Houston beauty startup raises $1M, medtech accelerator opens apps, and more local innovation news

short stories

From research and venture capital funding to startup growth and accelerator applications opened, here's what you need to know in Houston innovation news. Photo via Getty Images

The month of May has started strong with Houston innovation news, and there might be some headlines you might have missed.

In this roundup of short stories within Houston startups and tech, local universities share big moves in cybersecurity and plant research, a Houston entrepreneur raises extra seed funding, and more.

Houston medical technology accelerator opens applications

This medtech startup accelerator has applications open. Graphic via proximacro.com

M1 MedTech, Proxima Clinical Research's medical technology accelerator is accepting applications for its fall cohort. The program is seeking five to seven early-stage medical device companies for the three-month program. The cohort companies will have investment opportunities up to $100,000 as a combination of both cash and in-kind services.

“Our program is unique in that it combines acceleration capital, company building expertise, and the regulatory and clinical services of a top CRO,” says Larry Lawson, a venture partner and investor with M1, in the news release. “Access to the M1 founders’ network, both within and outside of the Texas Medical Center, sets these companies up for success. There’s no better group to build a MedTech company with, period.”

M1 MedTech, which was announced last year, was created to support early-stage medical device companies with a unique coaching process that will include a curated educational program, interactive workshops where participants can continually build out specific company deliverables, and tailored one-on-one mentoring.

“Many MedTech companies are launched by innovative first-time founders with strong scientific and medical expertise, but who have never taken a regulated product to market or built a business. After working with so many companies at various stages of this journey to market, both with Proxima CRO and with accelerators from across the country, we realized there was a gap that needed to be filled for these rising founders. They not only need regulatory and clinical assistance from experts with hundreds of success stories in this field, we found they also need assistance with design, manufacturing, business, IP, and so much more,” says Isabella Schmitt, RAC, Director of Regulatory Affairs for Proxima CRO and Principle at M1. “These rising founders need to know what they don’t know; so, we put a lot of thought into what emerging companies and rising executives really need, and from that, we built the M1 curriculum.”

Applications will remain open until May 31. To apply for the Fall 2022 cohort or to learn more about M1 MedTech, visit m1medtech.com.

Houston entrepreneur adds $1M to seed round

Houston-based Upgrade has raised additional seed funding. Photo via LinkedIn

Houston-based Upgrade Boutique — which uses technology to connect women with high-quality wigs and hair extensions — extended its seed round by $1 million, Fast Company reported. The round's initial seed leaders included Houston-based venture capital firms Artemis Fund and Mercury Fund, as well as Logitech president and CEO Bracken P. Darrell and ANIM.

“This [investment] will enable us to scale even faster and continue to invest in tools and resources that will improve the consumer experience, and help stylists operate more efficiently,” Winters tells Fast Company. “Based on feedback from the stylists on our platform, we see this as a natural development in the company’s evolution.”

University of Houston joins cybersecurity initiative

UH joins group that's advancing cybersecurity. Image via Getty Images

The University of Houston has joined a consortium that's funded by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to launch a virtual institute that will recruit and train the next cybersecurity generation that will protect entities from cyber warfare, cyber espionage, and attacks on the electromagnetic spectrum.

The virtual institute is called VICEROY — Virtual Institutes for Cyber and Electromagnetic Spectrum Research and Employ — DECREE and will be led by Northeastern University and offered across five universities, including UH, Northern Arizona University, the University of Texas at Austin, and the University of South Carolina.

“The VICEROY DECREE virtual institute consortium model is transformational. It brings together the best offerings from multiple institutions to meet the workforce training needs in these domains," says Hanadi Rifai, Moores Professor of civil and environmental engineering and UH team lead on the project, in the news release.

One major focus for the program is the electromagnetic spectrum, which includes radio waves, and is a critical enabler for communications, navigation, radar, training and other military operations. The DoD has been seeking to hire more than 8,000 cyber workers to help defend the virtual space.

"We recognize the importance and need for workforce training in cybersecurity, electromagnetism, cryptography and data science. These are areas of specific focus and expertise on our campus,” says Paula Myrick Short, UH senior vice president for academic affairs and provost, in the release.

The two-year program starts in fall 2022 and is funded by a $1.5 million award from the Griffiss Institute, a nonprofit talent and technology accelerator for DoD and its academic, government, and industry partners around the world.

Local composting company moves into new Houston space and expands to Austin

Moonshot has expanded locally and statewide. Photo courtesy of Moonshot

Houston-based Moonshot Composting has announced its relocation to a 8,225-square-foot space in Northside Village at 1410 Bigelow St. The former Yellow Cab outpost is over five times the size of the originally location.

