10 can't-miss Houston business and innovation events for February

Where to be

Check out these workshops, networking events, pitch events, and other goings on in Houston this month. Getty Images

After what's felt like ages, 2019 has transitioned into a new month. For some, February means pink and red hearts. For Houstonians, it means the start of Rodeo Houston later this month. But, for entrepreneurs, the month yields a flurry of networking and professional events around town.

If you know of innovation-focused events for February, email me at natalie@innovationmap.com with the details.

February 5 - How to Start a Startup with Roberto Moctezuma, founder & CEO of Fractal River

Thinking 2019 is the year you finally turn your business idea into a startup? Station Houston wants to help. It's free to attend this discussion lead by Roberto Moctezuma, the founder and CEO of Houston-based Fractal River, an advisory firm. The talk will focus on identifying problems, determining market needs, learning important metrics, and more.

The event is from 5:30 to 6:30 pm on Tuesday, February 5, at Station Houston (1301 Fannin St., Suite 2440). Learn more here.

February 6 - SaaS Lifecycle Phase 3: Mapping Your Customer Journey

If you've got a SaaS-y startup, this is an event you can't miss. Blair Garrou of Mercury Fund will advise you on your company's sales, growth, and customer success. It's $10 to attend.

The event is from 12:30 to 2 pm on Wednesday, February 6, at Station Houston (1301 Fannin St., Suite 2440). Learn more here.

February 6 - Fruition Technology Labs Lunch n' Learn: Building Your Best Team

One of the main reasons startups fail is because of the people. Fruition Technology will offer their best advice for creating a solid team behind your startup.

The event is from 11:30 am to 1 pm on Wednesday, February 6, at The Cannon (1336 Brittmoore Road). Learn more here.

February 12 - Women Founders Series: Breaking Free of Impostor Syndrome

Calling all female entrepreneurs, women in business, and allies. Hear from a panel of women about their careers — both the ups and downs — and their advice for navigating the male-driven tech industry.

The event is from 11:30 am to 1 pm on Tuesday, February 12, at Station Houston (1301 Fannin St., Suite 2440). Learn more here.

February 12 - Women’s Masters Network Launch Party

Make your goals a reality at this women's professional networking event and launch party. The keynote speaker is Deidre Mathis.

The event is from 6 to 9 pm on Tuesday, February 12, at TXRX Labs (205 Roberts Street). Learn more here.

February 12 - The Global Startup with Innovation Norway

Nine Norwegian startups will pitch potential investors and collaborators at Station Houston's office in order to find for opportunities for international expansion. The Innovation Norway companies that will pitch are: CoreAll, Exebenus, Flapump, Geocap, Hammertech, Oliasoft, Pera, Solution Seeker, and Turbulent Flux.

The event is from 6 to 8 pm on Tuesday, February 12, at Station Houston (1301 Fannin St., Suite 2440). Learn more here.

February 13 - BBL Labs Energy Tech Accelerator Launch Party & Drone Demo

BBL Ventures is introducing BBL Labs, an energy tech accelerator program in partnership with Station Houston. Learn about the new program and network with energy tech professionals.

The event is from 6 to 9 pm on Wednesday, February 13, at Station Houston (1301 Fannin St., Suite 2440). Learn more here.

February 18 - NRLC Workshop: Pretotyping & Prototyping with Kara Palamountain

Figure out if your startup idea or product is needed and possible before you start investing your money and time in it at this workshop at Rice University. Featured speaker, Kara Palamountain, is a professor at the Kellogg School of Management and the president of the Northwestern Global Health Foundation.

The event is from 4 to 5:30 pm on Monday, February 18, at Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (6100 Main St., Cambridge Office Building, Suite 130) Learn more here.

February 20 - Houston Blockchain Alliance Kickoff

New to the innovation scene, Houston Blockchain Alliance, a networking group of blockchain professionals, is celebrating its launch with a free event and panel discussion.

