17 Houston entrepreneurs named finalists in annual regional competition

on to the next round

The 17 finalists are competing for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024 Gulf South Award. Photo via Getty Images

Entrepreneurs from the Houston area have been named finalists for one of the region’s most prestigious business awards.

The 17 finalists are competing for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024 Gulf South Award. The Gulf South region includes parts of Texas, along with Louisiana and Mississippi.

An independent panel of judges selected the 48 finalists. Contenders were evaluated based on their demonstration of building long-term value through factors such as entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth, and impact.

The Houston-area finalists are:

  • Shannon Payne, Allied Fire Protection, Pearland
  • Jay McEntire IV, Arva Intelligence, Houston
  • Andrew Levy, Avelo Airlines, Houston
  • Derek Maetzold, Castle Biosciences, Friendswood
  • Scott Aronstein, Connectivity Source, Houston
  • Joshua Weisman, Construction Concepts, Houston
  • Feras Moussa and Ben Suttles, Disrupt Equity, Houston
  • John Poindexter, J.B. Poindexter, Houston
  • James Ross, LJA Engineering, Houston
  • Asher Kazmann, Locke Solutions, Houston
  • Chad Millis, Millis, Missouri City
  • Mike Francis, NanoTech Materials, Houston
  • Stuart Hinchen and Peter Jenkins, Quva Pharma, Sugar Land
  • Trevor Best and Suman Khatiwada, Syzygy Plasmonics, Houston
  • Hal Brumfield, Tachus Fiber Internet, The Woodlands
  • Jared Boudreaux, Vector Controls and Automation Group, Pearland
  • Ting Qiao, Wan Bridge, Houston

“The finalists of this year are audacious entrepreneurs who are making a significant impact in their respective industries and communities,” says Anna Horndahl, an EY partner and co-director of the EOY Gulf South Program.

“These pioneers, chosen by an independent panel of judges, showcase relentless commitment to their businesses, customers and communities. We are thrilled to acknowledge their accomplishments,” adds Travis Garms, an EY partner and co-director of the EOY Gulf South Program.

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Houston energy tech co. breaks ground on low-cost hydrogen pilot plant

Coming Soon

Houston’s Lummus Technology and Advanced Ionics have broken ground on their hydrogen pilot plant at Lummus’ R&D facility in Pasadena, Texas.

The plant will support Advanced Ionics’ cutting-edge electrolyzer technology, which aims to deliver high-efficiency hydrogen production with reduced energy requirements.

“By demonstrating Advanced Ionics’ technology at our state-of-the-art R&D facility, we are leveraging the expertise of our scientists and R&D team, plus our proven track record of developing breakthrough technologies,” Leon de Bruyn, president and CEO of Lummus, said in a news release. “This will help us accelerate commercialization of the technology and deliver scalable, cost-effective and sustainable green hydrogen solutions to our customers.”

Advanced Ionics is a Milwaukee-based low-cost green hydrogen technology provider. Its electrolyzer converts process and waste heat into green hydrogen for less than a dollar per kilogram, according to the company. The platform's users include industrial hydrogen producers looking to optimize sustainability at an affordable cost.

Lummus, a global energy technology company, will operate the Advanced Ionics electrolyzer and manage the balance of plant systems.

In 2024, Lummus and Advanced Ionics established their partnership to help advance the production of cost-effective and sustainable hydrogen technology. Lummus Venture Capital also invested an undisclosed amount into Advanced Ionics at the time.

“Our collaboration with Lummus demonstrates the power of partnerships in driving the energy transition forward,” Ignacio Bincaz, CEO of Advanced Ionics, added in the news release. “Lummus serves as a launchpad for technologies like ours, enabling us to validate performance and integration under real-world conditions. This milestone proves that green hydrogen can be practical and economically viable, and it marks another key step toward commercial deployment.”

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This article originally appeared on EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

TMC launches new biotech partnership with Republic of Korea

international collaboration

Houston's Texas Medical Center has launched its new TMC Republic of Korea BioBridge.

The new partnership brings together the TMC with the Osong Medical Innovation Foundation, or KBIOHealth. The Biobridge aims to support the commercialization of Korean biotech and life science startups in the U.S., foster clinical research, and boost collaboration in the public, private and academic sectors.