Additionally, this month Moonshot will open its doors in the greater Austin area with a facility in Creedmoor, just south of Austin. Moonshot's first commercial customer was Austin-headquartered Tacodeli.

The company has grown its business to nearly 500 subscribers, including 40 commercials accounts, as well as seven full-time and four part-time employees. Moonshot is diverting 30,000 pounds of food waste a week, with a total of nearly 1,000,000 pounds diverted since July 2020, per a news release.

“We are excited about our growth and all the individuals and companies getting on board to get food waste out of landfills and onto composting sites,” says Chris Wood, Moonshot principal and co-founder, in the release. “Our new space will make for more efficient operations all around.”

Moonshot Composting's commercial subscribers include Rice University, Houston Baptist University, The Awty International School, ConocoPhillips, Snooze Eatery, Ostia, and Amli Residential.

Rice University biologist wins NIH award

This Rice University scientist has received national recognition for her work plant cell analysis. Photo courtesy of Rice

A Rice University postdoctoral fellow and molecular and cell biologist has received a prestigious National Institutes of Health award.

Durre Muhammad of Rice Academy won the MOSAIC (Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers) K99/R00 award, which is intended to help postdoctoral researchers transition into careers while enhancing diversity within the academic biomedical research workforce, according to a news release from Rice. She's only the fourth individual from Rice to receive this recognition.

The first two years of the award will support the biologist's work in Bonnie Bartel's lab. She is working on defining the mechanisms by which cells in plants identify and eliminate damaged or obsolete organelles known as peroxisomes, which also play important roles in human aging.

“Our lab in general works on all things peroxisome, and I mainly focus on the latter stage when it’s ready for degradation,” Muhammad says in the release. “We identify the signals and different mechanisms involved in the process of decay.”

Muhammad joined Rice in 2018. She earned her Ph.D. in plant and microbial biology at North Carolina State University and her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the University of Illinois Chicago. She also has her MBA from Benedictine University. She received an NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology in 2019.

“Durre is a fantastic scientist who has brought new perspectives and approaches to my lab,” says Bartel, the Ralph and Dorothy Looney Professor of BioSciences. “We are delighted that NIH has recognized her accomplishments and potential with this award.”

From Your Site Articles
Since Moonshot Composting's inception, its subscribing businesses and residents have diverted more than 209 thousand pounds of food waste from landfills. Photo courtesy of Moonshot

Houston-based composting startup grows commercial and residential subscribers amid pandemic

green initiatives

From landfills leaking into the water supply to reports of recycling being dropped in landfills, Houston's sustainable future has been mired by waste management faux-pas. According to a fact sheet from the City of Houston, 81 percent of trash in Houston ends up in landfills. Brothers-in-law Chris Wood and Joe Villa co-founded Moonshot Composting in hopes of improving Houston's environmental future.

After the birth of his second child, Wood stepped away from his career as a corporate attorney to stay home and find new opportunities outside of law.

"Just through conversations and reading, it became clear that Houston had not yet picked up the pace on diverting food waste as a city," says Wood.

Composting, a method of decomposing organic solid wastes that's growing in popularity, diverts trash like food and paper towels into compost that can be used to grow plants. While letting your waste have a second life sounds like a sweet deal, it's also a sustainable one. More compost means less waste in landfills, a major contributor to harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

The scarcity of composting options left Wood with answers to what was holding Houston back. Was it the sheer size of the city alone? He reached out to Villa, who had spent 15 years in transportation logistics, with a laundry list of questions.

"How do we minimize a real waste stream that's going to the landfill and maximize streams of materials that we're not using anymore to be reused in some new form or fashion," poses Wood.

It wasn't long before Villa and Wood entrenched themselves in research. The two traveled to South Carolina for the U.S. Composting Council's annual conference last January and left feeling inspired to bring their idea to fruition. Like the rest of the world, they couldn't have anticipated that COVID-19 would rattle the nation in the weeks to come and cause a string of lockdowns across the U.S.

Brothers-in-law Chris Wood and Joe Villa co-founded Moonshot Composting in hopes of improving Houston's environmental future. Photo courtesy of Moonshot

"Even though the pandemic hit before we launched our business, we were far enough along that we felt like we could do this safely," says Wood. A benefit of Moonshot Composting's structure was its drop-off and pick-up style program for both businesses and consumers.

