Houston startup, researchers awarded millions to develop Brain Mesh implant

brain health

Rice researchers will collaborate with Houston health tech startup Motif Neurotech to develop Brain Mesh, a distributed network of minimally invasive implants in the skull. Photo via Motif Neurotech

Houston startup Motif Neurotech and several Rice research groups have been selected by the United Kingdom's Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) to participate in its inaugural Precision Neurotechnologies program. The program aims to develop advanced brain-interfacing technologies for cognitive and psychiatric conditions.

ARIA will invest $84.2 million over four years in projects that “explore and unlock new methods to interface with the human brain at the circuit level,” according to a news release.

Three of the four Rice labs will collaborate with Houston health tech startup Motif Neurotech to develop Brain Mesh, which is a distributed network of minimally invasive implants that can stimulate neural circuits and stream neural data in real time. The project has been awarded approximately $5.9 million.

Motif Neurotech was spun out of the Rice lab of Jacob Robinson, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and bioengineering and CEO of Motif Neurotech. It will be developed in collaboration with U.K.-based startup MintNeuro, which will help develop custom integrated circuits that will help to miniaturize the implants, according to a separate release.

Robinson will lead the system and network integration and encapsulation efforts for Mesh Points implants. According to Rice, these implants, about the size of a grain of rice, will track and modulate brain states and be embedded in the skull through relatively low-risk surgery.

The Rice lab of Valentin Dragoi, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice and the Rosemary and Daniel J. Harrison III Presidential Distinguished Chair in Neuroprosthetics at Houston Methodist, will conduct non-human primate experimental models for Brain Mesh. Kaiyuan Yang, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering who leads the Secure and Intelligent Micro-Systems Lab at Rice, will work on power and data pipeline development to enable the functional miniaturization of the Mesh Points.

“Current neurotechnologies are limited in scale, specificity and compatibility with human use,” Robinson said in a news release. “The Brain Mesh will be a precise, scalable system for brain-state monitoring and modulation across entire neural circuits designed explicitly for human translation. Our team brings together a key set of capabilities and the expertise to not only work through the technical and scientific challenges but also to steward this technology into clinical trials and beyond.”

The fourth Rice lab, led by assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering Jerzy Szablowski, will collaborate with researchers from three universities and two industry partners to develop closed-loop, self-regulating gene therapy for dysfunctional brain circuits. The team is backed by an award of approximately $2.3 million.

“Our goal is to develop a method for returning neural circuits involved in neuropsychiatric illnesses such as epilepsy, schizophrenia, dementia, etc. to normal function and maybe even make them more resilient,” Szablowski said in a news release.

Neurological disorders in the U.K. have a roughly $5.4 billion economic burden, and some estimates run as high as $800 billion annually in terms of economic disruptions in the U.S. These conditions are the leading cause of illness and disability with over one in three people impacted according to the World Health Organization.

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Established to rapidly build companies based on Rice University's portfolio of over 100 patents, RBL LLC is a new biotech venture creation studio based in Texas Medical Center Helix Park. Photo courtesy of Rice

Rice University opens biotech venture studio in TMC

rapidly scaling

In its mission to amplify and advance biotech innovation, Rice University has announced its latest initiative — a new lab focused on bringing life-saving medical technologies to commercialization.

Established to rapidly build companies based on Rice University's portfolio of over 100 patents, RBL LLC is a new biotech venture creation studio based in Texas Medical Center Helix Park. RBL comes on the heels of establishing the Rice Biotech Launch Pad, a biotech innovation accelerator that opened last year.

Paul Wotton, executive director of the Rice Biotech Launch Pad, co-founded RBL with his colleagues Omid Veiseh, Rice professor of bioengineering and faculty director of the Rice Biotech Launch Pad; Jacob Robinson, Rice professor of electrical and computer engineering; and Dr. Rima Chakrabarti, a physician scientist and venture capital investor with KdT Ventures.

“This is a pivotal moment for Houston and beyond,” Wotton, who serves as RBL’s managing partner, says in a news release from Rice. “Houston has rapidly emerged as a global life sciences powerhouse, blending cutting-edge research with early clinical applications at Rice and the city’s world-renowned hospital systems.

"Investors from across the nation are recognizing Houston’s potential, and with RBL, we’re building on that momentum," he continues. "We’ll not only amplify the work of the Rice Biotech Launch Pad but expand our reach across Texas, creating opportunities for biotech ventures statewide and driving growth for the biotech industry as a whole.”

