From faculty to founder: What to know before starting a company, from a University of Houston expert

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There are three key things every faculty who wants to start a company should think about. Graphic by Miguel Tovar/University of Houston

Trying to start a business as a faculty member in academia? Don't fret. As daunting as starting a company can seem, this blog will aim to give any prospective entrepreneur useful insights to getting started.

Jason Eriksen, Ph.D., an associate professor of Pharmacology at the University of Houston, has founded three different Biotech companies since he's been at UH: Alzeca Biosciences, Teomics, and Swift Front.

Alzeca was the first company he co-founded with Dr. Ananth Annapragada, from Texas Children's Hospital back in 2009.

"The mission of Alzeca is to develop an inexpensive non-invasive diagnostic test for the detection of Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders," Eriksen said.

The second company was Teomics that he founded to "develop better diagnostic tools for scientific and medical research."

Finally, the third, and most recent, startup Eriksen founded was Swift Front.

"The mission of Swift Front is to develop a fully automated high-speed microscope platform that can be used to generate three dimensional images of whole organs or other huge objects at speeds 1000 to 10,000 times faster than what's commercially available today," he said.

According to Eriksen, there are three key things every faculty who wants to start a company should think about:

1. Mind the culture gap

Scientists evaluate research by considering whether it makes an original contribution to our understanding of the world. Businesses have a different rationale, which, by and large, is to make money. This engenders a huge culture gap. Your greatest, latest discovery in the lab may have no immediate practical application, and will never be of interest to businesses, unless it has the opportunity to become commercialized. As opposed to a company with an established business model, startup companies like yours will have neither an established technology, nor an established base of customers. As a founder of a startup, your primary mission is to identify who is going to buy your technology, and why they are going to buy it. Get out of the building to discover your customers.

2. Remember there is no single path to commercialization

It's a very long road from an idea in the lab to a commercial success. There are many ways to go from the laboratory bench to the store, and commercialization is just like any business process. It's part art, and part science; part inspiration and part perspiration. There are no shortcuts to becoming successful. So, if anyone tells you at the start that your idea is a guaranteed winner (or not), don't believe them. There is a lot of hard work that has to be done to see if an idea can make it.

3. Stay self-funded as long as possible

Starting a business is one of the hardest things you'll ever do. It takes time, energy, and money… a whole lot of money. More money than you have in your bank account (probably). Does that mean you need to find an investor? No. Avoid taking investments too early in the company. Whether you head to the bank, call a rich family friend, or tap an investor, you give up control as soon as you hold out your hand for money. Retain control of your business's money, and you will keep control of your business.

Money is the Biggest Obstacle

Obstacles are inevitable when starting a new business. "Money makes the world go round, and one of the most challenging obstacles for any new company is to have enough money to keep moving forward," Eriksen said.

Eriksen said his first company, Alzeca, was "self-funded for several years." In order to move the company forward, they needed to seek non-dilutive forms of funding to develop their technology.

Types of Non-Dilutive Funding

Grant Awards
Bank loans
(Forgivable) Loans from Family and Friends
Licensing and Royalties from Products
Tax Credits
Crowdfunding

Eventually, Eriksen and his team at Alzeca were ready for human trials and needed millions of dollars to do so.

"By this point, we were fortunate that we had an excellent team of founding members, consisting of myself, Dr. Annapragada, a founder with deep business experience and a CEO who did a lot of the actual fundraising for us. Together, the team was able to recruit investors with deep pockets, allowing us to move this technology forward," Eriksen said.

Basic Checklist for Starting a Company

Beyond understanding the larger concepts behind starting a company and that money is essential, here are a few things to remember, according to Eriksen:

Ask other entrepreneurs for advice
Identify your target audience/customers
Believe in your idea and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Work hard and see for yourself if the idea will work
Seek out what resources your university offers for entrepreneurs
Avoid taking investments too early in the company. Retain control of your business's money, and you will keep control of your business.
When it's time to expand, use non-dilutive types of funding
Have a strong team behind you that wants to see the company succeed

What's The Big Idea?

Any aspiring entrepreneur who is considering starting a new company, but has no previous experience, should ask other entrepreneurs for advice. UH offers a number of programs that support faculty entrepreneurs such as the regional iCorps program and a growing Office of Technology Transfer and Innovation at the UH Technology Bridge. Be sure to check out your technology transfer office at your university to see what programs are available to support you as you get started.

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This article originally appeared on the University of Houston's The Big Idea. Cory Thaxton is the communications coordinator for The Division of Research.

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Texas tops ranking of best state for investors in new report

by the numbers

Texas ranks third on a new list of the best states for investors and startups.

Investment platform BrokerChooser weighed five factors to come up with its ranking:

2024 Google search volume for terms related to investing
Number of investors
Number of businesses receiving investments in 2024
Total amount of capital invested in businesses in 2024
Percentage change in amount of investment from 2019 to 2024

Based on those figures, provided mostly by Crunchbase, Texas sits at No. 3 on the list, behind No. 1 California and No. 2 New York.

Especially noteworthy for Texas is its investment total for 2024: more than $164.5 billion. From 2019 to 2024, the state saw a 440 percent jump in business investments, according to BrokerChooser. The same percentages are 204 percent for California and 396 percent for New York.

