priorities, so DEI goals must be embedded in your organization's business goals.

Additionally, it's also important to have leadership set the tone for the rest of the organization to follow. Executive leaders that fully commit to the organization's DEI efforts and promote transparency, feedback and accountability for those programs will yield the most meaningful and lasting results.

Recognize your ‘why’

As a business, it's important to understand why DEI is important for your organization's success. You need to both be able to understand and articulate the business case for why diversity matters in your organization. Studies like this one from Boston Consulting Group continue to show a positive correlation between workforce diversity, innovation and overall company performance. The workforce is constantly changing and becoming more diverse, so making sure your organization is adapting to those different perspectives and taking into consideration why this work is vital to your employees, customers and your community will help turn DEI ideas into action.

For many health care organizations, health equity has shaped community engagement efforts and programs. Addressing health equity for racial, ethnic and social minorities in the Greater Houston area has been a priority for Houston Methodist for nearly 30 years, and this work has also informed and strengthened our DEI efforts in the communities we serve.

In conclusion, remember progress and feedback will help you reach your organization's DEI goals. For these initiatives to be effective, everyone within your organization must understand that each person plays a role in shaping the success of DEI efforts.

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Arianne Dowdell is vice president, chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at Houston Methodist.
Houston Methodist is offering COVID-19 monoclonal antibody treatment thanks to a new partnership with Soleo Health. Photo via Getty Images

Houston hospital taps Texas company to offer in-home COVID-19 treatment

home care

Houston Methodist has tapped Frisco-based Soleo Health to provide in-home monoclonal antibody therapy for COVID-19 patients in the Houston area.

The Houston Methodist health care system has a partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services aimed at boosting access to COVID-19 monoclonal antibody treatment for underserved and disadvantaged patients in the Houston area.

Monoclonal antibodies are laboratory-made proteins that mimic the immune system's ability to fight off harmful pathogens such as viruses. If administered within 10 days of the onset of COVID-19 symptoms, the one-time therapy can neutralize the virus and prevent symptoms from worsening.

Soleo, a provider of specialized pharmacy services that has a location in Houston, says treating COVID-19 patients at home with monoclonal antibodies is expected to help reduce hospital admissions.

"By teaming up with Houston Methodist to help patients receive therapy and stay in their homes, we are helping reduce the chance of increased infections and the spread of COVID-19 in a hospital setting," Shahram Badrei of Houston, regional business leader at Soleo, says in a news release.

Houston Methodist reported in May that it had administered monoclonal antibodies to nearly 4,200 patients since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued emergency use authorization for the treatment last November. The health care system said it was rolling out monoclonal antibody therapy at its more than 40 clinics in the Houston area. Houston Methodist ranks among the largest providers of monoclonal antibodies in the U.S.

Harris County, the state's most populous county, has recorded the most COVID-19 cases (539,000) and deaths (nearly 7,900) of any county in Texas.

"Houston Methodist continues to serve the Houston area and beyond in the fight against COVID-19 through patient care and its commitment to research that brings promising new therapies to fight the disease," Dr. Marc Boom, president and CEO of Houston Methodist, said in May.
No other city in Texas comes close to grabbing so many top national rankings. Photo by Dwight C. Andrews/Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau

Houston hospitals once again dominate annual national rankings

top health care

It stands to reason that as home to the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest medical complex, Houston would be blessed with outstanding hospitals. New national rankings from U.S. News & World Report show just how true that is.

The rankings put Houston Methodist Hospital at No. 16 among the best hospitals in the country, and at No. 10 for gastroenterology and GI surgery. Meanwhile, Houston's University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center tops the list of the best hospitals for cancer care, and claims the No. 4 spot for urology and No. 5 spot for gynecology.

Elsewhere in Houston, TIRR Memorial Hermann Hospital appears at No. 2 for rehabilitation, Texas Children's Hospital lands at No. 3 among the best children's hospitals, and the Menninger Clinic ranks eighth for psychiatry.

No other city in Texas comes close to grabbing so many top national rankings from U.S. News & World Report.

Houston Methodist Hospital climbed four spots in this year's overall ranking, up from No. 20 last year.

"This is a tremendous achievement for our physicians and employees who dedicate themselves every day to our patients — especially now as we celebrate this news during another surge in the pandemic," Dr. Marc Boom, president and CEO of Houston Methodist, says in a news release.

"These national accolades are something to be proud of, but most important, our patients are benefiting from all of our hard work," Boom adds. "Ultimately, they are the reason we need to be one of the best hospital systems in the country."

