Energy tech company closes round, hospital introduces VR brain tours, Amazon bets on Houston schools, and more innovation news

Short stories

Amazon has selected eight KIPP schools in Houston to received resources to create robotics programs. Courtesy of Amazon

From virtual reality-enabled brain scans to Amazon selecting Houston schools for its robotics program, the future is now with this latest batch of local innovation news.

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OAG Analytics closes round

Luther Birdzell, founder and CEO of Houston-based OAG Analytics is on a mission to democratize data for his upstream oil and gas clients. Courtesy of OAG Analytics

OAG Analytics, which uses artificial intelligence in the oil and gas industry, has closed its second round of strategic funding in nine months from Rice Investment Group. The capital will be used to grow the company and focus on several major enhancements to their upstream AI platform, according to a news release.

The exact amount of the raise was not disclosed by OAG, but according to a Form D filing, the company expressed that it was raising $8.72 million in this round.

"Our industry is entering the next phase of the shale revolution by moving to full-field development. As such, we need the next generation of analytical capabilities to maximize capital efficiency," says Derek Rice, partner at Rice Investment Group and director at OAG, in a release. "Large-scale development optimization requires an in-depth understanding of hundreds of uncorrelated data points, which OAG provides through data management and advanced analytics to support profitable decision making. We are thrilled to partner with OAG's team, and believe our insights and experience as an operator will continue to add value to the platform."

OAG's founder and CEO, Luther Birdzell, created a way where he can give clients an easy-to-use platform to have access to data that could save oil and gas companies millions of dollars. In fact, according to the release, OAG clients have optimized over $10 billion in capital expenditures.

"RIG's trust in the OAG team and AI platform is a huge vote of confidence," says Birdzell in the release. "As a leadership team that already built and sold a highly data-driven, technology-centric oil and gas company, RIG's market insights and capital are important to our business. We look forward to continued collaboration as we accelerate our growth."

Methodist Hospital has new VR technology for brain treatment

Patients about to undergo brain surgery can use VR to see what their surgeon is about to do to their brain. Courtesy of Methodist

Houston Methodist Hospital is channeling a Magic School Bus episode with new VR technology that allows neurosurgical patients and their family members to essentially walk through their brains ahead of their surgeries.

The patient wears a virtual reality headset and gets a 360 degree view of their brain, and the neurosurgeon can walk the patient through the surgery process. According to a release from Houston Methodist, the technology is the first of its kind that combines fighter jet flight simulation with patients' anatomy scans from MRI, CT, and/or DTI processes to make a 3D model.

Eight Houston schools named in Amazon Future Engineer Robotics Grant program

Eight Houston schools will receive resources from Amazon to create a robotics team. Courtesy of Amazon

Eight Houston schools have been selected as part of Amazon Future Engineer Robotics Grant program. The program has selected 100 schools in 21 states and each will receive support to create robotics team and a $10,000 grant. These Houston schools were selected:

  • KIPP Academy MS
  • KIPP Connect HS
  • KIPP Connect Middle School
  • KIPP Generations Collegiate
  • KIPP Northeast College Preparatory
  • KIPP NEXUS MS• KIPP Polaris
  • KIPP Sunnyside HS

The Amazon Future Engineer program launched in November, and, according to a news release, is a four-part childhood-to-career program geared at teaching technology and computer science to children from underrepresented and underserved communities. Through the program, Amazon hopes to help more than 10 million students nationwide.

Mattress Firm seeks second round of "snoozeterns"

Last summer, Mattress Firm introduced its Snoozetern program, advertising as a "dream job" for college students wanting to get "paid to sleep." The program is looking for it's next employee that will learn the ins and outs of the Houston company and test and review products. Applications are open now until May 3. To apply or learn more, visit here.

Deloitte’s 2019 Technology Fast 500 Awards are now open

Houston companies can enter to win this national recognition from Deloitte. Photo via Deloite.com

Deloitte has opened its 2019 Technology Fast 500 Awards applications. The national awards program has been honoring fast-growing tech companies for 25 years. Last year, two Houston companies were ranked: Onit and symplr. The honorees are chosen based on the past three years' of fiscal-year revenue growth over a three-year period. Applications close on June 28. Click here for more.

