Houston organization plans to launch health tech accelerator in 2022

ready to grow

Proxima Clinical Research has its New Year's resolution and is ready to start working hands on with health tech startups. Graphic via proximacro.com

A contract research organization based in Houston has announced its new accelerator program aimed at helping startups quickly grow their health tech businesses.

Proxima Clinical Research released details of M1 MedTech, which expects to launch early next year. The CRO has raised funds to launch and invest in members of the inaugural cohort.

“Our goal is to move these companies substantially forward in a short amount of time,” says Kevin Coker, CEO of Proxima, in a news release. “Proxima is in a unique position to leverage our experienced team of regulatory, quality, and clinical experts. We won’t be working at arm’s length from these companies. We will be a big part of what they do every day.”

The program will focus on a small group of companies and the Proxima team will provide hands-on support, including instruction, workshops, and one-on-one mentoring.

“This will be a unique experience for all parties involved, as Proxima is also a young, yet established, company that is now creating a program to assist companies at an earlier stage,” says Larry Lawson, co-founder of Proxima, in the release. “Our experience in the CRO realm and ability to provide coaching in clinical, regulatory, quality, and go-to-market strategies will only strengthen M1 MedTech’s ability to support the success of emerging companies and provide more life-saving technology to the public.”

Kevin Coker and Larry Lawson co-founded Proxima in 2017. Photos courtesy

The accelerator will target Class II and III medical devices for its initial cohort. In the future, Proxima plans to expand to include an even more extensive incubator focused solely on Class III devices, according to the release.

“M1 will be a place where startups can go to receive concrete resources to further their development. The participant success is our sole focus, and the ultimate goal is to have a substantial impact on the ideation-to-market process for Class II and Class III medical devices,” says Isabella Schmitt, director of regulatory affairs at Proxima and a principal at M1, in the release. “Proxima’s specific expertise alongside our M1 partners will provide resources for all key areas of a medical device entrepreneur’s journey to market and beyond.”

The M1 MedTech applications will open online in the spring.

“We don’t view M1 as competitive to other accelerators, rather we believe it will offer a different experience. Our team will strive to create a personalized program where companies have a dedicated touch point throughout the process,” says Sean Bittner, director of programs at M1 MedTech, in the release. “We will also provide specific, tailored connections and resources vetted by our team through professional partnerships, not just a general list of industry contacts.”

This week's roundup of Houston innovators includes Stephanie Campbell of HAN and The Artemis Fund, Larry Lawson of Proxima Clinical Research, and Vanessa Wyche of the Johnson Space Center. Courtesy photos

3 Houston innovators to know this week

who's who

Editor's note: In this week's roundup of Houston innovators to know, I'm introducing you to three local innovators across industries — from medical device development to fintech — recently making headlines in Houston innovation.

Stephanie Campbell, managing director of the Houston Angel Network and general partner at The Artemis Fund

Local investment leader talks trends in Houston venture capital activity

Stephanie Campbell joins the Houston Innovators Podcast last week to share some trends in early-stage investing. Photo courtesy of HAN

There were so many question marks at the beginning of the pandemic, especially for startup funding. Stephanie Campbell, who manages the most active angel network as well as a venture capital fund, says no one was sure how anything was going to pan out. Now, looking back on last year, VC did ok, she says on the Houston Innovators Podcast, and the Houston Angel Network saw membership growth.

"I think that given the markets with quite a bit of liquidity, people were looking for new and interesting ways to invest and make a return," Campbell says on the podcast. "In 2020, we actually grew by 30 percent and are up to 130 members of the Houston Angel Network and are continuing to grow through 2021."

Campbell shares more of her observations on the show and what she's focused on next. Click here to read more and stream the episode.

Larry Lawson, co-founder of Proxima Clinical Research

Larry Lawson joined InnovationMap for a Q&A about his startup's recent exit, his role on the boards of five med device companies, his investment activity, and more. Photo courtesy of Larry Lawson

When Larry Lawson started his career in the medical device industry, it was hard to get funding. The health tech founder and investor says if it wasn't oil or real estate, banks couldn't understand well enough to make a loan. So, he bootstrapped, raised from friends and family, and found venture capital support for his business endeavors over the years. Now, he's celebrating a $1.4 billion exit of his last business, Preventice Solutions, a deal that closed earlier this year.