The kickoff celebration takes place from 5:30 to 8:30 pm on Wednesday, February 20, at the Houston CPA Society (777 Post Oak Blvd #500). Learn more here.

February 20 - InfoFluency Lunch n' Learn: Management Analytics for the Founder

If you're a founder who is evaluating or beginning use of a CRM, this one's for you. You'll get a basic understanding of the use of analytics in startup company management by attending the lunch and learn session.

The event is from 11:30 am to 1 pm on Wednesday, February 20, at The Cannon (1336 Brittmoore Road). Learn more here.

Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

Houston robotics co. closes series B after year of growth

money moves

Houston- and Boston-based Square Robot Inc. closed a series B round of funding last month.

The advanced submersible robotics company raised $13 million, according to Tracxn.com, and says it will put the funds toward international expansion.

"This Series B round, our largest to date, enables us to accelerate our growth plans and meet the surging global demand for our services,” David Lamont, CEO, said in a statement.

The company aims to establish a permanent presence in Europe and the Middle East and grow its delivery services to reach four more countries and one new continent in Q1 2025.

Additionally, Square Robot plans to release a new robot early next year. The robot is expected to be able to operate in extreme temperatures up to 60 C. The company will also introduce its first AI-enabled tools to improve data collection.

Square Robot launched its Houston office in 2019. Its autonomous, submersible robots are used for storage tank inspections and eliminate the need for humans to enter dangerous and toxic environments.

The company was one of the first group of finalists for the Houston Innovation Awards' Scaleup of the Year, which honors a Bayou City company that's seen impressive growth in 2024. Click here to read more about the company's growth.

------

This article originally ran on EnergyCapital.

Show me the money: Top Houston innovation grant and gift news of 2024

year in review

Editor's note: As the year comes to a close, InnovationMap is looking back at the year's top stories in Houston innovation. Money means a lot to startups and other innovative entities, and while startups are usually scouting venture capital investors, grants and donations are key too. These are the most-read news articles about grants and gifts — be sure to click through to read the full story.

Rice researchers secure $35M federal grant to advance medical device technology

Rice’s Biotech Launch Pad will lead the effort to commercialize the device. Photo courtesy Rice University

Rice University has secured part of a nearly $35 million federal grant aimed at commercializing a bioelectric implant for treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity.

The federal Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health awarded the $34.9 million grant to Rice and several other universities.

Rice’s Biotech Launch Pad will lead the effort to commercialize the self-contained, implantable Rx On-site Generation Using Electronics (ROGUE) device. ROGUE houses cells that are engineered to produce type 2 diabetes and obesity therapies in response to patients’ needs. Continue reading.

Houston health care institutions receive $22M to attract top recruits

The grants, which are between $2 million to $6 million each, are earmarked for recruitment of prominent researchers. Photo via Getty Images

Houston’s Baylor College of Medicine has received a total of $12 million in grants from the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas to attract two prominent researchers.

The two grants, which are $6 million each, are earmarked for recruitment of Thomas Milner and Radek Skoda. The Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) announced the grants May 14.

Milner, an expert in photomedicine for surgery and diagnostics, is a professor of surgery and biomedical engineering at the Beckman Laser Institute & Medical Clinic at the University of California, Irvine and the university’s Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center. Continue reading.

New report ranks Houston top market for life sciences

Houston lands in the No. 7 spot for growth in the granting of degrees in biological and biomedical sciences. Photo by Natalie Harms/InnovationMap

Thanks in large part to producing hundreds of college-trained professionals, Houston’s life sciences industry ranks among the top U.S. markets for talent in 2024.

In a report published by commercial real estate services company CBRE, Houston lands in the No. 7 spot for growth in the granting of degrees in biological and biomedical sciences. From 2017 to 2022, Houston notched a growth rate of 32.4 percent in this category.

In 2022, the University of Houston led the higher education pack in the region, graduating 746 people with a bachelor’s degree or above in biological or biomedical sciences, according to the report. Continue reading.

