Here were Houston's top 5 tech innovation stories of 2019

2019 in review

From a supercomputer making its debut in West Houston to a behind-the-scenes look at Amazon's artificial intelligence-enabled fulfillment center, these were Houston's top stories in tech. Natalie Harms/InnovationMap

Editor's note: Houston had some big stories in technology this year, from a peek inside Amazon's artificial intelligence-enabled Houston facility and the opening of a new supercomputer to space-focused Houston startups and the future of virtual reality.

Massive data center officially opens just west of Houston

Matthew Lamont is managing director at DownUnder GeoSolutions' which just opened its new, powerful data center west of Houston. Courtesy of DUG

DownUnder GeoSolutions has officially opened its new data centre in Skybox Houston in Katy, Texas. It's being billed as one of the most powerful supercomputers on earth.

The center, which houses DUG's geophysical cloud service, DUG McCloud, celebrated its grand opening on Thursday, May 16. The company's data hall has 15 megawatts of power and resides in a building designed to withstand hurricane-force winds up to 190 mph.

A second, identical hall is already planned to be built out later this year. Together, the two machines will have a capacity of 650 petaflop, which is a measurement of computing speed that's equal to one thousand million million floating-point operations per second. Continue reading.

5 startups keeping Houston known as the Space City

Houston celebrated 50 years since the Apollo moon landing on July 20. Here are some startups that are going to be a part of the next 50 years of space tech in Houston. Photo via NASA.gov

This month, for the most part, has been looking back on the history Houston has as the Space City in honor of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing on July 20. While it's great to recognize the men and women who made this city the major player in space exploration that it is, there are still entrepreneurs today with space applications and experience that represent the future of the Space City. Continue reading.

How Amazon's Houston fulfillment center uses AI technology and robotics to move millions of products

From robotics to artificial intelligence, here's how Amazon gets its products to Houstonians in record time. Photo by Natalie Harms/InnovationMap

Last summer, Amazon opened the doors to its North Houston distribution center — one of the company's 50 centers worldwide that uses automation and robotics to fulfill online orders.

The Pinto Business Park facility has millions of products in inventory across four floors. Products that are 25 pounds or less (nothing heavier is stocked at this location) pass through 20 miles of conveyor belts, 1,500 employees, and hundreds of robots.

The center also has daily tours open to the public. We recently visited to see for ourselves the process a product goes through at this Houston plant. From stowing to shipping, here's how packages go from your shopping cart to your front porch. Continue reading.

Developments in virtual reality technology are changing the workforce, say Houston experts

The solution to Houston's workforce problem might be right in front of our eyes. Getty Images

Everyone's job has training associated with it — from surgeons to construction crane operators — and there's a growing market need for faster, more thorough training of our workforce.

"The best way to learn how to do something, is to just get out and do it," says Eric Liga, co-founder of HoustonVR. "But there are a lot of reasons why you can't do that in certain types of training."

Augmented and virtual reality training programs are on the rise, and Liga cites safety, cost, and unpredictable work environments as some of these most obvious reasons reasons to pivot to training employees through extended reality. This type of training also provides portability and has proven higher retention, Liga says in his keynote speech at Station Houston's AR/VR discuss on April 25.

"You get a much higher retention rate when you actually go out and do something — physically going through the motions — than you do sitting in a classroom or reading a book," he says. Continue reading.

Recently renovated Downtown Houston office space snags leases from 2 tech companies

Main&Co's office space is now 100 percent leased. Courtesy of Main&Co

Two tech-focused companies moved into a newly developed office space in downtown Houston at the intersection of Main Street and Commerce Street. One company relocated its Houston office, and the other company has expanded to the city for the first time.

Oil and gas AI-enabled analytics platform, Ruths.ai relocated its downtown office to Main&Co, located at 114 Main St. The company has 8,457 square feet of office space in the recently renovated historic building.

Meanwhile, global robotics process automation company UiPath has expanded to build a Houston team. The computer software company is based in New York, but has a presence in 18 countries. The company's office has 5,187 square feet of Main&Co's office space. Continue reading.