The two co-founders weren't the only people finding a newfound passion for. According to Google Trends, users were searching for ways to compost at home at increased rates after the first stay-at-home order was announced last March. As people were learning to back sourdough and building their puzzle collections, they were also wondering how to be more sustainable in their households. The keywords "composting at home" surged to its greatest peaks during April, July and September in 2020.

With a growth-focused plan to help Houston be greener, Moonshot Composting recently participated in cohort 3 of The Ion's Smart and Resilient Cities Accelerator, where Villa and Wood gained insights from mentors and business leaders.

The momentum has continued with the company's latest release: a digital Diversion Dashboard for residential customers who track their composting totals, compare their composting to other communities, and share the statistics on social media.

"We knew from the time that we started, that there was an opportunity to introduce technology to improve people's behavior around the trash can," says Wood. "Our plan was to operate for at least a year and understand what it's like to help people compost in their business and at home. From the beginning [of our business], we weighed everything we picked up, because we knew that what you can't measure you can't change."

After putting in place a system to weigh each compost pick-up, the two reached out to their network to bring in outside developers.

The proprietary dashboard also translates the weight of compost to residential impact. Looking at Wood's own dashboard, he can see that his compost weighs the equivalent to 168 pineapples and can notice that his neighborhood is ranked second on Moonshot Composting's list of serviceable areas.

A version of the Diversion Dashboard was first made available to commercial subscribers in the spring on a trial basis. Similar to the consumer platform, the commercial dashboard provides carbon equivalencies to compare your environmental impact like pounds of carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere and "un-driven" miles.

Moonshot Composting's commercial subscribers include Rice University, Houston Baptist University, The Awty International School, ConocoPhillips, Tacodeli, Snooze Eatery, Ostia, and Amli Residential.

Since Moonshot Composting's inception, its subscribing businesses and residents have diverted more than 209 thousand pounds of food waste from landfills.

While the gamification of composting is new, research on the subject is promising. Gamification has been a powerful tool in the consumer technology apparatus for years. Various studies have analyzed the effectiveness of gamification as a self-motivating tool that has a positive impact on health and wellbeing and increases the meaningfulness of an action.

You can drink from a water bottle that awards you for reaching your daily intake, compete with your friends to see who took the most steps using AppleWatches or FitBits, and run miles to earn money for charity. When not enter some healthy competition with your neighbors using the Diversion Dashboard?

When creating the dashboard, Wood and Villa sought to create a fun way to motivate Houstonians to compost and connect with others over their environmental efforts. While cities like Seattle and San Francisco have established city-wide composting program, the co-founders are enthusiastic about expanding a coalition of eco-savvy Houstonians.

"Whether it's good or bad, we [Houston] don't always lead with government mandates, but we always lead with businesses working together with communities to try to do good," says Wood, "We can do it through innovation and that kind of matches the Houston spirit."

The Ion Smart and Resilient Cities Accelerator has announced its most recent cohort ahead of moving into the physical hub later this year. Photo by Natalie Harms/InnovationMap

Houston accelerator announces third cohort focused on sustainability

seeing green

The Ion Smart and Resilient Cities Accelerator has named the five companies participating in its latest cohort, which starts next week.

Launched in 2019, the programing for the accelerator and its member companies focus on addressing the needs and challenges the city of Houston and other major metros are facing — including climate change. The five selected companies will start the 12-week program next week with a goal of securing a pilot with the city.

"We're thrilled to kick-off Cohort 3," says Christine Galib, senior director of programs at The Ion, in a news release. "The ISRCA remains a core asset in The Ion's Programs portfolio, since it enables recurring collisions, connections, and collaborations among startups, stakeholders, and subject-matter experts."

The selected startups are:

  • Phase Filter/Kinetic Synergies: The university-born startup has created an automatically changing air filter that works with existing HVAC systems to lower cost and energy use as well as eliminate the annoying chore.
  • Frakktal: In an effort to create a circular economy, Frakktal repurposes and reuses discarded polymer materials from the greater Gulf Coast region to also use in the same region.
  • Moonshot Compost: The company collects food waste from Houston residents and businesses via curbside pickup and drop-off while also collects and provides data on each pickup.
  • Teratonix: Using radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic from radio /TV broadcast, cell phone tower, wifi routers, and more, Teratonix provides solutions to generate electricity.
  • Smart Watts:The company taps into smart meter sensors to enable a personalized energy monitoring dashboard that provides users with data to make better energy use decisions.

