Houston femtech co. debuts first holistic wellness suite following rebrand

work perks

After a recent rebrand, Work& (previously Work&Mother) has introduced its first employee wellness space at a major Houston office plaza. Photos courtesy MetroNational

Houston-based femtech company Work&, previously Work&Mother, debuted new lactation suites and its first employee wellness space at MetroNational’s Memorial City Plazas this month.

The 1,457-square-foot Work& space features three lactation rooms and five wellness suites, the latter of which are intended to offer employees a private space and time for telehealth appointments, meditation, prayer, and other needs. The hybrid space, designed by Houston-based Inventure, represents Work&'s shift to offer an array of holistic health and wellness solutions to landlords for tenants.

Work& rebranded from Work&Mother earlier this year. The company was previously focused on outfitting commercial buildings with lactation accommodations for working parents, equipped with a hospital-grade pump, milk storage bags, sanitizing wipes, and other supplies. While Work& will still offer these services through its Work&Mother branch, the addition of its Work&Wellbeing arm allows the company to also "address the broader wellness needs of all employees," according to an announcement made on LinkedIn.

"We are thrilled to bring Work&Mother and Work&Wellbeing to The Plazas," Jules Lairson, co-founder and COO of Work&, said in a news release. “This partnership brings every stakeholder together – employees, employers and landlords all benefit from this kind of forward-thinking tenant experience. We are excited to launch our Work&Wellbeing concept with MetroNational to ensure that all employees have their wellness needs met with private, clean, quiet spaces for use during the workday.”

The new space is available to all tenants across Memorial City Plazas, comprised of three office towers totaling 1 million square feet of Class A office space. In addition to the lactation and wellness suites, the space also features custom banquettes, private lounge seating and phone booths.

“As a family-owned and operated company, MetroNational is deeply committed to fostering a workplace that supports both productivity and the well-being of all our tenants,” Anne Marie Ratliff, vice president of asset management for MetroNational, added in the release. “Partnering with Work& reinforces this commitment, enhancing our workplace experience and setting a new standard for tenant amenities.”

Work& has five Houston locations and several others in major metros, including New York, Austin, D.C., Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Miami. According to its website, the company will also introduce a Work&Wellbeing suite in New York.

Abbey Donnell spoke with InnovationMap on the Houston Innovators Podcast about why she founded the company and its plans for growth in 2021. Click here to learn more.

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Cup of Joey has expanded across Houston to help make valuable connections to Houston entrepreneurs. Photo courtesy of Cup of Joey

Houston founder aims to help find your purpose, make strategic connections over a cup of coffee

cheers

What is your purpose in life? One Houstonian is asking that question of his fellow entrepreneurs all across town.

Joey Sanchez founded Cup of Joey, a weekly meetup opportunity for innovators, business leaders, and the whole Houston community. The events are a place not only to share a cup of coffee but also their very own mission in life.

What is your Y?

Cup of Joey events ask attendees about their purpose in life. Photo courtesy of Cup of Joey

It all started in 2021 at the Houston Tech Rodeo, an initiative from Houston Exponential, where Sanchez worked as a director of corporate engagement. Texas had just opened social distancing in public events since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Sanchez was finding ways to reconnect the Houston community.

‘We thought what better way than over a cup of coffee?” Since then, Sanchez has connected thousands of people based on purpose every Friday for the past three and a half years.

The difference between a regular networking event and a Cup of Joe is the why.

“We ask everybody what is their why and what is their purpose in life. That is a powerful, deep question that many have not contemplated in their life, but when they are asked, they usually come up with a pretty profound answer," he says.

After great success at Houston Exponential, he brought the Cup of Joey to The Ion, taking on the role of senior director of ecosystems. When he left in January 2024, he started to think of ways to transform this success into a business model that would allow him to expand Cup of Joey across multiple locations in Houston.

Today, Cup of Joey has meetups in Sugar Land Town Square, The Cannon West, The Woodlands, the Houston Space Center, and, beginning this month, Memorial City.

He also recognizes the importance of his volunteers and ambassadors for helping him open these doors. “They are the real super connectors,” Sanchez says.

The community builder

Joey Sanchez won Ecosystem Builder at the Houston Innovation Awards last year. Photo by Emily Jaschke/InnovationMap

Born and raised in Sugar Land, Sanchez has always been a community builder; from his time at Elkins High School to Jacksonville University in Florida, where he was student body president and created the university's hand symbol while completing his studies in Business Administration.

After attending Jacksonville University, Sanchez began his career in Houston's energy industry at National Oil Well Varco. Later, he landed at the Greater Houston Partnership as a business director, where he learned about the local business ecosystem and how all the players come together “to help the city become a better place for all,” he explains.