The Kidney Cancer Association approves $1.3 million for early detection and new treatments

Applicants have until May 20 to submit for a grant from the Kidney Cancer Association. Photo via Facebook

The Kidney Cancer Association's board of directors approved $1.3 million to be dedicated to advancing early detection and new treatments for kidney cancer. Grant applications opened April 17 and close May 20. Grant recipients will be announced in the fall.

"The KCA Board of Directors is committed to providing research funding with the goal of identifying new treatments and finding new ways to prevent and manage the disease," says Christopher Wood, board president, in a news release. "With these advancements in research and a greater understanding of these cancers, we believe the outcomes of these grants will have substantive impact for kidney cancer patients."

There will be six grants are divided into two types of awards. The Advanced Discovery Awards will honor two "established investigators" $500,000 grants, and the Young Investigator Awards will give out four $75,000 grants.

Houston neuroscientist David Eagleman to discuss new book at the Hobby Center

Courtesy images

The Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation, a Houston-based nonprofit, is hosting its 25th annual A Celebration of Reading event on Thursday, May 2, at The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts. The event hosts five authors, and this year, Houston neuroscientist David Eagleman is on the lineup.

Eagleman's most recent book, The Runaway Species: How Human Creativity Remakes the World, will be the topic of discussion during his presentation. Eagleman and his co-author, Anthony Brandt, seek to determine the human mind's ability and drive to create.

Tech startups are popping up across industries from real estate to oil and gas, and these three founders are among the leaders in technology. Courtesy images

3 Houston tech innovators to know this week

Who's who

Often, technology and innovation are mistaken for each other. While not mutually exclusive, both tech and innovation work well together in Houston across all industries — from oil and gas to real estate and social media. These three founders engaged technology for their individual startups.

Srini Katta, founder and CEO of Social Chains

Courtesy of Social Chains

As a social media user, your data is already out there and being used for marketing purposes. But, rather than the Facebooks or Googles of the world making a profit, Srini Katta wanted to create a platform where users made a profit off their own data.

"On our platform, the user is a stakeholder. Our platform distributes 50 percent of the profits to the users," he says.

Social Chains already has 5,000 users and, Katta says, that's with little to no marketing efforts, which Katta is about to launch.

Martin Kay, founder and CEO of Entera Technology

Courtesy of Entera

Martin Kay, who splits his time between Houston and the Bay Area for his startup Entera Technologies, knew there had to be a better way for people searching for a home to buy. He drew a comparison between homebuyers and Netflix viewers to create Entera's software.

"We're a little bit like Netflix," he says. "They go out and get content from everyone, and they begin to watch your behavior. So, Netflix has 2,000 profiles and you probably fit five or six of those. We have almost 100 profiles and what we do is say, we're going to understand what you want, watch your behavior and instead of giving you 40,000 properties on a big map, we actually match you based on your preferences, to the five or six houses that are best for you."

Houston-based Entera has grown as the platform loads more and more data for its users to engage with.

Luther Birdzell, CEO and founder of OAG Analytics

Courtesy of OAG Analytics

Luther Birdzell always knew he wanted to run his own company, but the software and analytics professional worked in various industries before realizing that oil and gas had a huge opportunity for savings using analytics. He founded OAG Analytics in 2013 to help provide a solution for these companies.

"When I founded OAG Analytics, our mission then — and still is today — was to build a platform for the upstream oil and gas industry that enables them to manage their data, introduces world-class machine learning in minutes without having to write a single line of code, and allow them to run simulations on the resulting analysis," Birdzell says.

The company has grown to 25 employees and tripled its revenue last year. The team is forecasting another year of high grow for 2019.


Luther Birdzell, founder and CEO of Houston-based OAG Analytics is on a mission to democratize data for his upstream oil and gas clients. Courtesy of OAG Analytics

Houston entrepreneur is using his analytics company to change the oil and gas industry

Featured Innovator

Luther Birdzell has been on a mission to democratize data for the upstream oil and gas industry since he started his company, OAG Analytics, in 2013.

