Houston coworking company opens new Galveston hub amid profound growth and expansion

seaside innovation

The Cannon Galveston @ the MarMo has opened as a convening space for Galveston entrepreneurship. Photo via TheCannon.com

The Cannon Houston has expanded its footprint throughout 2021, and one of the coworking company's newest hubs has opened its doors seaside.

The Cannon Galveston @ the MarMo is a new coworking space with membership options starting at $180 a month for entrepreneurs. The building is a former credit union space that Galveston real estate entrepreneur, Jimmy McClure, bought and renovated. McClure is also one of The Cannon's board members as of a couple months ago.

"We've always felt there was this opportunity to create this coastal innovation community," says Alex Gras, chief commercial officer at the Cannon. "And we found a great partner in Jimmy McClure."

In the aftermath of the pandemic, Gras says people are going to be more intentional about where they spend their time, and this location offers its member companies something different.

The new space has membership options starting at $180 a month. Image via TheCannon.com

"Not only does Galveston have the allure of a coastal town with a more relaxed atmosphere, but it has some amazing support organizations," he says.

Gras is referring to the numerous innovative institutions on the island that have been operating in silos over the years — including University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas A&M Galveston, Galveston College, Galveston ISD, Vision Galveston, and more. Gras says the feedback for The Cannon providing this neutral convening space for entrepreneurship has been so positive.

"Galveston really has the raw ingredients to become an amazing innovation ecosystem," Gras tells InnovationMap.

From a programming perspective, entrepreneurs can expect exactly what The Cannon has brought to its other locations. The team recently held a hacakathon in collaboration with The Ion, Vision Galveston, and UTMB — which was a major success, according to Gras — and plans to host a pitch competition on March 10.

The MarMo is a former credit union building renovated by Jimmy McClure. Image via TheCannon.com

"At the end of the day, entrepreneurs are looking for peers that they can do this with and not feel like they are so alone, as well as advisers, mentors, and coaches who help them think differently and investors who can provide some economic capital to help prop up their ideas," Gras explains. "Any programming we do in the future will have elements of social, networking, and education — but all in the confines of making sure we're providing all these different human, economic, and social capital to the entrepreneurs of Galveston."

It's not just toward the Gulf of Mexico where The Cannon has expanded profoundly this year. The company's sportstech hub opened in the Galleria area in collaboration with Braun Enterprises and Gow Media (InnovationMap's parent company).

"The thing that's exciting about this profound growth is it's reflective of the two driving initiatives of the Cannon — one being establishing a network of programmatically connected innovation hubs throughout the entire expanse of the city of Houston," says Lawson Gow, founder of The Cannon. "The other is looking for opportunities where Houston can go deep into an industry and be the best at that."

Sportstech is one of those avenues of opportunity, according to Gow, but the team is always looking for other verticals that might be a similar fit.

Additionally, The Cannon opened a new space in the Esperson building in downtown Houston. This space is small, says Lawson Gow, founder of The Cannon, but has room to grow.

"We want to create network of hubs — some in the community want highly-programed environments," Gow explains, adding that the Esperson Coworking likely won't feature the same level of programming as seen at some of the other locations.

Gow explains that he expects to grow the team at The Cannon to sport these expansions, crediting Gras for building and cultivating the team. Gras joined The Cannon in February.

Alex Gras joined The Cannon as managing director in February, and recently transitioned into chief commercial officer. Photo via LinkedIn

"It wouldn't surprise us if we more than double our team within the next year," Gow says.

This profound growth comes after 18 months of uncertainty — which allowed Gow and his team to rethink some of their plans.

"Pre-covid had our eyes on expansion outside of the city, and we've dialed it back — it's been a healthy exercise", Gow says, "to reset our focus on the whole sprawl of Houston in setting up eight to 10 locations across the city so that we're truly democratizing access to all the tools entrepreneurs need to grow."

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Houston researchers develop material to boost AI speed and cut energy use

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A team of researchers at the University of Houston has developed an innovative thin-film material that they believe will make AI devices faster and more energy efficient.

AI data centers consume massive amounts of electricity and use large cooling systems to operate, adding a strain on overall energy consumption.

“AI has made our energy needs explode,” Alamgir Karim, Dow Chair and Welch Foundation Professor at the William A. Brookshire Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at UH, explained in a news release. “Many AI data centers employ vast cooling systems that consume large amounts of electricity to keep the thousands of servers with integrated circuit chips running optimally at low temperatures to maintain high data processing speed, have shorter response time and extend chip lifetime.”

In a report recently published in ACS Nano, Karim and a team of researchers introduced a specialized two-dimensional thin film dielectric, or electric insulator. The film, which does not store electricity, could be used to replace traditional, heat-generating components in integrated circuit chips, which are essential hardware powering AI.

The thinner film material aims to reduce the significant energy cost and heat produced by the high-performance computing necessary for AI.

Karim and his former doctoral student, Maninderjeet Singh, used Nobel prize-winning organic framework materials to develop the film. Singh, now a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University, developed the materials during his doctoral training at UH, along with Devin Shaffer, a UH professor of civil engineering, and doctoral student Erin Schroeder.

Their study shows that dielectrics with high permittivity (high-k) store more electrical energy and dissipate more energy as heat than those with low-k materials. Karim focused on low-k materials made from light elements, like carbon, that would allow chips to run cooler and faster.