MD Anderson once again leads the way in the cancer category, while also earning high marks for urology and gynecology.

"This year's ranking is especially rewarding considering the exceptional teamwork and collaboration we have seen throughout our institution during an unprecedented pandemic that created heightened risks for immunocompromised cancer patients," Dr. Peter WT Pisters, president of MD Anderson, says in a news release.

"No matter the challenge, we are here for our patients, for each other, and for our community. We thank everyone for their unwavering support that has helped us earn the top ranking in cancer in the midst of a pandemic," Pisters adds.

TIRR Memorial Hermann climbed in the rehab ranking from No. 3 last year to No. 2 this year.

"The methodology for the rankings have evolved to include more aspects of quality in addition to reputation, which is extremely meaningful to our employees and affiliated physicians," Rhonda Abbott, senior vice president and CEO of TIRR Memorial Hermann, says in a news release.

"With our ranking improving this year, it confirms our focus on patient outcomes and the quality of care that we strive for with all of our patients in need of rehabilitation," Abbott adds. "While the rankings sometimes fluctuate from year to year, they tell the story that we at TIRR Memorial Hermann are leaders in rehabilitation through our focus on research, education, clinical care, and advocacy."

Texas Children's Hospital scored a third-place ranking nationally among children's hospitals, matching its showing on last year's list. This is the 13th consecutive year that it's been recognized among the best children's hospitals in the country by U.S. News & World Report.

"Our best is something we strive for each day, caring for our patients — not looking back at what we accomplished but towards what we can do tomorrow," Texas Children's Hospital says on its website.

Also in this year's top 10 for specialty hospitals is the Menninger Clinic, which jumped from No. 9 last year to No. 8 this year. The facility has secured a place in U.S. News & World Report's top 10 for psychiatry since the inception of the rankings.

"Our specialty is precision mental health and substance use care," Armando Colombo, president and CEO of Menninger, says in a news release. "Patients seeking care from [us] are looking for the best diagnostics and effective evidence-based treatment that's right for their goals and symptoms."

"We have a wide range of specialists who provide new solutions as well as proven, cutting-edge treatments for a positive outcome that the patient can sustain to enjoy improved overall health and a better life," Colombo adds.

Texas Heart Institute at Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center ranked 13th in the nation among Adult Cardiology & Heart Surgery hospitals.

"We are the highest-ranking heart and cardiac surgery center in Houston, Texas, and we are proud to be back on top," says Texas Heart Institute's assistant medical director, Dr. Stephanie Coulter, in a release.
A software technology coming out of Houston Methodist is revolutionizing a particularly complex type of surgery. Photo via houstonmethodist.org

New software for facial surgery developed at Houston hospital gets FDA approval

game-changing tech

A new technology is helping Houston surgeons with a complicated surgery process — and the software recently got clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The AnatomicAligner, a software program designed to improve planning for craniomaxillofacial surgeries, was developed at Houston Methodist and was funded in part by Houston Methodist's Translational Research Initiative, which is a fund that's dedicating $30 million to product development of promising medical technologies.

The hospital received FDA clearance to market the software, making Houston Methodist a member of an elite group of academic medical centers with an approved medical technology ready for market access, according to a news release.

The technology was developed by Dr. James Xia, professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery, and Dr. Jaime Gateno, chair of the Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery and professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery.

The AnatomicAligner uses computer graphics and modeling technologies to simulate the entire surgery artificially with a goal of allowing surgeons to practice and plan their technique. In addition to TRI funding, Xia and Gateno also received nearly $10 million in funding from the National Institute of Craniofacial and Dental Research, per the release, to develop the methodology and the AnatomicAligner software system.

Craniomaxillofacial surgeries correct congenital and acquired deformities of the skull and face — including those acquired from trauma or congenital abnormalities, such as cleft lip and palate.

"Due to the complex nature of the CMF skeleton, it requires extensive presurgical planning," write the researchers in a description of the technology. "Unfortunately, the traditional planning methods, e.g. prediction tracings and simulating surgery on stone models have remained unchanged over the last 50 years."

The researchers have plans to share their findings in order to improve CMF — as well as other orthopedic surgeries — for the world.

"The success of AnatomicAligner will lead to a new class of imaging informatics platform for CMF surgery. This platform can also be transformed to orthopedic surgery and other medical specialties," the description continues. "Once completed, the software will be freely downloaded from internet by research community.
It's pay day for several Houston-area research teams thanks to two grant programs. Photo via Getty Images

Several Houston-area life science research teams receive thousands in grants

research roundup

Several health innovation research teams across Houston are celebrating fresh funds to go toward the development of breakthrough technologies and research projects.