Strategically located in TMC, RBL will collaborate with medical leaders, investors, corporations, and other players both in the same building and on the greater TMC campus.

“Leveraging Rice University’s Biotech Launch Pad breakthroughs and pairing it with the world-class translational infrastructure of TMC Helix Park well positions RBL to drive unprecedented advances in patient care,” William McKeon, president and CEO of the TMC, says in the release. “This partnership between academia, industry and health care is exactly what’s needed to transform medical discoveries into real-world solutions that improve lives globally.”

RBL is Rice's latest effort to bridge the gap between academia and biotech innovation, an effort led by Paul Cherukuri, Rice’s chief innovation officer, who reportedly spearheaded development of the new initiative.

“RBL is a game-changer for Rice, Houston and the global biotech community,” Cherukuri adds. “This venture not only accelerates the commercialization of our innovations but also sets a blueprint for other universities looking to maximize the real-world impact of their discoveries. By combining scientific expertise with entrepreneurial support from Day Zero together with strategic clinical partnerships in the TMC, we’re creating a model for driving large-scale biotech innovation that universities everywhere should aspire to replicate.”

Since the Rice Biotech Launch Pad was established, Motif Neurotech closed its series A round with an oversubscribed $18.75 million, the hub secured a $34.9 million grant, and a “living pharmacy” founded at the Launch Pad received industry validation.

“RBL provides a powerful platform to translate high-impact scientific discoveries into therapies that will dramatically improve patient outcomes,” Veiseh says. “Our goal is to rapidly bring Rice’s pioneering research into the clinic, delivering life-saving solutions to patients around the world.”

Created through the Rice Biotech Launch Pad, Motif Neurotech is focused on developing minimally invasive bioelectronics for the treatment of psychiatric conditions. Photo via motifneuro.tech

Houston mental health tech startup receives industry validation for bioelectronic device

on the right path

A new tool in the fight against treatment-resistant depression could be on the horizon thanks to a Rice University professor.

Jacob Robinson, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and of bioengineering is also co-founder and CEO of Motif Neurotech. Created through the Rice Biotech Launch Pad, Motif Neurotech is focused on developing minimally invasive bioelectronics for the treatment of psychiatric conditions. The company closed its series A round with an oversubscribed $18.75 million earlier this year.

This week, Rice University announced that Robinson has published a peer-reviewed study in Science Advances describing his wireless device called the Digitally programmable Over-brain Therapeutic (DOT). The epidural cortical stimulator is 9 millimeters in width, meaning that it’s easily implantable but is powerful enough to send electrical stimulation to the brain through the dura, the membrane that protects the brain and spinal cord.

“It overcomes challenges by using a battery-free and wireless approach to create an implant that can deliver precise and programmable stimulation to the brain, without brain surgery,” Robinson explained in a press release.

Jacob Robinson, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and of bioengineering, is also co-founder and CEO of Motif Neurotech. Photo via motifneuro.tech

The DOT stimulator is intended to send electrical charges meant to provide neuromodulation for mental health woes including not just depression, but also obsessive compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. The treatment could be an alternative to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a technique that has increased in popularity in recent years.

TMS uses pulsed magnetic fields to stimulate the brain. A typical TMS course includes 36 total treatments and can cause headaches. The DOT stimulator can enact the same timing patterns used in TMS, such as the intermittent theta burst stimulation (iTBS) paradigm, which has been noted to improve mood in patients, but can be achieved at home with far greater ease. Implantation takes just 20 minutes.

So far, the DOT stimulator has been implanted in both a human and a pig. In the pig, researchers noted that the electrical stimulation did not cause any damage to the brain or dura. Just as importantly, it showed stable performance for 30 days in inducing motor responses, meaning it can operate on a longer-term basis.

Motif Neurotech was founded along with Kaiyuan Yang and physicians Sunil Sheth and Sameer Sheth. The Rice Biotech Launchpad brings together local researchers like Robinson and his team with a network of industry executives. With their manuscript, entitled “Miniature battery-free epidural cortical stimulators” freshly published on the Science Advances website, big things could be coming for the bioelectronics company and for sufferers of treatment-resistant depression.