For him, there's just not enough data scientists for hire to do the same thing internally for different companies. He thought of a way where he can give clients an easy-to-use platform to have access to data that could save oil and gas companies millions of dollars. So, that's exactly what he did.

"Over the past five and a half years, we've built that platform," Birdzell says. "We are currently helping to optimize over $1 billion in capital deployment around drilling and completions."

The company has grown to 25 employees and tripled its revenue last year. The team is forecasting another year of high grow for 2019.

Birdzell spoke with InnovationMap to talk about his start in software, the company's growth, and why nonprofit work has been important to him as a business leader.

InnovationMap: Did you always know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

Luther Birdzell: When I was about two years old, my grandfather ran a meat business in New York City — in the meatpacking district, back when that area actually had meat packers. It just was in my bones from a really young age that I wanted to start a business.

IM: How did you get into software development?

LB: I studied electrical engineering in college. For my first seven years, I worked within consulting, implementing systems that made data more valuable to subject matter experts. I was primarily supporting management teams and mostly tech teams.

Then, I met the founders of iTKO, who were doing software testing for clients, and I helped them figure out a way that was complementary to what they were doing. We took a capability that can enable software developers that can help companies reduce their data center costs by a lot. It was a capability that was really restricted to specialized programing. Together we figured out how to make that a capability that anyone in an IT company used. That resulted in companies being able to higher fewer people to maintain servers, as well as reduce other costs. Companies were saving of millions of dollars per year per project.

IM: When did the idea for OAG come to you?

LB: Computer Associates bought iTKO from us in 2011. When I resigned from CA in 2013, it was very clear to me that artificial intelligence, big data, machine learning, and the cloud, were all tech ingredients for adding more value to data. Then the oil and gas business came into focus.

When I founded OAG Analytics, our mission then — and still is today — was to build a platform for the upstream oil and gas industry that enables them to manage their data, introduces world-class machine learning in minutes without having to write a single line of code, and allow them to run simulations on the resulting analysis.

IM: What makes OAG successful?

LB: My vision was to create a platform that could be trusted to support billions of dollars of capital optimization through transparency and control. A black box doesn't work for the kind of problems we're helping our customers optimize. They need something that's easy to use, simple, powerful, and also gives them complete control.

IM: What's the barrier of success for your clients?

LB: We have customers who have increased their capital efficiency on drilling programs that are about $500 million by over 25 percent, while still getting the same amount of oil out of the ground.

IM: What was the early reception like?

LB: We found a lot of interest in talking about how it works. In 2013, 2014, 2015, well over half the industry knew enough about this technology from other industries to have high confidence that it would affect the oil and gas industry one day. They were willing to spend an hour or two on what it is and how it works. But the number of companies who were really willing to invest in a meaningful way was really small.

There were companies, like EOG Resources, for example started spending millions of dollars developing this technology in house. Other companies seeing EOG and Anadarko success, raised the bar on the level of proof.

There's an increasing number of companies in the industry who realize that AI isn't a futuristic thing anymore. There are companies using it today, and the companies using it right are making more money. But, they're learning it's hard to do right. It could take years and millions of dollars to develop this yourself, but we're helping companies get up to speed in a matter of months, and our total cost for the first year is well under a million bucks to do this. They want us to train them how to use it, then act as support, rather than run it all for them.

IM: Do you plan to stay in just upstream oil and gas?

LB: We're 100 percent focused on upstream oil and gas, and always have been, but as we continue to grow, we're going to follow the market and what customers want. Repurposing our platform for other applications in oil and gas, energy, and even beyond that. We're evaluating. The vision has always been to democratize AI, and oil and gas is where we started.

IM: Do you have an exit strategy?

LB: As far as exits, I get asked this a lot. I don't believe in exit strategies. I believe in building a great company. I've seen a lot of founders make a lot of mistakes trying to cut corners to get to early exits. Our goal is to be a great company, and that starts with the right vision and then getting the right people and hires.