Texas organization grants $68.5M to Houston institutions for recruitment, research

Several Houston organizations have received millions from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. Photo via tmc.edu

Three prominent institutions in Houston will be able to snag a trio of high-profile cancer researchers thanks to $12 million in new funding from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.

The biggest recruitment award — $6 million — went to the University of Texas MD Anderson Center to lure researcher Xiling Shen away from the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation in Los Angeles.

Shen is chief scientific officer at the nonprofit Terasaki Institute. His lab there studies precision medicine, including treatments for cancer, from a “systems biology perspective.” Continue reading.

Houston health care institution secures $100M for expansion, shares renderings

Baylor College of Medicine's Lillie and Roy Cullen Tower is set to open in 2026. Rendering courtesy of SLAM Architecture

Baylor College of Medicine has collected $100 million toward its $150 million fundraising goal for the college’s planned Lillie and Roy Cullen Tower.

The $100 million in gifts include:

  • A total of $30 million from The Cullen Foundation, The Cullen Trust for Health Care, and The Cullen Trust for Higher Education.
  • $12 million from the DeBakey Medical Foundation
  • $10 million from the Huffington Foundation
  • More than $45 million from members of Baylor’s Board of Trustees and other community donors, including the M.D. Anderson Foundation, the Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation, and The Elkins Foundation.

“The Cullen Trust for Health Care is very honored to support this building along with The Cullen Foundation and The Cullen Trust for Higher Education,” Cullen Geiselman Muse, chair of The Cullen Trust for Health Care, says in a news release. “We cannot wait to see what new beginnings will come from inside the Lillie and Roy Cullen Tower.” Continue reading.

TMC launches cancer-focused partnership with Japan

global collaboration

Houston's Texas Medical Center announced the launch of its new TMC Japan BioBridge and Japan-Accelerator Cancer Therapeutics and Medical Devices, or JACT, this month.

The strategic partnership between Japan-based Mitsui Fudosan Co. Ltd. and the National Cancer Center will focus on advancing cancer treatments and providing a pathway for Japanese innovators to expand in the U.S. market. A delegation from TMC recently visited Tokyo, and William F. McKeon, president and CEO of TMC, signed the TMC Japan BioBridge Memorandum of Understanding with Takeshi Ozane, general manager of Mitsui Fudosan, and Hitoshi Nakagama, president of the National Cancer Center of Japan.

“The launch of TMC Japan BioBridge is a vital step forward in connecting two global leaders in healthcare innovation,” McKeon says in a statement. “Japan’s leadership has demonstrated an impressive commitment to advance medical cures and life sciences technologies and through this partnership, we are opening necessary doors for Japanese researchers and innovators to access the US market and collaborate with our TMC ecosystem. Together, we aim to accelerate critical breakthroughs to make a difference for patients all around the world.”

The new JACT will offer cancer-treatment companies a structured process to prepare for a U.S. expansion and will allow for meetings with pharmaceutical companies, hospital systems and investors and provide insights on U.S. regulatory approvals. It'll focus on three key areas, according to the statement:

  1. Milestone development and financial planning
  2. Clinical and regulatory expertise
  3. Strategic partnerships and market insights

“This TMC Japan BioBridge and JACT Program will enable us to promote the advancement of start-up companies aiming to commercialize innovative medical technologies originating in Japan into the U.S." Nakagama says in a statement. "We also hope this collaboration will not be limited to our (Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development)-supported project, but will lead to further cooperation between TMC, NCC, and other Japanese institutions in various fields.”

This is the sixth international strategic partnership for the TMC. It launched its first BioBridge, which focus on partnerships to support international healthcare companies preparing for U.S. expansion, with the Health Informatics Society of Australia in 2016. It also has BioBridge partnerships with the Netherlands, Ireland, Denmark and the United Kingdom.

View All Listings