Rice team demonstrates miniature brain stimulator in humanswww.youtube.com

Motif Neurotech, which develops minimally invasive bioelectronics for mental health treatment, closed its series A round with an oversubscribed $18.75 million. Photo via Rice.edu

Rice University medical device spinout secures nearly $19M series A

fresh funding

A health tech startup based out of a newly formed accelerator program at Rice University has raised venture funding.

Motif Neurotech closed its series A round with an oversubscribed $18.75 million. The company, which develops minimally invasive bioelectronics for mental health treatment, was formed out of the Rice Biotech Launch Pad that launched last fall.

The round was led by Arboretum Ventures, with participation from new investors KdT Ventures, Satori Neuro, Dolby Family Ventures, re.Mind Capital and existing investors Divergent Capital, TMC Venture Fund, PsyMed Ventures, Empath Ventures and Capital Factory, according to a news release from Rice.

“Minimally invasive bioelectronics are the future of mental health treatment,” Jacob Robinson, CEO and founder of Motif Neurotech, says in the release. “Thirty percent of patients with depression don’t respond to two or more medications, and there is a significant need for additional treatment options that are effective and easily accessible."

The fresh funding will go toward developing the inaugural product, the DOT microstimulator, a wireless, battery-free device that can provide at-home therapy for treatment-resistant depression, or TRD, a major depressive disorder.

“This is a pivotal moment for the company as it closes its Series A in addition to the recent successful completion of the proof-of-concept first-in-human implant of the DOT stimulator device," Tom Shehab, managing partner of Arboretum Ventures, says in the release. "We believe Motif’s device will greatly improve the quality of life for patients who have been diagnosed with difficult to treat mental health disorders, including TRD."

Shehab, along with Amy Kruse, chief investment officer of Satori Neuro, will reportedly join Motif Neurotech's board of directors alongside Anthony Arnold, president and CEO of Sensydia Corporation, and Jacob Robinson, professor of electrical and computer engineering and bioengineering at Rice.

The Rice Biotech Launch Pad was established to take biotech innovations from concept to clinical trials in five years or less. It occupies 15,000 square feet of space on campus and is funded through federal grants and donations.

The first of Rice University's new moonshot initiatives, the Rice Biotech Launch Pad was announced on the 61st anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's address at Rice Stadium. Photo by Gustavo Raskosky/Rice University

New biotech lab, accelerator emerges in Houston to speed up commercialization of life-saving cures

ready to launch

A new initiative from Rice University is launching with an ambitious goal — to take biotech innovations from concept to clinical trials in five years or less.

The Rice Biotech Launch Pad is a newly announced initiative that will expedite Rice University's health and medical technology innovations. The accelerator, which will occupy 15,000 square feet of space on campus, will be funded through federal grants and donations.

“The Rice Biotech Launch Pad will ensure that our faculty and students have the skills, partnerships, tools and support to create technologies that can transform our city and the world,” Rice President Reginald DesRoches says in a press release. “More importantly, the accelerator will provide a pathway for these creations and discoveries to be turned into medical cures that significantly impact people’s lives. Rice researchers have been doing this for years. This development will allow them to do even more and at a quicker, more efficient pace.”

Leading the program are two seasoned experts: associate professor of bioengineering at Rice, Omid Veiseh, and biotech entrepreneur Paul Wotton, who co-founded Avenge Bio and other startups with technology discovered in Veiseh’s lab. Veiseh will serve as faculty director, and Wotton will lead as executive director. Veiseh says the team behind the new lab will assist faculty in their mission to garner funding — via grants from organizations such as ARPA-H, DARPA and the NIH — as well as creating pathways for licensing revenue for the university.

“We have the infrastructure, financial backing and talent in Houston to do more in creating new medicines to cure disease," Veiseh says in the release. "This is a thriving environment that warrants more attention and dedication to bring forward Houston’s medical discoveries. I am proud to help make this happen.”

The accelerator’s founding advisory council members from Rice are:

  • Paul Cherukuri, Rice’s vice president for innovation.
  • Jacob Robinson, professor of electrical and computer engineering and of bioengineering and founder and CEO of Motif Neurotech.
  • Ashok Veeraraghavan, professor of electrical and computer engineering and computer science and co-founder of Synopic.
  • Yael Hochberg, head of the Rice Entrepreneurship Initiative and the Ralph S. O'Connor Professor of Finance and Entrepreneurship at the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business.