IM: How has Houston been as a place to have a startup in energy?

LB: Houston is unparalleled in the oil patch or the ability to support day trips. There's two airports and tons of direct flights to other cities in the oil patch. It's the only city you can cover all the other cities from with day trips. The efficiency of being able to be on site with customers is such an advantage.

There are a lot of industry experts in and around Houston, but a startup software company works very differently from an oil company. I think we have a long road ahead of us before we have an ecosystem in place to support startups and give them the best chance of success. Some of that comes from advisers, some from the ecosystem, and some part of it just takes time. But once those pieces come into play, talent follows. I think Houston is a very natural hub for energy tech.

IM: Volunteering is an important part of your business. Why is that something you've focused on?

LB: Something in the DNA of our business is giving back. We do that through direct community action. We've volunteered as a company, and we're always on the lookout for ways we can engage with and make the most contribution to the community. We do this primarily for personal reasons, but the universe has been very generous over my career with reciprocating a professional upside.

You volunteer in high school to get into college, then maybe some in college. And you might think, "oh that's for philanthropists or retired people and I'll get back to that later." But the reality of that is it feels better doing some of that now, so we do.

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Portions of this interview have been edited.

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

where to be

The energy transition and AI will be the talk of this town this month, thanks to a packed calendar of Houston events. September brings the return of Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week and some of its signature anchor events, plus AI conferences and talks exploring how the technology is impacting everything from healthcare to leadership. Here’s what not to miss and how to register. Please note: this article may be updated to add more events.


Sept. 3 — Entrepreneurship Roundtable with Open

Open Houston and the Ion present this roundtable event to bring together founders, builders, and innovators at various stages of venture development. This month's session will feature Faisal Bhutto, president and CEO of Houston-based AI and tech consulting firm Alykas.

This event is Thursday, Sept. 3, from 10-11:30 a.m. at the Ion. An optional lunch ticket is available for purchase. Register here.

Sept. 3 — AI Operator Spotlight: Houston’s Top AI Leaders Open Their Playbooks

The Houston AI Club, Allenix, the Ion District and Collide are bringing together industry leaders to share their expertise and first-hand experiences building AI companies. The event will feature a panel with Chuck Yates, co-founder of Collide, and Charles Jessup, senior manager of AI fluency at Raytheon, plus an open networking session.

This event is Thursday, Sept. 3, from 5:30-8 p.m. at the Ion. Register here.

Sept. 8 — The Technology Leadership Advantage Series – For CEOs, VCs and PE Firms

Ram Prasad, CEO of Houston-based IT consulting firm Delence, will explore the role of leadership in turning AI investments into business value during the latest installment of this series at the Ion. The event will explore why AI strategies often fail before the technology does and how companies should approach AI ownership, governance, investment and accountability.

This event is Tuesday, Sept. 8, from noon-1 p.m. at the Ion. Register here.

Sept. 14–18 — Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week

Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week returns for its third year, with panels, happy hours and pitch days focused on the energy transition. See the schedule of events here. The week will begin with a kickoff block party and open house at the Ion.

This event starts Monday, Sept. 14. The Ion District will host many of the week's events. Find more information here.

Sept. 15 — Meet the Activate Houston Cohort 2026 Fellows

Meet Activate's latest cohort, which was named this summer, and learn more about their hardtech and climate-focused solutions. Also meet founders from the organization’s 2025 cohort during Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week.

This event is Tuesday, Sept. 15, from 5-7 p.m. at the Ion. Register here.

Sept. 15 – Cypher Pilotathon and Startup Showcase

Grab coffee and take in keynotes and panels featuring leaders from Amperon, Aramco Ventures, New Climate Ventures, Syzygy Plasmonics and many others during this signature event, this year under the theme “The NEW Energy Industrial Revolution.” After lunch, hear pitches from 31 ventures during the Pilotathon. This year's event will also feature a startup showcase with interactive booths where attendees can meet founders and see demonstrations, plus an industry hub where corporates and investors can engage with emerging technologies and identify the pilots they want to move forward with.