Through the partnership, TMC will also develop a Global Innovators Launch Pad to foster U.S. market entry for international health care companies. Founders will be selected to participate in the 10-week program at the TMC Innovation Factory in Houston.

“Gene and cell therapies are driving biotech innovation, opening possibilities for treating diseases once thought untreatable," William McKeon, president and CEO of the Texas Medical Center, said in a news release. "Expanding biomanufacturing capacity is essential to delivering the next wave of these therapies, and partnerships with leading innovators will strengthen our efforts in Houston and internationally.”

McKeon officially signed the TMC Korea BioBridge Memorandum of Understanding with Myoung Su Lee, chairman of KBIOHealth, in South Korea in October.

"This collaboration marks a significant milestone for Korea’s biohealth ecosystem, creating a powerful bridge between Osong and Houston," Lee added in the release. "By combining KBIOHealth’s strength in research infrastructure and Korea’s biotech talent with TMC’s global network and accelerator platform, we aim to accelerate innovation and bring transformative solutions to patients worldwide.”

This is the seventh international strategic partnership for the TMC. It launched its first BioBridge with the Health Informatics Society of Australia in 2016. It launched its TMC Japan BioBridge, focused on advancing cancer treatments, last year. It also has BioBridge partnerships with the Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark and the United Kingdom.

Houston startup surge, job forecast, and more trending news to know

Trending News

Editor's note: 2026 is here, and we are heading into the new year with a surge in local startup activity and job growth in the local health care sector. As we look ahead to 2026, here are five trending news stories from InnovationMap, published at the close of the year:


1. New report shows surge in startup activity in Houston and across Texas

Photo by Rome Wilkerson on Unsplash

Houston and the rest of Texas are experiencing a boom in the creation of startups. One barometer of growth in startup activity: The Houston metro area saw a 92 percent rise from 2024 to 2025 in the number of account applications submitted to Bluevine, a banking platform for small businesses. Continue reading.

2. Houston poised to add 30,900 new jobs in 2026, forecast says

The health care sector will lead Houston job growth in 2026. Photo via Houston Methodist

Buoyed by the growing health care sector, the Houston metro area will add 30,900 jobs in 2026, according to a new forecast from the Greater Houston Partnership. The report predicts the Houston area’s health care sector will tack on 14,000 jobs in 2026, which would make it the No. 1 industry for local job growth. Continue reading.

3. UH receives $2.6M gift to support opioid addiction research and treatment

UH has received a new financial gift towards the Michael C. Gibson Addiction Research Program, which is developing a fentanyl vaccine. Photo via Unsplash.

The estate of Dr. William A. Gibson has granted the University of Houston a $2.6 million gift to support and expand its opioid addiction research, including the development of a fentanyl vaccine that could block the drug's ability to enter the brain. Continue reading.

4. These 50+ Houston scientists rank among world’s most cited

UH Professor Zhifeng Ren is one of 50 Houston-area researchers named to Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers list for their broad and lasting impact. Photo courtesy UH.

Fifty-one scientists and professors from Houston-area universities and institutions were named among the most cited in the world for their research in medicine, materials sciences and an array of other fields. The Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers considers researchers who have authored multiple "Highly Cited Papers" that rank in the top 1percent by citations for their fields in the Web of Science Core Collection. The final list is then determined by other quantitative and qualitative measures by Clarivate's judges to recognize "researchers whose exceptional and community-wide contributions shape the future of science, technology and academia globally." Continue reading.

5. 6 Houstonians named to prestigious national group of inventors

Vineet Gupta, Eva Harth, Dr. Raghu Kalluri, Todd Rosengart, Sanjoy Paul and Dr. Jochen Reiser have been named to the National Academy of Inventors' 2025 class of fellows. Photos via the institutions.

Six Houston scientists and innovation leaders have been named to the National Academy of Inventors’ newest class of fellows. The award is the highest professional distinction awarded to academic inventors by the NAI. The 2025 class is made up of 169 fellows who hold more than 5,300 U.S. patents, according to the organization. The group hails from 127 institutions across 40 U.S. states. The Houston-based inventors are leading fields from AI to chemistry to cancer research. Continue reading.

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