Additionally, in 2015, Sanchez and his wife Kelly's curiosity during a bike ride led to the creation of the Blue Tile Project, which celebrates Houston's unique blue tile street signs and showcases the beauty of the city's civic image.

“We are a very diverse, spread-out city, and through my career, I've learned that density helps create innovation. When you have density, you have connections, which are amongst like-minded or opposite people to create companies that matter,” he adds.

Opportunity model and future expansion

Cup of Joey has expanded across Houston. Photo courtesy of Cup of Joey

Cup of Joey’s business model relies on co-hosting opportunities, where organizations sponsor events, focusing on people and purpose.

"Imagine if everybody who had a coffee from a local coffee shop to your corporate office actually thought about what they're doing in their life, instead of just drinking mindlessly 10 cups of coffee a day,” he says.

This is Sanchez's dream: building a connection brand that will “create purposeful relationships and change the future for good.”

While focused on Houston, he has had conversations with other Texas cities, such as Round Rock, Texas, San Antonio, and Dallas.

In West Houston, he recently partnered with MetroNational to host three Cup of Joey’s at Memorial City during October. The first one was successfully launched this week.

“At Metro National, we really believe in investing in what moves our city forward: people and their ideas. With a legacy of 70-plus years, at MetroNational we believe innovation drives forward, but it's also human-centric,” explains Joanne James, vice president of communications at MetroNational.

Cup of Joey at Memorial City will continue on October 15 and 29 from 8:30 to 10:30 am at 820 Gessner. For more information about future events and locations, check out the website.

Introducing — The Cannon Memorial, which is opening its doors on Monday, May 13. Photo courtesy of The Cannon

Photos: The Cannon announces opening of newest location in Memorial

ready to cowork

The Cannon is gearing up to open its latest location featuring coworking and community events and programming.

The coworking concept, which announced The Cannon Memorial earlier this year, will officially open the new location on Monday, May 13, with a full week of community-focused events. The new location was developed in partnership with MetroNational, the real estate developer behind 300-acre mixed-use development in West Houston.

“MetroNational has long been recognized for offering exceptionally located, high quality, well amenitized office space,” says Anne Marie Ratliff, vice president of Asset Management at MetroNational, in a news release. “The Cannon Memorial diversifies our existing office portfolio to provide flexible space solutions for the evolving needs of the business community.”

The Cannon Memorial has 39 furnished offices, flex user space, dedicated seating, lockable storage, a fully stocked kitchen with complimentary coffee, and five bookable meeting rooms. Members will also receive 24/7-access to the facilities and free parking in the attached garage.

Beginning May 13 and running through May 17, potential members can try out the coworking space for free, as well as attend daily events:

  • Monday, May 13: Coffee & Community (2 to 3 pm)
  • Tuesday, May 14: Community Lunch (11:30 am to 12:30 pm)
  • Wednesday, May 15: Open House and Happy Hour (4 – 6 pm)
  • Thursday, May 16: Therapeutic Thursday with 15-minute massages (noon to 2 pm)
  • Friday, May 17: Cowboy Breakfast (9 to 10 am)

"As we open the doors to our next innovation focused workspace, we couldn't be more thrilled to share this moment with our community," says Jon Lambert, CEO of The Cannon. "This week marks not just the inauguration of a new physical space, but the realization of a shared vision and the culmination of an exceptional partnership with our partners at MetroNational. More than just a space, The Cannon Memorial will be an environment where innovation thrives.”

The Cannon Memorial has 39 furnished offices.

  

Photo courtesy of The Cannon

The Cannon is opening a new location just down the road from its headquarters. Photo courtesy of The Cannon

Houston coworking concept expands with new location

coming soon

The Cannon has announced its latest coworking location, and it's not too far from where the company's original facility launched.

The Cannon Memorial is expected to open this spring in Two Memorial City Plaza (820 Gessner) within MetroNational's Memorial City, a 265-acre planned development in west Houston. The coworking concept will take up one floor with 21,960 square feet of space.

"We are delighted to unveil The Cannon Memorial as a pivotal addition to Houston's dynamic business landscape," Jon Lambert, CEO of The Cannon, says in a news release. "Our expansion into Two Memorial City Plaza aligns seamlessly with our mission to cultivate innovation, collaboration, and success within the business community. We eagerly anticipate welcoming entrepreneurs and professionals to experience the unparalleled environment we've created."

The new location is less than three miles from The Cannon West Houston (1334 Brittmoore Rd) and will feature:

  • 38 private office spaces
  • accomodations for over 60 flex users
  • 24/7 access for members
  • free covered parking in the attached garage
  • programmed events, workshops, and networking sessions

“MetroNational is thrilled that The Cannon Memorial is opening and is another exciting milestone in our continued commitment to constantly elevate and enhance the services and experiences at Memorial City,” Anne Marie Ratliff, vice president of Asset Management at MetroNational, says in the release. “This partnership represents not just a collaboration but a testament to our dedication to staying at the forefront of innovation.”