This event is Tuesday, Sept. 15, from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at POST Houston. Get tickets here.

Sept. 15-17 — The AI in Health Conference

Rice University's Ken Kennedy Institute will present this future-focused event, aimed at bridging the gap between artificial intelligence and real-world health outcomes. The event will feature panels with leaders from institutions and companies from around the world, plus technical talks, poster presentations and networking receptions.

This event begins Tuesday, Sept. 15 at 8 a.m. at the BRC at Rice University. Register here.

Sept. 16 — Greentown Labs Climatech Summit

Entrepreneurs, investors, corporate leaders, policymakers and philanthropists will head to Houston this month for the annual Greentown Climatetech Summit. Hear from Greentown CEO Georgina Campbell Flatter and keynote speaker Tim Latimer, CEO and co-founder of Houston geothermal unicorn Fervo Energy, plus numerous other engaging panels at the Ion. Then head to Greentown Labs for an open house and startup showcase, where attendees can meet some of the climatech incubators' members, before taking in the startup pitch competition followed by happy hour over at the Continental Club.

This event is Wednesday, Sept. 16, from 8 a.m.–9 p.m. at multiple locations. Register here.

Sept. 18 — Rice Alliance Energy Tech Venture Forum

Hear from clean energy startups from around the world at the 23rd annual Energy Tech Venture Forum. In addition to the pitches, this event will also host keynotes from Sean Maher, chief economist at Phillips 66, and Ira Ehrenpreis, founder and managing partner of DBL Partner. Panels will focus on technologies, infrastructure and commercialization strategies needed to deploy breakthrough innovations at scale. Following the event, the Rice Alliance will also name its annual “Most Promising” startup.

This event is Thursday, Sept. 17, from 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business. Register here.

Sept. 23 – Houston Methodist Innovation Discussion

Houston Methodist presents its latest Innovation Discussion this month for the Houston health IT community. This month's event will feature Dr. Jordan Dale, chief medical information officer and chief health AI officer at Houston Methodist, and Ginny Torno, executive director of innovation and IT clinical, ancillary and research systems for Houston Methodist. The two will share insights into Houston Methodist’s innovation strategy and approach to scaling new ideas, plus real-world lessons on AI adoption and more.

This event is Wednesday, Sept. 23, from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Ion. Register here.

Sept. 23 — UH Energy Career Fair

Find your next job or team member at UH's energy-focused career fair. The event will feature companies from the fossil fuels, electrical power, nuclear power and renewables industries; plus nonprofits, governmental agencies and startups. And though the event is geared toward business, engineering, technology and science majors, it is open to students of all majors.

This event is Wednesday, Sept. 23, from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at the UH Student Center. Find more information here.

Sept. 30 — First Principles Tech Talk: From Orbit to the Lunar Surface

Head to the Ion for the first-ever First Principles Tech Talk. This event will feature short talks and moderated discussions geared toward founders, engineers and operators in the commercial space industry. The inaugural event will feature Megan Ortiz and Zach Paugh from Houston-based Axiom Space.

This event is Wednesday, Sept. 30, from 5-7 p.m. at the Ion. Register here.

Momentum is where Houston founders go to break $1 million — apply by Sept. 30

Inside EO

Houston loves a startup story. The harder story, the one that decides whether a company becomes an employer, a brand, and a fixture of the city, is what happens after the start. Most businesses that survive their early years still never cross $1 million in revenue. Fewer than 5 percent ever do. The rest get stuck in the messy middle, somewhere between $250,000 and $1 million, where the owner is still the salesperson, the product, and the back office all at once, and nothing runs without them.

Momentum, the accelerator run by EO Houston, exists for exactly that stage. It is a yearly accelerator for owners and co-founders between $250,000 and $1 million in revenue who are ready to push past seven figures, built around eight months of classes a year and a confidential monthly Forum. Members are invited to go through it for two years: the first pass to build the systems, the second to run them at a higher level, with a new lens and alongside a new cohort.