“There is definitely development and diversification in the American investment landscape, with impressive growth in areas that used to fly under the radar,” says Adam Nasli, head analyst at BrokerChooser.

According to Crunchbase, funding for Texas startups is off to a strong start in 2025. In the first three months of this year, venture capital investors poured nearly $2.9 billion into Lone Star State companies, Crunchbase data shows. Crunchbase attributes that healthy dollar amount to “enthusiasm around cybersecurity, defense tech, robotics, and de-extincting mammoths.”

During the first quarter of this year, roughly two-thirds of VC funding in Texas went to just five companies, says Crunchbase. Those companies are Austin-based Apptronik, Austin-based Colossal Biosciences, Dallas-based Island, Austin-based NinjaOne, and Austin-based Saronic.

Autonomous truck company rolls out driverless Houston-Dallas route

up and running

Houston is helping drive the evolution of self-driving freight trucks.

In October, Aurora opened a more than 90,000-square-foot terminal at a Fallbrook Drive logistics hub in northwest Houston to support the launch of its first “lane” for driverless trucks—a Houston-to-Dallas route on the Interstate 45 corridor. Aurora opened its Dallas-area terminal in April and the company began regular driverless customer deliveries between the two Texas cities on April 27.

Close to half of all truck freight in Texas moves along I-45 between Houston and Dallas.

“Now, we are the first company to successfully and safely operate a commercial driverless trucking service on public roads. Riding in the back seat for our inaugural trip was an honor of a lifetime – the Aurora Driver performed perfectly and it’s a moment I’ll never forget,” Chris Urmson, CEO and co-founder of Pittsburgh-based Aurora, said in a news release.

Aurora produces software that controls autonomous vehicles and is known for its flagship product, the Aurora Driver. The software is installed in Volvo and Paccar trucks, the latter of which includes brands like Kenworth and Peterbilt.

Aurora previously hauled more than 75 loads per week under the supervision of vehicle operators from Houston to Dallas and Fort Worth to El Paso for customers in its pilot project, including FedEx, Uber Freight and Werner. To date, it has completed over 1,200 miles without a driver.

The company launched its new Houston to Dallas route with customers Uber Freight and Hirschbach Motor Lines, which ran supervised commercial pilots with Aurora.

“Transforming an old school industry like trucking is never easy, but we can’t ignore the safety and efficiency benefits this technology can deliver. Autonomous trucks aren’t just going to help grow our business – they’re also going to give our drivers better lives by handling the lengthier and less desirable routes,” Richard Stocking, CEO of Hirschbach Motor Lines, added in the statement.

The company plans to expand its service to El Paso and Phoenix by the end of 2025.

“These new, autonomous semis on the I-45 corridor will efficiently move products, create jobs, and help make our roadways safer,” Gov. Greg Abbott added in the release. “Texas offers businesses the freedom to succeed, and the Aurora Driver will further spur economic growth and job creation in Texas. Together through innovation, we will build a stronger, more prosperous Texas for generations.”

In July, Aurora said it raised $820 million in capital to fuel its growth—growth that’s being accompanied by scrutiny.

In light of recent controversies surrounding self-driving vehicles, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, whose union members include over-the-road truckers, recently sent a letter to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick calling for a ban on autonomous vehicles in Texas.

“The Teamsters believe that a human operator is needed in every vehicle—and that goes beyond partisan politics,” the letter states. “State legislators have a solemn duty in this matter to keep dangerous autonomous vehicles off our streets and keep Texans safe. Autonomous vehicles are not ready for prime time, and we urge you to act before someone in our community gets killed.”

Houston cell therapy company launches second-phase clinical trial

fighting cancer

A Houston cell therapy company has dosed its first patient in a Phase 2 clinical trial. March Biosciences is testing the efficacy of MB-105, a CD5-targeted CAR-T cell therapy for patients with relapsed or refractory CD5-positive T-cell lymphoma.

Last year, InnovationMap reported that March Biosciences had closed its series A with a $28.4 million raise. Now, the company, co-founded by Sarah Hein, Max Mamonkin and Malcolm Brenner, is ready to enroll a total of 46 patients in its study of people with difficult-to-treat cancer.

The trial will be conducted at cancer centers around the United States, but the first dose took place locally, at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Swaminathan P. Iyer, a professor in the department of lymphoma/myeloma at MD Anderson, is leading the trial.

“This represents a significant milestone in advancing MB-105 as a potential treatment option for patients with T-cell lymphoma who currently face extremely limited therapeutic choices,” Hein, who serves as CEO, says. “CAR-T therapies have revolutionized the treatment of B-cell lymphomas and leukemias but have not successfully addressed the rarer T-cell lymphomas and leukemias. We are optimistic that this larger trial will further validate MB-105's potential to address the critical unmet needs of these patients and look forward to reporting our first clinical readouts.”

The Phase 1 trial showed promise for MB-105 in terms of both safety and efficacy. That means that potentially concerning side effects, including neurological events and cytokine release above grade 3, were not observed. Those results were published last year, noting lasting remissions.

In January 2025, MB-105 won an orphan drug designation from the FDA. That results in seven years of market exclusivity if the drug is approved, as well as development incentives along the way.

The trial is enrolling its single-arm, two-stage study on ClinicalTrials.gov. For patients with stubborn blood cancers, the drug is providing new hope.

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