Launch Esports, a partnership between two Texas companies, has expanded into more schools. Photo courtesy of Launch

A joint venture between a Houston-based esports tournament software and management company and a Dallas-based college multimedia rights company has expanded into a new market.

Launch Esports, formed by Mainline and Steel Planet Esports, announced a round of competitions that bring structure and continuity to conference-level play for small college conferences and schools across the country, according to a news release.

"Launch Esports and its member conferences are focused on the massive untapped opportunity to reach a community at over 1,500 schools across the nation," says Darin David, president of Launch Esports, in the release. "By bringing the advanced tools, best practices, competition platforms, and live event production to these schools, we are opening a huge opportunity for a collegiate community that reaches 55+ million students and alumni nationwide."

Launch Esports is providing its platform and structure for Division II, Division III, NAIA and community college conferences and universities, including KCAC, Mid-South Conference, Conference Carolinas, Sooner Athletic Conference, and Red River Athletic Conference.

"Our experience with Launch Esports running our Madden Invitational this summer was excellent and has only added to the KCAC's vision of esports as we enter our inaugural year of full competition this fall," said KCAC Commissioner Dr. Scott Crawford. "Launch has delivered on building first-class tournaments for our student-athletes and teams. It is a great feeling to know we are working with the premier partner ensuring a best-in-class experience when it comes to the overall platform, onboarding competitors and teams, marketing competitions, and broadcasting the great competition within the KCAC."

This initiative is just the first expansion for Launch Esports. According to the release, Launch anticipates adding more conferences across various NAIA, Division II, Division III and Community Colleges.

"The Mid-South Conference is proud to partner with Launch Esports as we begin to compete as a conference this fall," says Eric Ward, commissioner of the Mid-South Conference, in the release. "Their knowledge and expertise in competitive gaming will make our initial efforts to sponsor esports as a conference championship seamless and hassle-free."

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German biotech co. to relocate to Houston thanks to $4.75M CPRIT grant

money moves

Armed with a $4.75 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, a German biotech company will relocate to Houston to work on developing a cancer medicine that fights solid tumors.

Eisbach Bio is conducting a clinical trial of its EIS-12656 therapy at Houston’s MD Anderson Cancer Center. In September, the company announced its first patient had undergone EIS-12656 treatment. EIS-12656 works by suppressing cancer-related genome reorganization generated by DNA.

The funding from the cancer institute will support the second phase of the EIS-12656 trial, focusing on homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) tumors.

“HRD occurs when a cell loses its ability to repair double-strand DNA breaks, leading to genomic alterations and instability that can contribute to cancerous tumor growth,” says the institute.

HRD is a biomarker found in most advanced stages of ovarian cancer, according to Medical News Today. DNA constantly undergoes damage and repairs. One of the repair routes is the

homologous recombination repair (HRR) system.

Genetic mutations, specifically those in the BCRA1 and BCRA1 genes, cause an estimated 10 percent of cases of ovarian cancer, says Medical News Today.

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) says the Eisbach Bio funding will bolster the company’s “transformative approach to HRD tumor therapy, positioning Texas as a hub for innovative cancer treatments while expanding clinical options for HRD patients.”

The cancer institute also handed out grants to recruit several researchers to Houston:

  • $2 million to recruit Norihiro Goto from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to MD Anderson.
  • $2 million to recruit Xufeng Chen from New York University to MD Anderson.
  • $2 million to recruit Xiangdong Lv from MD Anderson to the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

In addition, the institute awarded:

  • $9,513,569 to Houston-based Marker Therapeutics for a first-phase study to develop T cell-based immunotherapy for treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer.
  • $2,499,990 to Lewis Foxhall of MD Anderson for a colorectal cancer screening program.
  • $1,499,997 to Abigail Zamorano of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston for a cervical cancer screening program.
  • $1,497,342 to Jennifer Minnix of MD Anderson for a lung cancer screening program in Northeast Texas.
  • $449,929 to Roger Zoorob of the Baylor College of Medicine for early prevention of lung cancer.

On November 20, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute granted funding of $89 million to an array of people and organizations involved in cancer prevention and research.

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.