"The ISRCA Cohort 3 will highlight companies that focus on making sure Houston is here for generations to come," says Courtney Cogdill, program manager for The Accelerator Hub at The Ion, in the release. "By activating the Houston innovation ecosystem and showcasing Houston's talent, Cohort 3 will spotlight Houston as a city committed to sustainability."

The previous cohorts of the program focused on resilience and mobility in Cohort 1 and cleantech for Cohort 2.

"As the world-at-large expands their mobility with social distancing restrictions lifted, it's important cities and businesses review their sustainability practices and carbon footprint and continue to improve upon the progress that's been made," says Jan E. Odegard, interim executive director of The Ion, in the release. "The Ion is excited to empower entrepreneurs who will play a critical role in improving sustainability. With Houston and our diverse and innovative industries as a backdrop, The Ion is prepared to address the challenges sustainability will face in a post COVID-19 world."

The program will be housed in The Ion, a 266,000-square-foot mixed-use structure, which is expected to open within the next few months, along with the organization's other accelerator programs.

Learn more about The Ion's accelerators by streaming this recent Houston Innovators Podcast with Galib and Cogdill:

Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

Houston startup, researchers awarded millions to develop Brain Mesh implant

brain health

Houston startup Motif Neurotech and several Rice research groups have been selected by the United Kingdom's Advanced Research + Invention Agency (ARIA) to participate in its inaugural Precision Neurotechnologies program. The program aims to develop advanced brain-interfacing technologies for cognitive and psychiatric conditions.

ARIA will invest $84.2 million over four years in projects that “explore and unlock new methods to interface with the human brain at the circuit level,” according to a news release.

Three of the four Rice labs will collaborate with Houston health tech startup Motif Neurotech to develop Brain Mesh, which is a distributed network of minimally invasive implants that can stimulate neural circuits and stream neural data in real time. The project has been awarded approximately $5.9 million.

Motif Neurotech was spun out of the Rice lab of Jacob Robinson, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and bioengineering and CEO of Motif Neurotech. It will be developed in collaboration with U.K.-based startup MintNeuro, which will help develop custom integrated circuits that will help to miniaturize the implants, according to a separate release.

Robinson will lead the system and network integration and encapsulation efforts for Mesh Points implants. According to Rice, these implants, about the size of a grain of rice, will track and modulate brain states and be embedded in the skull through relatively low-risk surgery.

The Rice lab of Valentin Dragoi, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice and the Rosemary and Daniel J. Harrison III Presidential Distinguished Chair in Neuroprosthetics at Houston Methodist, will conduct non-human primate experimental models for Brain Mesh. Kaiyuan Yang, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering who leads the Secure and Intelligent Micro-Systems Lab at Rice, will work on power and data pipeline development to enable the functional miniaturization of the Mesh Points.

“Current neurotechnologies are limited in scale, specificity and compatibility with human use,” Robinson said in a news release. “The Brain Mesh will be a precise, scalable system for brain-state monitoring and modulation across entire neural circuits designed explicitly for human translation. Our team brings together a key set of capabilities and the expertise to not only work through the technical and scientific challenges but also to steward this technology into clinical trials and beyond.”

The fourth Rice lab, led by assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering Jerzy Szablowski, will collaborate with researchers from three universities and two industry partners to develop closed-loop, self-regulating gene therapy for dysfunctional brain circuits. The team is backed by an award of approximately $2.3 million.

“Our goal is to develop a method for returning neural circuits involved in neuropsychiatric illnesses such as epilepsy, schizophrenia, dementia, etc. to normal function and maybe even make them more resilient,” Szablowski said in a news release.

Neurological disorders in the U.K. have a roughly $5.4 billion economic burden, and some estimates run as high as $800 billion annually in terms of economic disruptions in the U.S. These conditions are the leading cause of illness and disability with over one in three people impacted according to the World Health Organization.

Electricity startup expands to Houston with promise of backup battery power

Power Up

An Austin startup that sells electricity and couples it with backup power has entered the Houston market.

Base Power, which claims to be the first and only electricity provider to offer a backup battery, now serves the Houston-area territory served by Houston-based CenterPoint Energy. No solar equipment is required for Base Power’s backup batteries.

The company is initially serving customers in the Cy-Fair, Spring, Cinco Ranch and Mission Bend communities, and will expand to other Houston-area places in the future.

Base Power already serves customers in the Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth markets.

The company says it provides “a cost-effective alternative to generators and solar-battery systems in an increasingly unreliable power grid.”

“Houston represents one of the largest home backup markets in the world, largely due to dramatic weather events that strain the power grid,” says Base Power co-founder and CEO Zach Dell, son of tech billionaire Michael Dell. “We’re eager to provide an accessible energy service that delivers affordable, reliable power to Houston homeowners.”