“The Biotech Launch Pad is the first in a series of Rice Moonshots that are hyper-focused on building a ‘speed and scale’ innovation ecosystem across Houston," Cherukuri says. "We at Rice are committed towards driving the Biotech Launch Pad in collaboration with our partners within the Texas Medical Center and the new Helix Park campus.”

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3 Houston companies land on Deloitte’s Technology Fast 500 list

trending up

Three Houston companies have made this year’s Deloitte North America Technology Fast 500 list.

The report ranks the fastest-growing technology, media, telecommunications, life sciences, fintech, and energy tech companies in North America. The Houston companies to make the list, along with their revenue growth rates from 2021-2024, include:

  • No. 16 Action1 Corp., a provider of cybersecurity software. Growth rate: 7,265 percent
  • No. 92 Cart.com, a commerce and logistics platform. Growth rate: 1,053 percent
  • No. 312 Tellihealth, a remote health care platform. Growth rate: 244 percent

“Houston’s unique blend of entrepreneurial energy and innovation continues to strengthen the local business community, and I’m thrilled to see Houston companies honored on the 2025 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 list. Congratulations to all the winners,” said Melinda Yee, managing partner in Deloitte’s Houston office.

Action1 is no stranger to lists like the Deloitte Technology Fast 500. For instance, the company ranked first among software companies and 29th overall on this year’s Inc. 5000, a list of the country’s fastest-growing private companies. Its growth rate from 2021 to 2024 reached 7,188 percent.

Mike Walters, president and co-founder of Action1, said in August that the Inc. 5000 achievement “reflects the dedication of Action1’s global team, who continue to execute against an ambitious vision: a world where cyberattacks exploiting vulnerabilities are entirely prevented across all types of devices, operating systems, and applications.”

Atlanta-based Impericus, operator of an AI-powered platform that connects health care providers with pharmaceutical and life sciences companies, topped the Deloitte list with a 2021-24 growth rate of 29,738 percent.

“Our mission is to set the standard for ethical AI-powered physician connections to pharma resources, accelerating and expanding patient access to needed treatments,” said Dr. Osama Hashmi, a dermatologist who’s co-founder and CEO of Impiricus. “As we continue to innovate quickly, we remain committed to building ethical bridges across this vital ecosystem.”

How executive education retains your best employees + drives success

Investing in People

Hiring is tough, but retaining great people is even harder. Ask almost any manager what keeps them up at night, and the answer usually comes back to the same thing: How do we keep our best employees growing here instead of looking elsewhere?

One reliable approach has held up across industries. When people see their employer investing in their development, they’re more likely to stay, contribute, and imagine a future with the organization.

The data backs this up. Employees who take part in ongoing training are far less likely to leave, and the effect is especially strong for younger workers. One national survey found that 86% of millennials would stay with an employer that invests in their development. Companies that build a real learning culture see retention jump by 30-50%. The pattern is consistent: When people can learn and advance, they stay.

The ROI of executive education
Professional development signals value, but it also builds capability. When people have access to structured learning, they become better problem-solvers, more adaptable, and more confident leading through change.

That's the focus of Executive Education at Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business. The portfolio is built for the realities of modern leadership: AI and digital transformation courses for teams navigating new technologies, and deeper programs in innovation and strategy for leaders sharpening long-term thinking.

“People, managers, professionals, and executives in all functional areas of business can benefit from this program,” notes Jing Zhou, Mary Gibbs Jones Professor of Management and Psychology at Rice. “We teach the fundamental principles of how to drive innovation and broaden the cognitive space.”

That perspective runs through every offering, from the Rice Advanced Management Program to the Leadership Accelerator and Leading Innovation. Each program gives participants practical tools to think strategically, work across teams and make meaningful change inside their organizations.

Building the leadership pipeline
Leadership development isn’t a perk anymore. It’s a strategic need for any organization that wants to grow and stay competitive.

Employers know this — nearly two-thirds say leadership training is essential to their success — yet employees still report feeling stalled. Reports find 74% of employees feel they aren’t reaching their potential because they lacked meaningful growth opportunities.

Rice Business designs its Executive Education programs to address that gap. The Rice Advanced Management Program, for example, supports leaders preparing for C-suite, board, or enterprise-level roles. Its format — two in-person modules separated by several weeks — gives participants space to test ideas at work, return with questions, and build on what they’ve learned. The structure fits demanding executive schedules while creating room for deeper reflection and richer peer connections.