In InnovationMap's latest roundup of research news, check out who received this crucial funding and how their research and work can change the standard of care across the life science industry.

Reliant doles out $100,000 to two Houston Methodist critical care physician-scientists

Reliant announced that the recipients of the Reliant Innovation Fund will be two individuals within Houston Methodist Center for Critical Care in collaboration with Texas A&M's Engineering Medicine (EnMed) program.

"Meaningful innovation is core to us at Reliant and the work these institutions, physicians and students are doing is truly amazing," says Elizabeth Killinger, president of Reliant, in a news release. "We appreciate how Houston Methodist is making a lasting difference in our community by continuing to revolutionize medicine and we are honored to support them through the EnMed program."

Dr. Hina Faisal and Dr. Asma Zainab — along with the EnMed students who will support their work — will use the funds to advance their work. An anesthesiologist and critical care physician, Faisal will lead a project on 3-D-simulated virtual reality technology to prevent delirium in critically ill patients. Zainab, who specializes in cardiovascular ICU and focuses on respiratory failure and ventilator use, will lead a project to help personalize care in lung failure, creating models specific to each patient to avoid unnecessary pressure and injury caused by ventilators, per the release.

"Innovation is at the heart of what we do," says Dr. Faisal Masud, director of the Center of Critical Care at Houston Methodist, in the release. "Thanks to Reliant's generous contribution and ongoing support, we are able to seek out new ways to provide the best quality care for our most vulnerable patients while supporting our physicians, our students and their research."

Researchers at Rice University and Texas Medical Center institutions snag grants

Six research teams have received funding from Rice University's Educational and Research Initiatives for Collaborative Health, known as ENRICH. Established in 2016, the program focuses on connecting Rice faculty with TMC institutions to encourage collaboration. Last year, more than a fifth of Rice faculty were engaged in active collaborations with TMC research partners, according to a news release.

"Partnerships with TMC are an institutional priority, and they enable our faculty to translate their research to clinical practice, directly benefiting the Houston community," says Marcia O'Malley, special advisor to the provost on ENRICH and the Thomas Michael Panos Family Professor in Mechanical Engineering, in the release. "ENRICH has been instrumental in facilitating faculty engagement with TMC partners, reducing barriers to collaboration and investing institutional resources in new partnerships."

The Provost's TMC Collaborator Fund awarded $60,000 in grants to:

  • Jason Hafner '98, professor of physics and astronomy at Rice, and Carly Filgueira '09, assistant professor of nanomedicine and cardiovascular surgery at Houston Methodist Research Institute, to explore the development of an optical sensor for clinical detection of cholesterol.
  • Lan Li, assistant professor of history at Rice; Ricardo Ernesto Nuila, associate professor of medicine, medical ethics and health policy at Baylor College of Medicine; and Fady Joudah, a poet, literary translator and physician at Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, for a pilot study of community health care access that addresses larger questions about medical racism in Houston.
  • Oleg Igoshin, professor of bioengineering at Rice, and Anna Konovalova, assistant professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston's McGovern Medical School, to explore new targets for antibiotic treatment by probing the feedback loop between two important stress-response pathways in bacteria.
Additionally, Rice ENRICH and Baylor's Interdisciplinary Surgical Technology and Innovation Center (INSTINCT) awarded $60,000 in grants to:
  • Pulickel Ajayan, the Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor in Engineering and chair of Rice's Department of Materials Science and Nanoengineering, and Crystal Shin, assistant professor of surgery at Baylor, for development of a self-charging, wireless microsensor capable of detecting changes in flow in blood vessels that have been replaced in heart bypass surgery.
  • Meng Li, Noah Harding Assistant Professor in Statistics at Rice, and Gabriel Loor, associate professor of surgery at Baylor, to study inflammation following lung transplantation and search for the cause of inflammatory responses that differ between men and women.
  • Vaibhav Unhelkar, assistant professor of computer science at Rice, and James Suliburk, associate professor of surgery at Baylor, to explore how artificial intelligence can augment surgical training.


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Houston startup secures big contract, coworking company acquired, and more local innovation news

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Houston is starting 2022 strong in terms of innovation news, and there might be some headlines you may have missed.

In this roundup of short stories within Houston startups and tech, the Bayou City is ranked based on its opportunities for STEM jobs, a Houston blockchain startup scores a major contract, Rice University opens applications for its veteran-owned busineess competition, and more.