Kroger's self-driving cars are coming to Houston. Courtesy of Kroger

Kroger's autonomous car fleet heads to Houston for a new grocery delivery service

Look ma, no hands

Hold on to your hats, Houston. Autonomous cars are hitting the streets this spring as Kroger rolls out its fleet of self-driving, grocery-delivery cars.

Two Houston Kroger locations will provide the service to four ZIP codes — 10306 South Post Oak Road, servicing 77401 and 77096, and 5150 Buffalo Speedway, servicing 77005 and 77025.

Kroger, along with California-based robotics company, Nuro, has been operating self-driving cars delivering groceries in Scottsdale. Arizona since August. According to the release, the service has delivered thousands of orders in the self-driving vehicles.

"We've seen first-hand in Arizona how enthusiastic customers are about getting their Kroger groceries delivered by a Nuro self-driving vehicle," says Nuro co-founder, Dave Ferguson, in a release. "Texas has been a leader in encouraging self-driving innovation, and we're excited to help deliver that future for Houston — a dynamic, diverse, and welcoming metropolitan city that we're excited to soon explore and serve with this autonomous delivery service."

The service costs a flat fee of $5.95, and users can order in the app or online for same-day or next-day delivery, seven days a week. The program will launch using Toyota Prius vehicles. Currently, the exact start date of the service hasn't been provided.

"Our Arizona pilot program confirmed the flexibility and benefits provided by autonomous vehicles and how much customers are open to more innovative solutions," says Yael Cosset, Kroger's chief digital officer, in a release. "It's always been our shared vision to scale this initiative to new markets, using world-changing technology to enable a new type of delivery service for our customers. We operate 102 stores in Houston—an energetic market that embraces digital and technology advancement. The launch is one more way we are committed to sustainably providing our customers with anything, anytime, and anywhere, the way they want it."

In January, the Texas Department of Transportation created the Connected and Autonomous Vehicle Task Force to focus on being a comprehensive resource for information on all Texas CAV projects, investments, and initiatives.

"With our world-class universities, top-notch workforce and startup culture, Texas is a national leader in the development of new technologies," says Gov. Greg Abbott in the release. "As transportation technology advances, the CAV Task Force will ensure that the Lone Star State remains at the forefront of innovation."

Courtesy of Kroger

Over half of Houston business leaders say their company has already enabled AI, blockchain, and extended reality technology. Getty Images

Business leaders in Houston have a surprisingly high tech adoption rate

Early bird gets the worm

When it comes to enabling new technologies to advance business practices, Houston business leaders are ahead of the curve. According to a new study, the majority of the companies surveyed are already using artificial intelligence, blockchain, and extended reality today.

The global study, Technology Vision 2019, was conducted by Accenture and included surveys from 6,600 business and IT executives around the world, including 100 in Houston. Dallas was the only other Texas market surveyed, along with nine other major United States metros — Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington D.C.

Of the 100 respondents, 91 said that innovation efforts have accelerated within their organization over the past three years because of new technology, and 80 said that while they feel their employees are digitally savvy, they are "waiting" for the company's technology to catch up. However, when it comes to the need to reskill employees due to emerging tech in the workplace, 47 percent says that need will happen within the next two years.

The survey also focused on three distinct technologies — AI, blockchain, and extended reality, which includes augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality. XR responses indicate that 66 percent of business leaders have already used some sort of version of XR either in one or more of their business units (37 percent) or are piloting the technology (29 percent).

The numbers for adoption for AI is similar, with 65 percent of leaders saying they have introduced AI tech in the workplace already —nearly 2 in 5 have already adopted somewhere within the company, while over 1 in 4 say their company has an AI pilot program.

Blockchain, according to the study, falls further down the spectrum in Houston companies. Only 15 percent of the companies have a pilot program, but 42 percent have blockchain technology already in use in one or more business units — for a total of 57 percent adoption rate.

With 5G on the horizon, almost all respondents — 79 percent — say the technology is going to revolutionize their industry in terms of how they provide products or services to their clients. Almost half said that impact will happen and jobs will be altered within the next three years.