Just as important, the program helps senior leaders align on strategy and culture. Participants develop a shared language and build stronger relationships, which translates into clearer decision-making, better collaboration, and less burnout across teams.

Houston’s advantage
Houston gives Rice Business Executive Education a distinctive edge. The city’s position in energy, healthcare, logistics, and innovation means participants are learning in the middle of a global business ecosystem. That proximity brings a mix of perspectives you don’t get in more siloed markets, and it pushes leaders to apply ideas to real-world problems in real time.

The expertise runs deep on campus, as well. Participants learn from faculty who are shaping conversations in their fields, not just teaching from a playbook. For many organizations, that outside perspective is a meaningful complement to in-house training — a chance to stretch thinking, challenge assumptions, and broaden leadership capacity.

Rice Business offers multiple paths into that experience, from open-enrollment programs like Leading Organizational Change, Executive Leadership for Women, or Driving Growth through AI and Digital Transformation to fully customized corporate partnerships. Across all formats, the focus is the same: education that is practical, relevant, and built for impact.

Investing in retention and results
When organizations make room for real development, the payoff shows up quickly: higher engagement, stronger leadership pipelines, and lower turnover. It also shapes the culture. People are more willing to take risks, ask better questions, and stay curious when they know learning is part of the job.

As Brent Smith, senior associate dean for Executive Education at Rice Business, explains, “There’s a layer of learning in leadership that’s about helping people adopt a leadership identity — to see themselves as the actual leader for their organization. That’s not an easy transition, but it’s the foundation of lasting success.”

For companies that want to build loyalty, deepen leadership capacity, and stay competitive in a fast-changing environment, investing in people isn’t optional. Rice Business Executive Education offers a clear path to do it well. Learn more here.

Check out upcoming programs:

Houston’s 10 most valuable startups revealed in new report

by the numbers

The Greater Houston Partnership has released its list of the 10 most valuable startups that are fueling the city’s growth and entrepreneurial energy, including industry giants like Axiom Space and Fervo Energy.

Currently, Houston hosts more than 1,300 startups in industries such as energy, life sciences, manufacturing and aerospace, according to the GHP. The list ranks its top 10 startups by valuation based on the company’s last private funding round, reflected in Pitchbook data, as of Oct. 20 of this year.

The top 10 list includes:

10. NXTClean Fuels

Valuation: $530 million

NXTClean Fuels builds biofuel refineries that produce renewable fuel by using feedstocks like cooking oil and recycled organic materials.

9. Homebase

Valuation: $660 million

HR tech company Homebase provides employee management software that helps manage and optimize timesheets, payroll and more, with over over 100,000 small businesses and 2 million hourly workers using its product.

8. Zolve

Valuation: $800 million

Zolve is a banking platform that provides customers with access to financial products that aim to be accessible, flexible, and affordable than other financial platforms.

7. Stramsen Biotech

Valuation: $807 million

Stramsen Biotech develops plant-based drug therapies that target both infectious and noninfectious diseases, which include cancer, diabetes, HIV, kidney disease and neurological issues.

6. Octagos

Valuation: $843 million

Healthtech company Octagos has developed a remote cardiac monitoring software driven by AI that helps consolidate patient data in real-time, assisting healthcare professionals in providing quicker, easier and more accurate care.

5. Fervo Energy

Valuation: $1.4 billion

Pioneering geothermal company Fervo Energy combines horizontal drilling and fiber-optic sensing to produce electricity. The company is developing its flagship Cape Station geothermal power project in Utah. The first phase of the project will supply 100 megawatts of power beginning in 2026

4.Cart.com

Valuation: $1.7 billion

Cart.com is an e-commerce giant and logistics solutions provider that was founded in 2020 and obtained unicorn status within just three years.

3. Axiom Space

Valuation: $2.1 billion

Axiom Space is one of the anchor tenants at the Houston Spaceport, and has completed four missions of sending commercial astronauts to the ISS since 2022. In 2027, the company expects to see the first section of its private space station, Axiom Station, launched into low-earth orbit.

2. Solugen

Valuation: $2.175 billion

Solugen replaces petroleum-based products with plant-derived substitutes through its Bioforge manufacturing platform.

1. HighRadius

Valuation: $3.2 billion

HighRadius uses advanced technology to automate and manage accounts receivable processes for businesses worldwide.

The GHP also released its State of Houston’s Tech and Innovation Landscape, which mapped Houston’s digital and innovation sectors. Read the full report here.

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