The next cohort launches in October, with applications open now at eohouston.com/momentum until September 30. Here is the case the chapter makes for joining, point by point.

A curriculum built by operators, not consultants

Momentum's curriculum was built by two operators. Al Danto, an EO Houston founding member who built and exited his own company, is now a Partner at Exit Advisors and a Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at Rice University. He built the curriculum alongside Jacky Fischer, the owner of Houston's 3 Men Movers, who brought a working owner's eye, not an academic one, to how the program is structured. The material covers what actually decides whether a company scales: building systems, hiring and leading a team, and turning an annual vision into 90-day commitments with clear owners.

“Everything in this curriculum got tested inside a real company, either mine or one run by the people who shaped it. If a tool did not survive contact with a real business, it did not make the cut," Danto says.

Momentum is an independent program of EO Houston and requires no university affiliation; faculty and alumni participate as instructors and coaches in their individual capacities. What carries over is the standard: real experience over theory.

EO Houston Momentum classroom A Momentum class in session. Photo courtesy of EO Houston

Entrepreneurs teaching entrepreneurs since 1987

Momentum works because of what sits behind it. The Entrepreneurs' Organization was founded in 1987 on a simple idea: business owners grow fastest alongside peers who have already been where they are going. Today, EO is a global, peer-to-peer network spanning 200+ chapters in over 80 countries, and it runs on a practice called Forum, a small, confidential group of six to 10 fellow owners who meet monthly. Forum members do not give advice. They share experience: what actually happened when they faced the same hire, the same cash crunch, the same decision. Ask EO members anywhere in the world and most will call Forum the single most valuable thing they belong to. Every Momentum member sits in one.

Built for scaling small businesses, not launching startups

Houston's accelerator landscape mostly serves the very early stage: the idea, the pitch deck, the startup swinging for a billion-dollar outcome. Momentum sits in the gap those programs leave behind. It is built for regular companies that are already real, with revenue, payroll, and customers, and an owner who needs help scaling what works into a business that matures. That focus is the point: EO Houston is the place a small business goes to get help growing.

The price is different too. Accelerators usually charge in ownership, a stake in the company in exchange for the program. Momentum takes none. EO Houston is a nonprofit, and the program runs on dues of $3,500 for the year. The outcome the chapter is after is simple: more Houston businesses crossing $1 million, still fully owned by the people who built them.

An on-ramp into Houston's most established founder community

EO Houston counts more than 200 member businesses, every one run by an owner who has already scaled past $1 million, with 75+ chapter events a year. Momentum members plug into that community from day one: the classes, their own Forum, the annual gala, the retreats, the socials. Two years around people who have already done the thing you are trying to do changes what you believe is normal. And when a Momentum member crosses $1 million, the on-ramp becomes a doorway: graduates step into EO Houston membership itself and the global network behind it. The program's full story and curriculum live at eomomentum.com.

Avneesh Oberoi, founder of Oberoi Investments and The DoughCone, walked that path, finishing the program and joining EO Houston in July 2026.

“I truly can say that the experience for the last two years has been life-changing and so memorable… I am also so filled with gratitude to have met so many people open to sharing their experiences and time. It’s made such a difference in how I think, operate, and spend my time and resources," Oberoi says. "I joined with the goal of taking my business I started personally, The DoughCone, and figuring out how to optimize the business and maximize revenue, while navigating a board seat and ownership in a much larger family business on its third generation of ownership… and EO has given me so many tools and experience shares and perspectives I’ve been able to take to both businesses. The growth has been unreal.”

The door swings both ways. EO Houston is opening Momentum to its own members too, owners whose companies average $3 million to $5 million in sales, because the chapter believes the same curriculum and Forum that carry a founder to $1 million keep working well past it.

Sarah Seitz shows how the pieces connect. A former teacher, she founded The Enrichery, a Houston education company offering academic coaching, test prep, and college counseling that has grown to locations across the city. She completed the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, then joined EO Houston to keep growing. This year, a year after joining, The Enrichery made the Inc. 5000 list of America's fastest-growing private companies. She coached Momentum through its first year, and has since moved from coaching into leadership, helping shape the program's growth from its board.