The Cannon — founded in 2017 by Lawson Gow, the son of David Gow, founder of InnovationMap's parent company, Gow Media — has a presence in seven of Houston's regions, including west Houston, downtown, uptown, Fish Creek, The Woodlands, Pearland, and Galveston.

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Houston foundation grants $27M to support Texas chemistry research

fresh funding

Houston-based The Welch Foundation has doled out $27 million in its latest round of grants for chemical research, equipment and postdoctoral fellowships.

According to a June announcement, $25.5 million was allocated for the foundation's longstanding research grants, which provide $100,000 per year in funding for three years to full-time, regular tenure or tenure-track faculty members in Texas. The foundation made 85 grants to faculty at 16 Texas institutions for 2025, including:

  • Michael I. Jacobs, assistant professor in the chemistry and biochemistry department at Texas State University, who is investigating the structure and thermodynamics of intrinsically disordered proteins, which could "reveal clues about how life began," according to the foundation.
  • Kendra K. Frederick, assistant professor in the biophysics department at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, who is studying a protein linked to Parkinson’s disease.
  • Jennifer S. Brodbelt, professor in chemistry at The University of Texas at Austin, who is testing a theory called full replica symmetry breaking (fullRSB) on glass-like materials, which has implications for complex systems in physics, chemistry and biology.

Additional funding will be allocated to the Welch Postdoctoral Fellows of the Life Sciences Research Foundation. The program provides three-year fellowships to recent PhD graduates to support clinical research careers in Texas. Two fellows from Rice University and Baylor University will receive $100,000 annually for three years.

The Welch Foundation also issued $975,000 through its equipment grant program to 13 institutions to help them develop "richer laboratory experience(s)." The universities matched funds of $352,346.

Since 1954, the Welch Foundation has contributed over $1.1 billion for Texas-nurtured advancements in chemistry through research grants, endowed chairs and other chemistry-related ventures. Last year, the foundation granted more than $40.5 million in academic research grants, equipment grants and fellowships.

“Through funding basic chemical research, we are actively investing in the future of humankind,” Adam Kuspa, president of The Welch Foundation, said the news release. “We are proud to support so many talented researchers across Texas and continue to be inspired by the important work they complete every day.”

New Houston biotech co. developing capsules for hard-to-treat tumors

biotech breakthroughs

Houston company Sentinel BioTherapeutics has made promising headway in cancer immunotherapy for patients who don’t respond positively to more traditional treatments. New biotech venture creation studio RBL LLC (pronounced “rebel”) recently debuted the company at the 2025 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting in Chicago.

Rima Chakrabarti is a neurologist by training. Though she says she’s “passionate about treating the brain,” her greatest fervor currently lies in leading Sentinel as its CEO. Sentinel is RBL’s first clinical venture, and Chakrabarti also serves as cofounder and managing partner of the venture studio.

The team sees an opportunity to use cytokine interleukin-2 (IL-2) capsules to fight many solid tumors for which immunotherapy hasn't been effective in the past. “We plan to develop a pipeline of drugs that way,” Chakrabarti says.

This may all sound brand-new, but Sentinel’s research goes back years to the work of Omid Veiseh, director of the Rice Biotechnology Launch Pad (RBLP). Through another, now-defunct company called Avenge Bio, Veiseh and Paul Wotton — also with RBLP and now RBL’s CEO and chairman of Sentinel — invested close to $45 million in capital toward their promising discovery.

From preclinical data on studies in mice, Avenge was able to manufacture its platform focused on ovarian cancer treatments and test it on 14 human patients. “That's essentially opened the door to understanding the clinical efficacy of this drug as well as it's brought this to the attention of the FDA, such that now we're able to continue that conversation,” says Chakrabarti. She emphasizes the point that Avenge’s demise was not due to the science, but to the company's unsuccessful outsourcing to a Massachusetts management team.

“They hadn't analyzed a lot of the data that we got access to upon the acquisition,” explains Chakrabarti. “When we analyzed the data, we saw this dose-dependent immune activation, very specific upregulation of checkpoints on T cells. We came to understand how effective this agent could be as an immune priming agent in a way that Avenge Bio hadn't been developing this drug.”

Chakrabarti says that Sentinel’s phase II trials are coming soon. They’ll continue their previous work with ovarian cancer, but Chakrabarti says that she also believes that the IL-2 capsules will be effective in the treatment of endometrial cancer. There’s also potential for people with other cancers located in the peritoneal cavity, such as colorectal cancer, gastrointestinal cancer and even primary peritoneal carcinomatosis.