The ecosystem in Houston has changed, he says, and he's seen it evolve as the Texas Medical Center grew and the Rice Business Plan Competition brought impressive student innovators from all around the globe.

"The health science community here in Houston is now known all over the world," he tells InnovationMap. "It's gonna just continue to grow and develop, and I hope to be a part of continue to be a part of it." Click here to read more.

Vanessa Wyche, director of Johnson Space Center

Vanessa Wyche is the first Black woman to lead a NASA center. Photo courtesy of NASA

For the first time, NASA has a Black woman at the helm of a space center. Vanessa Wyche has been named director of Johnson Space Center in Houston after serving as acting director since May 3.

"Vanessa is a tenacious leader who has broken down barriers throughout her career," Pam Melroy, deputy administrator of NASA, says in a news release. "Vanessa's more than three decades at NASA and program experience in almost all of the human spaceflight programs at Johnson is an incredible asset to the agency. In the years to come, I'm confident that Houston will continue to lead the way in human spaceflight."

As director of Johnson Space Center, Wyche now leads more than 10,000 NASA employees and contractors. Click here to read more.

Larry Lawson joined InnovationMap for a Q&A about his startup's recent exit, his role on the boards of five med device companies, his investment activity, and more. Photo courtesy of Larry Lawson

Fresh off a $1.4B exit, this Houston innovator is focused on funding medical device tech

Q&A

Earlier this year, Houston-based serial entrepreneur Larry Lawson celebrated the exit of his medical device company, Preventice Solutions, which he sold to Boston ScientificBoston Scientific in a $1.4 billion deal.

Nowadays, Lawson is laser focused on investing in the Houston innovation ecosystem, particularly in medical device, as well as working on Proxima Clinical Research, a contract research organization in the Texas Medical Center he co-founded with Kevin Coker.

Lawson joined InnovationMap for a Q&A about the exit, his role on the boards of five med device companies, and his investment activity. He also shares how he sees the impact of COVID-19 and where Houston's burgeoning innovation ecosystem is headed.

InnovationMap: Earlier this year you saw an exit for your company Preventice Solutions, a company focused on the development of mobile health solutions and remote monitoring, which was sold to Boston Scientific in a $1.4 billion deal. What did this deal mean to both you and the company?

Larry Lawson: It validated what I started back in 2004. I had an idea, And I moved forward on my idea — in the beginning completely financed that idea myself. I tried to raise funds, and it was very difficult here in Houston back in 2004 to do that. I put my money, you might say, where my mouth was and I started the company and funded it and built it to a point to where we attracted some venture capital from one of the world's largest VC groups out of California called Sequoia Capital. That allowed me to really increase our exposure and our footprint nationally. And it just grew and grew and eventually Boston scientific got interested in the company, along with Merck, a pharmaceutical company, and they bought smaller pieces of the company.

Then at the end of the year of 2020, Boston Scientific made a play to acquire the company completely. Frankly, it have been better. I would have never dreamt that my original company would be worth that much and sell for that much. So it was very nice for not only me, but for many other people that were employed by Preventice, because as a founder of the company, I knew how important it was to share equity with the people that really make the company run and make it run well.

IM: I noticed that you’re on the board of several Houston health tech startups — most of which I’ve covered on InnovationMap. What do you look for in a company before joining the board and what role do you play for the companies’ growth?

LL: First of all, I look at the people who are in the company — from top level executive level all the way down, even including the existing board members of the company. I only invest in medical device companies. That's what I know, and that's why I've spent over 50 years in, and I feel like I know it very well. I do not venture far off of that line or that path at all.

I look for a strong operating group. I look for strong leadership — and if I can bring even stronger leadership and have them get from point A to point B, I like to get involved. Given my medical as the chairman of the company.

IM: You started your investment firm in 2018 — what inspired you to create LAWALA Capital and what do you look for in potential portfolio companies?

LL: I really limit my investments to the medical device segment of health care. LAWALA is just me — it's the first two letters of all three of my names: Larry Wayne Lawson. How I got into investing and starting companies is I see opportunity, and I see voids in the industry.