For owners finishing a program like 10,000 Small Businesses who are not yet at $1 million, Momentum is where the coaching and community continue until they qualify for EO.

Apply by September 30

Momentum's next cohort begins in October 2026, and applications close September 30. The program is for owners and co-founders of Houston businesses doing more than $250,000 a year who are ready to build past $1 million, and now for EO Houston members ready to keep growing. The full curriculum, dues, dates, and FAQ are on the application page. Apply by September 30 at eohouston.com/momentum.

Fewer than 5 percent of businesses make it past $1 million, and there is nothing inevitable about which 5 percent. Houston has the founders. Momentum exists to give them the systems and the peers.

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EO Houston is the Houston chapter of the Entrepreneurs' Organization, a global peer-to-peer network of business owners founded in 1987, with more than 200 member businesses and 75+ chapter events a year. Momentum is an independent program of EO Houston. Rice University faculty and alumni participate as instructors and coaches in their individual capacities.

Tesla proposes Houston-area solar plant & more top innovation headlines

Trending news

Editor's note: August proved to be a big month for innovation news in Houston, with big plans revealed by Tesla, the expansion of Apple's Houston footprint, and an update on the MD Anderson-anchored medical center planned for Austin. Below are the five most-read InnovationMap headlines published during the second half of August 2026:

Telsa targets Houston area for new $10 billion manufacturing plant

Electric vehicle and clean energy company Tesla is considering building a new $10.1 billion solar cell manufacturing facility in Fort Bend County, according to documents filed with the Texas Comptroller’s Office. If approved, the plant, called Project Sun City, would be located on a 3,050-acre site off FM 762 and FM 1994 in Richmond, Texas. Tesla aims to finish construction in 2028, with the plant being operational by early 2029. Continue reading.

$5B MD Anderson-anchored Austin medical center to break ground this fall

Construction on the $1 billion first phase of the AI-native University of Texas Dell Medical Center in Austin—which will feature a hospital operated by Houston’s UT MD Anderson Cancer Center—is set to start this fall. The UT System Board of Regents approved funding for first-phase construction on August 12. The medical center—now expected to cost $5 billion, up from the initial $2.9 billion estimate—will span about 2.5 million square feet. It will include 300 to 500 patient beds, outpatient facilities, an emergency department and specialized care for cancer patients. Continue reading.

Tech giant Apple opens Advanced Manufacturing Center at massive Houston facility

Cupertino, California-based Apple Inc. unveiled its Advanced Manufacturing Center in the Houston, marking the completion of the second of three facilities the tech giant plans to launch in the city by the end of this year. The 20,000-square-foot training center will welcome small- and medium-sized businesses for free training and educational sessions to "help accelerate smart manufacturing across America," according to Apple. Apple opened a similar Apple Manufacturing Academy in Detroit last year. Continue reading.

Intuitive Machines lands $600M satellite deal, NASA ‘spacecraft bus’ contract

Houston-based space infrastructure company Intuitive Machines has scored two astronomical deals. The deals add to the company’s soaring success. As of June 30, Intuitive Machines had a record-high $1.8 billion backlog of orders, a $1.5 billion increase from the end of last year. The current backlog includes orders for more than 80 spacecraft. The company, which went public in 2023, expects this year’s revenue to total $900 million to $1 billion. In the first half of 2026, Intuitive Machines generated nearly $393 million in revenue. Intuitive Machines estimates its total available market is valued at more than $150 billion. Continue reading.

Fast-growing Houston real estate startup surges to No. 7 on Inc. 5000

Houston-based Epique Realty has ridden the AI wave to rank among the Inc. 5000’s 10 fastest-growing private companies. With three-year revenue growth of 23,210 percent, the AI-powered real estate brokerage appears at No. 7 on this year’s Inc. 5000 list. Epique, founded in 2021, also ranks as the No. 1 fastest-growing company in Houston, No. 1 fastest-growing real estate company in the U.S., and No. 2 fastest-growing company in Texas. Continue reading.

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