Brian Richards, managing director at Accenture, oversees the company's Houston Innovation Hub. The hub welcomes in business leaders who are utilizing Accenture's services to ideate and then implicate innovative technologies. At a recent panel in the Accenture office, Richards spoke to emerging tech in Houston and said there's been no shortage of leaders wanting to move the needle on new tech.

"I've never seen [corporations] more motivated than they are right now to be able to think differently on how they are able to engage Houston," he said.

From Station Houston's third anniversary to Virgin Trains barreling toward Houston, here's what stories readers flocked to this week. Courtesy of Station Houston

5 most popular innovation stories in Houston this week

Now trending

Editor's note: The first week of February was full of news — from new train routes potentially on track for Texas to a Houston nonprofit incubator announcing Houston's innovation ecosystem's maturity. Per usual, readers flocked to our events roundup and three innovators to know. Check out what else InnovationMap readers were interested in this month.

10 can't-miss Houston business and innovation events for February

Check out these workshops, networking events, pitch events, and other goings on in Houston this month. Getty Images

After what's felt like ages, 2019 has transitioned into a new month. For some, February means pink and red hearts. For Houstonians, it means the start of Rodeo Houston later this month. But, for entrepreneurs, the month yields a flurry of networking and professional events around town. Read more.

3 Houston tech innovators to know this week

Tech startups are popping up across industries from real estate to oil and gas, and these three founders are among the leaders in technology. Courtesy images

Often, technology and innovation are mistaken for each other. While not mutually exclusive, both tech and innovation work well together in Houston across all industries — from oil and gas to real estate and social media. These three founders engaged technology for their individual startups. Read more.

Transportation company steers talk of high-speed trains between Houston, Austin, and San Antonio

Virgin Trains may be speeding into Texas. Photo courtesy of Virgin Trains

You've likely heard of the proposed high-speed "bullet" train that would connect Houston and Dallas, as well as the proposed transportation-in-a-tube concept that would link Houston, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, and Laredo. Now, another possible alternative to planes, Amtrak trains, and automobiles has chugged into the picture. Read more.

Mayor, Station CEO: Houston's innovation ecosystem has arrived

The new two-story wall in Station Houston's space represents Station's promise to its startup members as well as showcases the city's stewards for innovation. Natalie Harms/InnovationMap

For Station Houston on its third anniversary, Houston's not just an up-and-coming innovation leader.

"Houston's tech ecosystem is here. It exists now. It will continue to grow and gain momentum. It is not a thing of the future; it is here now," Gaby Rowe, CEO of Station Houston, tells InnovationMap. Read more.

Here's what the Bay Area can learn from Houston

When it comes to maintaining a good ecosystem, diversity is key. Houston learned that the hard way. Photo by Tim Leviston/Getty Images

Hello Bay Area! We Houstonians are concerned about you. We think your economy is becoming overly dependent on Silicon Valley. In 2018, the technology industry accounted for around 62 percent of all office leasing activity in San Francisco. From September 2017 to September 2018, tech companies and realty investors bought $1.43 billion worth of San Jose downtown properties, nearly three times what they spent the year before on property in the city. Read more.


Across the U.S., each person played an average of 21 hours each of mobile games last year. Getty Images

Report finds that Houstonians played over 97 million hours on mobile games last year

Game on

Whether its for the wanted distraction or the thrill of competition, Houstonians love their mobile games. In fact, the city as a whole racked up an estimated 97 million hours of mobile game play in 2018 — the second most for a city in the United States, according to a study.

California-based Unity Technologies tracked over 7 billion hours of gaming last year in the whole of the U.S — that's 21 hours and 6 minutes on average per U.S. resident.

The company is behind the platform that powers more than half of new mobile games. The data represents information collected from games that use Unity Analytics. So, the full amount of hours played is actually known to be even larger.

Houston was only outdone by Chicago, which spent more than 130 million hours on gaming apps. Los Angeles came in third with over 94 million hours. Dallas — the only other Texas city in the top five — came in at No. 4 with 78 million hours played. Brooklyn, New York, rounded out the top five with over 71 million hours.

Unity also reported on the top apps played across the city. All five are available on Android and iOS devices.