IM: Speaking of, you founded Proxima Clinical Research in 2017, which has a very hands-on approach to accelerating health tech innovation. Why did you decide to start that up?

LL: I saw a void in the clinical research industry, specifically at the medical center here, the largest medical center on the face of the earth. And it was doing all of this attracting all of these companies, all of these health science companies into Houston, and they were building and budding their companies, but there was no centralized clinical research company to be there for them.

I thought, "my gosh, somebody ought to do this." Well, I'm a doer. So, I went to the powers to be at the medical center and got their approval to be the founder of a company, called Proxima Clinical Research, and the key is putting it right there in the heart of the largest medical center in the world.

It's been really, really good for these companies who are coming into Houston to take advantage of the life science growth that's taking place here in Houston.

IM: How did COVID-19 affect the work that you do?

LL: COVID really did not affect our business that greatly. It affected the investments that I was doing. I pulled back and cut my, expenses and that, because I just needed to see, you know, how the COVID thing would shake out. I'm watching my investments a lot closer today, and think that it's affected the startup companies, more because to be a startup company, you have to go out and find investors to invest in your company. And I think that process has been slowed, I won't say considerably, but I think it's been slowed quite a bit over the past year and a half.

It just so happens that in the industry that I've been in, which is patient monitoring — cardiac arrhythmia monitoring — COVID has heightened patient monitoring more than anything else. What we learned from COVID is that we've got to be more in tune ourselves than ever before in monitoring all aspects of ourselves. What has come out of this COVID pandemic is telemedicine, which has struggled for years, now all of a sudden telemedicine is on the tip of everyone's tongue.

And I think that's one reason why you see the big companies — the multinational, multi-billion dollar companies — getting more in patient monitoring.

IM: Houston is home to the largest medical center in the world — but it’s often times not listed as a top city for medical innovation. Is that changing? And if so, how?

LL: When the medical center purchased the old Nabisco building and turned that into a technology center and a startup center, it changed the whole complexion of the device and medical startup community here in Houston. We've had a lot of former development here through MD Anderson in oncology, but we'd never had very much in devices. Now, we have companies coming from Europe and Asia coming to Houston to promote their technology and the devices that they have built.

The Rice Business Plan Competition is the largest in the United States. We fund more startup companies out of RBPC. I'm talking Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Berkeley — Houston is number one. And that has a lot to do with what has happened in the medical center over the past seven or eight years.

IM: What more do we need, now that we've come this far to really push us into that innovative healthcare city status?

LL: Well, I think what we need is for investors investing in healthcare and not oil and dirt. For years and years, the whole economy was driven by oil and gas and real estate. And I can remember starting my first company, the early eighties, I went to banks to borrow money to start my first company, and all I wanted was $200,000. Well, that was still a lot of money back then, but they would literally fall asleep on me because they couldn't understand and didn't understand exactly what I wanted to do. And so I wound up having to fund myself use my friends and family as investors, but that's changed quite a bit. The health science community here in Houston is now known all over the world. It's gonna just continue to grow and develop, and I hope to be a part of continue to be a part of it.

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This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.

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West Coast innovation organization unveils new location in Houston suburb to boost Texas tech ecosystem

plugging in

Leading innovation platform Plug and Play announced the opening of its new flagship Houston-area location in Sugar Land, which is its fourth location in Texas.

Plug and Play has accelerated over 2,700 startups globally last year with corporate partners that include Dell Technologies, Daikin, Microsoft, LG Chem, Shell, and Mercedes. The company’s portfolio includes PayPal, Dropbox, LendingClub, and Course Hero, with 8 percent of the portfolio valued at over $100 million.

The deal, which facilitated by the Sugar Land Office of Economic Development and Tourism, will bring a new office for the organization to Sugar Land Town Square with leasing and hiring between December and January. The official launch is slated for the first quarter of 2025, and will feature 15 startups announced on Selection Day.

"By expanding to Sugar Land, we’re creating a space where startups can access resources, build partnerships, and scale rapidly,” VP Growth Strategy at Plug and Play Sherif Saadawi says in a news release. “This location will help fuel Texas' innovation ecosystem, providing entrepreneurs with the tools and networks they need to drive real-world impact and contribute to the state’s technological and economic growth."