Data Gumbo announces contract with Equinor

After a successful pilot, Equinor has signed off on a contract with Data Gumbo.. Courtesy of Data Gumbo

Houston-based Data Gumbo, an industrial blockchain-software-as-a-service company, announced that it has signed a contract with Equinor. The global energy company's venture arm, Equinor Ventures, supported the startup's $7.7 million series B round, which closed last year.

The company's technology features smart contract automation and execution, which reduces contract leakage, frees up working capital, enables real-time cash and financial management, and delivers provenance with unprecedented speed, accuracy, visibility and transparency, per the release.

“Equinor is an industry trailblazer, demonstrating the true value of our international smart contract network to improve and automate manual processes, and bring trust to all parties,” says Andrew Bruce, founder and CEO of Data Gumbo, in a news release. “Smart contracts are playing a critical role in driving the energy industry forward. Our work with Equinor clearly demonstrates the benefits that supermajors and their supply chain customers, partners and vendors experience by automating commercial transactions. We are proud to continue our work with Equinor to help them realize the savings, efficiencies and new levels of transparency available through our smart contract network.”

Equinor opted into a pilot with the company a few years ago.

“Since piloting Data Gumbo’s smart contracts for offshore drilling services in 2019, we have worked with the company to continually refine and improve use cases. We now have the potential to expand Data Gumbo’s smart contract network to enable transactional certainty across our portfolio from the Norwegian Continental Shelf to our Brazilian operated assets and beyond,” says Erik Kirkemo, senior vice president at Equinor. “GumboNet reduces inefficiencies and processing time around contract execution in complex supply chains, which is a problem in the broader industry, and we look forward to realizing the streamlined process and cost savings of its rapidly expanding smart contract network.”

WeWork acquires Dallas coworking brand with 6 Houston locations

Common Desk, which has six locations in Houston including in The Ion, has been acquired. Photo courtesy of Common Desk

Dallas-based Common Desk, which has six locations in Houston, announced its acquisition by WeWork. The company's office spaces will be branded as “Common Desk, a WeWork Company,” according to a news release.

“Similar to WeWork, Common Desk is a company built on the concept of bringing people together to have their best day at work," says Nick Clark, CEO at Common Desk, in the release. "With the added support from WeWork, Common Desk will be able to not only leverage WeWork’s decade of experience in member services to improve the experience of our own members but also leverage WeWork’s impressive client roster to further build out our member base.”

Here are the six Common Desk spaces in Houston:

Here's how Houston ranks as a metro for STEM jobs

Source: WalletHub

When it comes to the best cities for jobs in science, technology, engineering, and math, Houston ranks in the middle of the pack. The greater Houston area ranked at No. 37 among the 100 largest metros across 19 key metrics on the list compiled by personal finance website, WalletHub. Here's how Houston fared on the report's metrics:

  • No. 36 – percent of Workforce in STEM
  • No. 74 – STEM Employment Growth
  • No. 43 – Math Performance
  • No. 16 – Quality of Engineering Universities
  • No. 2 – Annual Median Wage for STEM Workers (Adjusted for Cost of Living)
  • No. 90 – Median Wage Growth for STEM Workers
  • No. 75 – Job Openings for STEM Graduates per Capita
  • No. 88 – Unemployment Rate for Adults with at Least a Bachelor’s Degree

Elsewhere in Texas, Austin ranked at No. 2 overall, and Dallas just outranked Houston coming in at No. 34. San Antonio, El Paso, and McAllen ranked No. 51, No. 65, and No. 88, respectively.

Rice University calls for contestants for its 8th annual startup pitch competition for veterans

Calling all veteran and active duty startup founders and business owners. Photo courtesy of Rice University

Rice University is now accepting applications from Houston veterans for its annual business competition. To apply for the 2022 Veterans Business Battle, honorably discharged veterans or active duty founders can head online to learn more and submit their business plan by Feb. 15.

“We’re looking forward to giving veterans the opportunity not just to share their ideas and get financing, but learn from other past winners the lessons about entrepreneurship they’ve lived through while growing their businesses,” event co-chair Reid Schrodel says in a news release.

Over the past few years, finalists have received more than $4 million of investments through the program. This year's monetary prizes add up to $30,000 — $15,000 prize for first place, $10,000 for second place, and $5,000 for third place.

Finalists will be invited to make their business pitch April 22 and 23 at Rice University. Click here to register for the event.