  1. Panda Pop
  2. Happy Color - Color By Number
  3. Pixel Art - Color By Number
  4. Helix Jump
  5. Cashman Casino

In addition to mobile game technology, Unity Technologies provides a real-time 3D development platform that's used in a wide range video games, films, auto industry applications, and more.

The video game industry is worth billions, and the predicted revenue for 2018 was estimated to be $135 billion, according to data by Newzoo reported by GamesIndustry.Biz, and mobile games make up almost half of that total figure, which is a 10 percent increase from 2017.

Consumer spending on video games is also up year over year, reports MCV Magazine. Consumers across U.S. spent $9.1 billion in the third quarter of 2018 alone.

Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

NASA names new chief astronaut based in Houston

new hire

NASA has a new chief astronaut. Scott Tingle, stationed at the space agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, assumed the post Nov. 10.

Tingle succeeds NASA astronaut Joe Acaba, who had been chief astronaut since February 2023. Acaba now works on the staff of the Johnson Space Center’s director.

As chief astronaut, Tingle runs NASA’s Astronaut Office. His job includes developing astronauts’ flight crew operations and assigning crews for space missions, such as Artemis missions to the moon.

Tingle, a former captain in the Navy, was named a NASA astronaut candidate in 2009. He has logged over 4,500 flight hours in more than 50 aircraft.

Tingle was a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station, where he spent 168 days in orbit during two expeditions that launched in December 2017. Since returning to Earth, he has held various roles in the Astronaut Office, including mission support, technical leadership and crew readiness.

Before joining NASA, Tingle worked in El Segundo, California, on the technical staff of The Aerospace Corp., a nonprofit that supports U.S. space programs.

Tingle recalls expressing his desire to be an astronaut when he was 10 years old. It took him four tries to be accepted by NASA as an astronaut candidate.

“The first time I figured it was kind of too early. The second application, they sent out some feelers, and that was about it. Put in my third application, and got a couple of calls, but it didn’t quite happen,” Tingle said in an article published on the website of Purdue University, his alma mater.

ExxonMobil officially pauses plans for $7B Baytown hydrogen plant

Change of Plans

As anticipated, Spring-based oil and gas giant ExxonMobil has officially paused plans to build a low-hydrogen plant in Baytown, Chairman and CEO Darren Woods told Reuters in late November.

“The suspension of the project, which had already experienced delays, reflects a wider slowdown in efforts by traditional oil and gas firms to transition to cleaner energy sources as many of the initiatives struggle to turn a profit,” Reuters reported.

Woods signaled during ExxonMobil’s second-quarter earnings call that the company was weighing whether it would move forward with the proposed $7 billion plant.

The Biden-era Inflation Reduction Act created a new 10-year incentive, the 45V tax credit, for production of clean hydrogen. But under President Trump’s "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," the window for starting construction of low-carbon hydrogen projects that qualify for the tax credit has narrowed. The Inflation Reduction Act mandated that construction start by 2033. But the Big Beautiful Bill switched the construction start time to early 2028.

“While our project can meet this timeline, we’re concerned about the development of a broader market, which is critical to transition from government incentives,” ExxonMobil Chairman and CEO Darren Woods said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call.

Woods had said ExxonMobil was figuring out whether a combination of the 45Q tax credit for carbon capture projects and the revised 45V tax credit would enable a broader market for low-carbon hydrogen.

“If we can’t see an eventual path to a market-driven business, we won’t move forward with the [Baytown] project,” Woods said.

“We knew that helping to establish a brand-new product and a brand-new market initially driven by government policy would not be easy or advance in a straight line,” he added.

ExxonMobil announced in 2022 that it would build the low-carbon hydrogen plant at its refining and petrochemical complex in Baytown. The company has said the plant is slated to go online in 2027 and 2028.

ExxonMobil had said the Baytown plant would produce up to 1 billion cubic feet of hydrogen per day made from natural gas, and capture and store more than 98 percent of the associated carbon dioxide. The plant would have been capable of storing as much as 10 million metric tons of CO2 per year.

---

This article originally appeared on EnergyCapitalHTX.com; it was updated to include new information about the plant in December 2025.