Plug and Play plans to hire four full-time equivalent employees and accelerate two startup batches per year. The focus will be on “smart cities,” which include energy, health, transportation, and mobility sectors. One Sugar Land City representative will serve as a board member.

“We are excited to welcome Plug and Play to Sugar Land,” Mayor of Sugar Land Joe Zimmerma adds. “This investment will help us connect with corporate contacts and experts in startups and businesses that would take us many years to reach on our own. It allows us to create a presence, attract investments and jobs to the city, and hopefully become a base of operations for some of these high-growth companies.”

The organization originally entered the Houston market in 2019 and now has locations in Bryan/College Station, Frisco, and Cedar Park in Texas.

Uniquely Houston event to convene innovation experts across aerospace, energy, and medicine

guest column

Every year, Houston's legacy industries — energy, medicine, and aerospace — come together to share innovative ideas and collaborate on future opportunities.

For the eighteenth year in a row, the annual Pumps & Pipes event will showcase and explore convergence innovation and common technology themes across Houston’s three major industries. The hosting organization, also called Pumps & Pipes, was established in 2007 in Houston and is dedicated to fostering collaboration amongst the city's three major industries.

With NASA in its backyard, the world’s largest medical center, and a reputation as the “Energy Capital of the World,” Houston is uniquely positioned to lead in cross-industry convergence innovation and is reflected in the theme of this year’s event – Blueprint Houston: Converge and Innovate.

Here's what you can expect to explore at the event, which will take place this year on December 9 at TMC Helix Park. Tickets are available online.

The state of Texas’ aerospace investments

How are the recent strategic investments in aerospace by the State of Texas transforming the space economy and driving growth in adjacent industries? What is the case for cultivating a more dynamic and vibrant aerospace R&D environment?

These are the key questions explored in the opening session of Pumps & Pipes, moderated by David Alexander (Director, Rice Space Institute). Joining the discussion are distinguished leaders Norman Garza, Jr., Executive Director of the Texas Space Commission (TSC); as well as two members of the TSC board of directors: Sarah “Sassie” Duggelby, CEO/Co-Founder of Venus Aerospace; and Kathryn Lueders, GM at Starbase, SpaceX.

This panel will spotlight Texas’ critical role in shaping the future of aerospace, with a focus on its cross-sector impact, from space exploration to innovation in energy and health care. We’ll explore how the state’s investments are fueling research and development, creating economic opportunities, and fostering a more interconnected, high-tech ecosystem for the future.

Real-world applications of robotics and synthetic biology

Explore the groundbreaking intersection of syntheticbiology and robotics as they reshape industries from aerospace to energy to health care. Experts from academia and industry — Rob Ambrose of Texas A&M University, Shankar Nadarajah of ExxonMobil, Shalini Yadav of the Rice Synthetic Biology Institute, and Moji Karimi of Cemvita — will discuss the real-world applications and future possibilities of these two fields, including innovative uses of robotics and drones to monitor emissions from deep-sea oil rigs, and synthetic microbes that convert carbon dioxide into valuable chemical products.

Discover how synthetic biology and robotics are paving the way for a more sustainable, autonomous, efficient, and interconnected future.

The total artificial heart – a uniquely Houston story

Heart failure affects millions globally, yet only a small fraction of patients receive life-saving heart transplants. The Total Artificial Heart (TAH), developed by BiVACOR, offers a revolutionary solution for patients with severe heart failure who are ineligible for a transplant.

Luminary leader, Dr. Billy Cohn, will discuss the groundbreaking BiVACOR TAH, a device that fully replaces the function of the heart using a magnetically levitated rotary pump. This innovative approach is part of an FDA-approved first-in-human study, aiming to evaluate its use as a bridge-to-transplant for patients awaiting heart transplants.

Moderated by Dr. Alan Lumsden (Chair Dept. of CV Surgery at Houston Methodist Hospital), join Dr. Cohn as he shares insights, and the story-behind, this pioneering technology and its potential to reshape the future of heart failure treatment, offering new hope to thousands of patients in need.

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Stuart Corr is the director of Innovation Systems Engineering at Houston Methodist and executive director of Pumps & Pipes.