City of Houston receives grant to stimulate STEM opportunities

Houston's youth population is getting a leg up on STEM opportunities. Photo via Getty Images

Thanks to a $150,000 grant from the National League of Cities, the city of Houston has been awarded a chance to provide quality education and career opportunities to at-risk young adults and students. The city is one of five cities also selected to receive specialized assistance from NLC’s staff and other national experts.

“This award is a big win for young people. They will benefit from significant career development opportunities made possible by this grant,” says Mayor Sylvester Turner in a news release. “These are children who would otherwise go without, now having experiences and connections they never thought possible. I commend the National League of Cities for their continued commitment to the future leaders of this country.”

According to the release, the grant money will support the Hire Houston Youth program by connecting diverse opportunity youth to the unique STEM and technology-focused workforce development.

"Our youth deserve educational opportunities that connect them to the local workforce and career exploration, so they can make informed choices about their future career path in Houston’s dynamic economy. Houston youth will only further the amazing things they will accomplish, thanks to this grant," says Olivera Jankovska, director of the Mayor's Office of Education.

Houston software startup raises $12.5M series B

money moves

Houston-based Codenotary, whose technology helps secure software supply chains, has raised $12.5 million in a series B round. Investors in the round include Swiss venture capital firm Bluwat and French venture capital firm Elaia.

The $12.5 million round follows a series A round that was announced in 2020, with total funding now at $18 million.

Codenotary, formely known as vChain, says the fresh round of money will be used to accelerate product development, and expand marketing and sales worldwide. Today, the startup has 100-plus customers, including some of the world’s largest banks.

Codenotary’s co-founders are CEO Moshe Bar and CTO Dennis Zimmer. They started the company in 2018.

Bar co-founded Qumranet, which developed the Linux KVM hypervisor. A hypervisor creates and runs virtual machines. Software provider Red Hat purchased Qumranet in 2008 for $127 million. Before that, he founded hypervisor company XenSource, which cloud computing company Citrix Systems bought in 2007 for $500 million.

“Codenotary offers a solution which allows organizations to quickly identify and track all components in their DevOps cycle and therefore restore trust and integrity in all their myriad applications,” Pascal Blum, senior partner at Bluwat, says in a news release.

The SolarWinds software supply chain hack in 2020 and the more recent emergence of Log4j vulnerabilities have brought the dangers of software lifecycle attacks to the forefront, Bar says. Now, he says, more and more companies are looking for ways to prove the legitimacy of the software that they produce.

Codenotary is the primary contributor to immudb, the an open-source, enterprise-class database with data immutability, or stability, designed to meet the demands of highly used applications.

Dallas-based ridesharing app gears up for expansion across Houston and beyond

HOUSTON INNOVATOR PODCAST EPISODE 118

Before he started his current job, Winston Wright would have thought a startup attempting to compete with the likes of Uber and Lyft was going to fight an uphill battle. Now, he sees how much opportunity there is in the rideshare market.

Wright is the Houston general manager for Alto, a Dallas-based company that's grown its driving service platform into five markets — first from Dallas into Houston and then to Los Angeles, Miami, and, most recently, Washington D.C. Alto's whole goal is to provide reliability and improve user experience.

"We're elevating ridesharing," Wright says on this week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast. "With Alto, you get a consistent, safe experience with. a high level of hospitality. And that's a key differentiator for us in the market, and we're able to replicate that time and time again."

Wright, whose background is in sales and operations in hospitality, says his vision for alto in Houston is to expand the service — which operates in the central and western parts of the city — throughout the greater Houston area.

"The vision I have for this market is that, as we move forward and continue to expand, that we're covering all of Houston," he says.

This will mean expanding the company's physical presence too. Alto recently announced its larger space in Dallas, and now the Houston operations facility will grow its footprint too.

Wright says he's also focused on growing his team. Over the past two years, pandemic notwithstanding, the company has maintained hiring growth. Alto's drivers are hired as actual employees, not contractors, so they have access to benefits and paid time off.

The company, which raised $45 million in its last round of investment, is expanding next to the Silicon Valley area, followed by three to five more markets in 2022. Then, by the end of 2023, it's Alto's mission to have a completely electronic fleet of vehicles.

"Our goal is to have over 3,000 EV cars and be the first company with a 100 percent electric fleet by 2023," Wright says.

Wright shares more on Alto's future in Texas and beyond, as well as what's challenging him most as he grows the team locally. Listen to the full interview below — or wherever you stream your podcasts — and subscribe for weekly episodes.


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