The team then created new materials with carbon and other light elements, forming covalently bonded sheetlike films with highly porous crystalline structures using a process known as synthetic interfacial polymerization. Then they studied their electronic properties and applications in devices.

According to the report, the film was suitable for high-voltage, high-power devices while maintaining thermal stability at elevated operating temperatures.

“These next-generation materials are expected to boost the performance of AI and conventional electronics devices significantly,” Singh added in the release.

Houston to become 'global leader in brain health' and more innovation news

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Editor's note: The most-read Houston innovation news this month is centered around brain health, from the launch of Project Metis to Rice''s new Amyloid Mechanism and Disease Center. Here are the five most popular InnovationMap stories from December 1-15, 2025:

1. Houston institutions launch Project Metis to position region as global leader in brain health

The Rice Brain Institute, UTMB's Moody Brain Health Institute and Memorial Hermann’s comprehensive neurology care department will lead Project Metis. Photo via Unsplash.

Leaders in Houston's health care and innovation sectors have joined the Center for Houston’s Future to launch an initiative that aims to make the Greater Houston Area "the global leader of brain health." The multi-year Project Metis, named after the Greek goddess of wisdom and deep thought, will be led by the newly formed Rice Brain Institute, The University of Texas Medical Branch's Moody Brain Health Institute and Memorial Hermann’s comprehensive neurology care department. The initiative comes on the heels of Texas voters overwhelmingly approving a ballot measure to launch the $3 billion, state-funded Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (DPRIT). Continue reading.

2.Rice University researchers unveil new model that could sharpen MRI scans

New findings from a team of Rice University researchers could enhance MRI clarity. Photo via Unsplash.

Researchers at Rice University, in collaboration with Oak Ridge National Laboratory, have developed a new model that could lead to sharper imaging and safer diagnostics using magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI. In a study published in The Journal of Chemical Physics, the team of researchers showed how they used the Fokker-Planck equation to better understand how water molecules respond to contrast agents in a process known as “relaxation.” Continue reading.

3. Rice University launches new center to study roots of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s

The new Amyloid Mechanism and Disease Center will serve as the neuroscience branch of Rice’s Brain Institute. Photo via Unsplash.

Rice University has launched its new Amyloid Mechanism and Disease Center, which aims to uncover the molecular origins of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and other amyloid-related diseases. The center will bring together Rice faculty in chemistry, biophysics, cell biology and biochemistry to study how protein aggregates called amyloids form, spread and harm brain cells. It will serve as the neuroscience branch of the Rice Brain Institute, which was also recently established. Continue reading.

4. Baylor center receives $10M NIH grant to continue rare disease research

BCM's Center for Precision Medicine Models has received funding that will allow it to study more complex diseases. Photo via Getty Images

Baylor College of Medicine’s Center for Precision Medicine Models has received a $10 million, five-year grant from the National Institutes of Health that will allow it to continue its work studying rare genetic diseases. The Center for Precision Medicine Models creates customized cell, fly and mouse models that mimic specific genetic variations found in patients, helping scientists to better understand how genetic changes cause disease and explore potential treatments. Continue reading.

5. Luxury transportation startup connects Houston with Austin and San Antonio

Shutto is a new option for Houston commuters. Photo courtesy of Shutto

Houston business and leisure travelers have a luxe new way to hop between Texas cities. Transportation startup Shutto has launched luxury van service connecting San Antonio, Austin, and Houston, offering travelers a comfortable alternative to flying or long-haul rideshare. Continue reading.

Texas falls to bottom of national list for AI-related job openings

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For all the hoopla over AI in the American workforce, Texas’ share of AI-related job openings falls short of every state except Pennsylvania and Florida.

A study by Unit4, a provider of cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) software for businesses, puts Texas at No. 49 among the states with the highest share of AI-focused jobs. Just 9.39 percent of Texas job postings examined by Unit4 mentioned AI.

Behind Texas are No. 49 Pennsylvania (9.24 percent of jobs related to AI) and No. 50 Florida (9.04 percent). One spot ahead of Texas, at No. 47, is California (9.56 percent).

Unit4 notes that Texas’ and Florida’s low rankings show “AI hiring concentration isn’t necessarily tied to population size or GDP.”

“For years, California, Texas, and New York dominated tech hiring, but that’s changing fast. High living costs, remote work culture, and the democratization of AI tools mean smaller states can now compete,” Unit4 spokesperson Mark Baars said in a release.

The No. 1 state is Wyoming, where 20.38 percent of job openings were related to AI. The Cowboy State was followed by Vermont at No. 2 (20.34 percent) and Rhode Island at No. 3 (19.74 percent).

“A company in Wyoming can hire an AI engineer from anywhere, and startups in Vermont can build powerful AI systems without being based in Silicon Valley,” Baars added.

The study analyzed LinkedIn job postings across all 50 states to determine which ones were leading in AI employment. Unit4 came up with percentages by dividing the total number of job postings in a state by the total number of AI-related job postings.

Experts suggest that while states like Texas, California and Florida “have a vast number of total job postings, the sheer volume of non-AI jobs dilutes their AI concentration ratio,” according to Unit4. “Moreover, many major tech firms headquartered in California are outsourcing AI roles to smaller, more affordable markets, creating a redistribution of AI employment opportunities.”

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