Houston schools shine on annual ranking of top institutions for 2025

best in class

Several Houston elementary and middle schools are at the top of the class when it comes to educating and preparing the next generation for a successful life and career, according to U.S. News & World Report's just-released list of 2025 Elementary and Middle Schools Rankings.

One such school – T.H. Rogers School in Houston ISD – is the No. 8 best middle school in Texas for 2025.

U.S. News ranked over 79,000 public schools on the state and district level using data from the U.S. Department of Education. Schools were analyzed based on their students' proficiencies in mathematics and reading/language arts on state assessments, and tie-breakers were decided based on student-teacher ratios.

Texas' best middle schools for 2025

Three Houston middle schools achieved spots among the top 10 best Texas middle schools for 2025, according to U.S. News.

T.H. Rogers School has a total enrollment of 1,063 students, with 87 percent of the student population scoring "at or above the proficient level" in mathematics, and 90 percent proficiency in reading. The school has a student-teacher ratio of 17:1, with 62 full-time teachers.

T.H. Rogers School also topped the district-wide list as the No. 1 best middle school in HISD.

Houston Gateway Academy - Coral Campus also ranked among the statewide top 10, coming in at No. 9 with a total enrollment of 914 students. U.S. News says 82 percent of HGA students are proficient in math, and 80 percent are proficient in reading.

"Houston Gateway Academy - Coral Campus did better in math and better in reading in this metric compared with students across the state," U.S. News said in the school's profile. "In Texas, 51 percent of students tested at or above the proficient level for reading, and 41 percent tested at or above that level for math."

Right behind HGA to round out the top 10 best Texas middle schools is Houston ISD's Briarmeadow Charter School. This middle school has 600 students, 69 percent of which are proficient in math and 74 percent are proficient reading.

Briarmeadow's student-teacher ratio is 16:1, which is better than the district-wide student-teacher ratio, and it employs 38 full-time teachers.

U.S. News also ranked Briarmeadow as the second best middle school in Houston ISD.

Six additional Houston-area schools ranked among the top 25 best middle schools in Texas, including:

  • No. 18 – Cornerstone Academy, Spring Branch ISD
  • No. 19 – Mandarin Immersion Magnet School, Houston ISD
  • No. 21 – Smith Middle School, Cypress-Fairbanks ISD
  • No. 22 – Seven Lakes Junior High, Katy ISD
  • No. 23 – Houston Gateway Academy
  • No. 25 – Beckendorff Junior High, Katy ISD

The best elementary schools in Texas

Jesus A. Kawas Elementary school in Laredo was crowned the No. 1 elementary school in Texas for 2025, while two Houston-area schools made it into the top 10.Tomball ISD's Creekside Forest Elementary in The Woodlands is the No. 7 best elementary school statewide, boasting 656 students, 42 full-time teachers, and one full-time counselor. Students at this school, which U.S. News designates is situated in a "fringe rural setting," scored 90 percent efficiency in math and 94 percent efficiency in reading.Following one spot behind Creekside Forest in the statewide ranking is Sugar Land's Commonwealth Elementary School in Fort Bend ISD, coming in at No. 8. Commonwealth has a student population of 954 with 55 full-time teachers, and two full-time counselors. The school's student-teacher ratio is 17:1, and 90 percent of students are proficient in math, and 94 percent in reading.U.S. News says student success at Commonwealth is significantly higher than the rest of Fort Bend ISD."In Fort Bend Independent School District, 59 percent of students tested at or above the proficient level for reading, and 47 percent tested at or above that level for math," U.S. News said in Commonwealth's profile. "Commonwealth Elementary [also] did better in math and better in reading in this metric compared with students across the state."Other Houston-area schools that were ranked among the 25 best in Texas are:
  • No. 13 – Bess Campbell Elementary, Sugar Land, Lamar CISD
  • No. 20 – West University Elementary, Houston ISD
  • No. 23 – T.H. Rogers School, Houston ISD
  • No. 25 – Griffin Elementary, Katy ISD

"The 2025 Best Elementary and Middle Schools rankings offer parents a way to evaluate how schools are providing a high-quality education and preparing students for future success," said LaMont Jones, Ed.D., the managing editor for Education at U.S. News. "The data empowers families and communities to advocate for their children’s education. Research continues to indicate that how students perform academically at these early grade levels is a big factor in their success in high school and beyond."

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

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