8 can't-miss Houston business and innovation events for December

where to be

Editor's note: Houston’s innovation scene is loading up the calendar before the holidays. From climatetech pitch days to the return of favorite festive shindigs, here's what not to miss and how to register. Please note: this article may be updated to include additional event listings.

Dec. 3 — SouthWest-Midwest National Pediatric Device Innovation Consortium

This annual event brings together members, colleagues and guests of the FDA-supported pediatric consortium who are dedicated to assisting device innovators throughout the lifecycle in delivering innovative solutions to patients. Featured speakers include Dr. Danielle Gottlieb from Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, Balakrishna Haridas from Texas A&M University and Dr. Chester Koh from Texas Children’s Hospital.

This event is Wednesday, Dec. 3, from 3:30-8 p.m. at Texas A&M EnMed Tower. Register here.

Dec. 4 — Resiliency & Adaptation Sector Pitch Day: Scaling Solutions to Address Climate Disruption

Join innovators, industry leaders, investors and policymakers as they explore breakthrough climate and energy technologies at Greentown's latest installment of its Sector Pitch Day series, focused on resiliency and adaptation. Hear from Adrian Trömel, Chief Innovation Officer at Rice University; Eric Willman, Executive Director of the Rice WaTER Institute; pitches from 10 Greentown startups and more.

This event is Thursday, Dec. 4, from 1-3:30 p.m. at the Ion. The Ion Holiday Block Party follows. Register here.

Dec. 4 — The Ion District Holiday Block Party

The Ion District, Rice Alliance and Greentown Labs will celebrate the season during the Ion District Holiday Block Party. Expect to find local bites, drinks, music and meaningful connections across Houston’s innovation ecosystem. Guests are invited to participate in Operation Love’s holiday toy drive supporting local families.

This event is Thursday, Dec. 4, from 4-7 p.m. Register here.

Dec. 8 — Pumps & Pipes Annual Event 2025

The annual gathering brings together cross-industry leaders in aerospace, energy and medicine for engaging discussions and networking opportunities. Connor Grennan, Chief AI Architect at the NYU Stern School of Business, will present this year's keynote address, entitled "Practical Strategies to Increase Productivity." Other sessions will feature leaders from Cena Research Institute, NASA Ames Research Center, ExxonMobil, Southwest Airlines and more.

This event is Monday, Dec. 8, from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., at TMC Helix Park. Register here.

Dec. 9 — Jingle and Mingle

Don your ugliest sweater and snap a pic with Startup Santa! Bayou City Startups, Rocket Network, Founder Institute and Energytech Nexus are bringing back their popular Jingle Mingle for the third year. Network and celebrate with founders, community stakeholders and others in Houston's innovation scene. Donations to the Houston Food Bank are encouraged in place of tickets.

This event is Tuesday, Dec. 9, from 5-7 p.m., at the Solarium in Midtown. Register here.

Dec. 9 — European Innovation Spotlight

Celebrate European cooperation and innovation with the European Innovation Council during an exclusive demo night and networking event at Greentown Labs. Hear from 15 EIC-backed founders supported by the European Union with top-class climatetech technologies, listen to a fireside chat and engage in a networking event following the pitches.

This event is Tuesday, Dec. 9, from 4:30-7 p.m., at the Ion. Register here.

Dec. 9-10 — Energy LIVE

Energy LIVE is Reuters Events' flagship ConfEx that brings the full energy ecosystem together under one roof to solve the industry's most urgent commercial and operational challenges. The event will feature 3,000-plus senior executives across three strategic stages, a showcase of 75-plus exhibitors and six strategic content pillars.

This event is Dec. 9-10 at NRG Park. Register here.

Dec. 15 — Innov8 Hub Pitch Day

Hear pitches from members of the latest Innov8 Hub Innovators to Founders cohort, which empowers academic scientists and innovators to become successful startup founders. Meet and network with the founders over light bites and drinks at a reception following the pitch competition.

This event is Monday, Dec. 15, at the Innovation Center at UH Technology Bridge (Bldg. 4). Register here.

View All Listings