“We're delivering these capsules into the peritoneal cavity and seeing both the safety as well as the immune activation,” Chakrabarti says. “We're seeing that up-regulation of the checkpoint that I mentioned. We're seeing a strong safety signal. This drug was very well-tolerated by patients where IL-2 has always had a challenge in being a well-tolerated drug.”

When phase II will take place is up to the success of Sentinel’s fundraising push. What we do know is that it will be led by Amir Jazaeri at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Part of the goal this summer is also to create an automated cell manufacturing process and prove that Sentinel can store its product long-term.

“This isn’t just another cell therapy,” Chakrabarti says.

"Sentinel's cytokine factory platform is the breakthrough technology that we believe has the potential to define the next era of cancer treatment," adds Wotton.

How Houston's innovation sector fared in 2025 Texas legislative session

That's a Wrap

The Greater Houston Partnership is touting a number of victories during the recently concluded Texas legislative session that will or could benefit the Houston area. They range from billions of dollars for dementia research to millions of dollars for energy projects.

“These wins were only possible through deep collaboration, among our coalition partners, elected officials, business and community leaders, and the engaged members of the Partnership,” according to a partnership blog post. “Together, we’ve demonstrated how a united voice for Houston helps drive results that benefit all Texans.”

In terms of business innovation, legislators carved out $715 million for nuclear, semiconductor, and other economic development projects, and a potential $1 billion pool of tax incentives through 2029 to support research-and-development projects. The partnership said these investments “position Houston and Texas for long-term growth.”

Dementia institute

One of the biggest legislative wins cited by the Greater Houston Partnership was passage of legislation sponsored by Sen. Joan Huffman, a Houston Republican, to provide $3 billion in funding over 10 years for the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. Voters will be asked in November to vote on a ballot initiative that would set aside $3 billion for the new institute.

The dementia institute would be structured much like the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), a state agency that provides funding for cancer research in the Lone Star State. Since its founding in 2008, CPRIT has awarded nearly $3.9 billion in research grants.

“By establishing the Dementia Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, we are positioning our state to lead the charge against one of the most devastating health challenges of our time,” Huffman said. “With $3 billion in funding over the next decade, we will drive critical research, develop new strategies for prevention and treatment, and support our healthcare community. Now, it’s up to voters to ensure this initiative moves forward.”

More than 500,000 Texans suffer from some form of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, according to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.

“With a steadfast commitment, Texas has the potential to become a world leader in combating [dementia] through the search for effective treatments and, ultimately, a cure,” Patrick said.

Funding for education

In the K-12 sector, lawmakers earmarked an extra $195 million for Houston ISD, $126.7 million for Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, $103.1 million for Katy ISD, $80.6 million for Fort Bend ISD, and $61 million for Aldine ISD, the partnership said.

In higher education, legislators allocated:

     
  • $1.17 billion for the University of Houston College of Medicine, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Baylor College of Medicine
  • $922 million for the University of Houston System
  • $167 million for Texas Southern University
  • $10 million for the Center for Biotechnology at San Jacinto College.

Infrastructure

In the infrastructure arena, state lawmakers:

     
  • Approved $265 million for Houston-area water and flood mitigation projects, including $100 million for the Lynchburg Pump Station
  • Created the Lake Houston Dredging and Maintenance District
  • Established a fund for the Gulf Coast Protection District to supply $550 million for projects to make the coastline and ship channel more resilient

"Nuclear power renaissance"

House Bill 14 (HB 14) aims to lead a “nuclear power renaissance in the United States,” according to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office. HB 14 establishes the Texas Advanced Nuclear Energy Office, and allocates $350 million for nuclear development and deployment. Two nuclear power plants currently operate in Texas, generating 10 percent of the energy that feeds the Electric Reliability Council Texas (ERCOT) power grid.

“This initiative will also strengthen Texas’ nuclear manufacturing capacity, rebuild a domestic fuel cycle supply chain, and train the future nuclear workforce,” Abbott said in a news release earlier this year.

One of the beneficiaries of Texas’ nuclear push could be Washington, D.C.-based Last Energy, which plans to build 30 micro-nuclear reactors near Abilene to serve power-gobbling data centers across the state. Houston-based Pelican Energy Partners also might be able to take advantage of the legislation after raising a $450 million fund to invest in companies that supply nuclear energy services and equipment.

Reed Clay, president of the Texas Nuclear Alliance, called this legislation “the most important nuclear development program of any state.”

“It is a giant leap forward for Texas and the United States, whose nuclear program was all but dead for decades,” said Clay. “With the passage of HB 14 and associated legislation, Texas is now positioned to lead a nuclear renaissance that is rightly seen as imperative for the energy security and national security of the United States.”

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A version of this article first appeared on EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

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