After paying a $495 or $995 fee that covers installation and permitting, and a $16- or $29-per-month membership fee, Base Power customers gain access to a backup battery and competitive energy rates, the company says. The startup is waiving the $495 setup fee for the first 500 Houston-area homeowners who sign up and make a refundable deposit.

With the Base Power backup package, electricity costs 14.3 cents per kilowatt-hour, which includes Base Power’s 8.5 cents per kilowatt-hour charge and rates charged by CenterPoint. The average electric customer in Houston pays 13 cents per kilowatt-hour, according to EnergySage.

“Base Power is built to solve a problem that so many Texans face: consistent power,” says Justin Lopas, co-founder and chief operating officer of Base Power and a former SpaceX engineer. “Houstonians can now redefine how they power their homes, while also improving the existing power grid.”

Founded in 2023, Base Power has attracted funding from investors such as Thrive Capital, Valor Equity Partners, Altimeter Capital, Trust Ventures, and Terrain. Zach Dell was previously an associate on the investment team at Thrive Capital.

---

This story originally appeared on our sister site, EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

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

where to be

Editor's note: March is here, and that means the return of some of Houston’s signature innovation events, as well as insightful talks and a Mardi Gras block party. Here are the Houston business and innovation events you can't miss in March and how to register. Please note: this article might be updated to add more events.

March 5 – SheSpace Women’s Day Open House

Connect with like-minded women during a free day of coworking at SheSpace. And while you're there, take a break and enjoy a floral arranging class, complimentary breakfast, pop-up shops, happy hour and raffle prizes. Space is limited.

The event is Wednesday, March 5, from 9 a.m.–7 p.m. Click here to register.

March 5 — Science and the American Presidency

Hear from former presidential science advisors—Kelvin Droegemeier who served under President Trump, Neal Lane who served under President Clinton and Alondra Nelson who served under President Biden—as they discuss their experiences leading the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and how science is used to address issues from climate change and public health to national security and economic competitiveness. An exhibit inside Baker Hall will complement the event. The Baker Institute Science and Technology Policy Program and Rice Innovation will host the talk.

This event is Wednesday, March 5, from 5:30–8 p.m. at James A. Baker Hall. Click here to register.

March 6 — Ion Block Party - Mardi Gras Edition 

Let the good times roll this week while networking with potential collaborators, mentors and investors at the Ion. Food and drink will be available while supplies last and the Ion will provide drink tickets for one free drink at Second Draught upon check-in.

This event is Thursday, March 6, from 4–7 p.m. at the Ion. Click here to register.

March 10-14 — CERAWeek 2025

The foremost annual gathering in the energy sector returns to Houston March 10-14, 2025. Themed "Moving Ahead: Energy strategies for a complex world," CERAWeek 2025 will focus on the challenges ahead for energy security, supply, and climate ambitions. More than 10,000 participants from over 2,050 companies across 80 countries will convene in Houston for this ambitious event. CERAWeek comprises three platforms: the Executive Conference, the Innovation Agora, and Partner Programs. We'll dive into comprehensive CERAWeek recommendations in future articles.

This event begins Monday, March 10. Click here to register.

March 11 — Energy Venture Day at the Ion

Preview pitches from 40-plus energy ventures competing at CERAWeek's Energy Venture Day and Pitch Competition, co-hosted by the Rice Alliance, Ion, HETI, and TEX-E. This free, fast-paced pitch event offers an alternative to the CERAWeek event, which requires an Agora pass.

This event is Tuesday, March 11, from 9 a.m.–2:30 p.m. Click here to register.

March 13 — Code4Y'allMeetup

Connect with fellow coders at Code4Y’all's meetup at the Ion. Andrew Baines, Founder of No Experience Jobs, will present "How I Built a Job Board to Help Entry-Level Tech Talent (And What I Learned)." Hear from Baines and learn lessons from job seekers.

This event is Thursday, March 13, from 6–7 p.m. Click here to register.

March 13-14 — Veterans Business Battle

Hear pitches from veterans and entrepreneurs as they compete for $5 million in investments at Rice Businesses' 11th annual Veterans Business Battle. This year, the two-day event will also feature a Small Business Expo which invites Houston-based, veteran-owned businesses to participate in education, networking, and the opportunity to showcase their business.

This event begins Thursday, March 13, at 11:30 a.m. at McNair Hall on Rice's campus.Click here to register.

March 17 — Women in Innovation 

Celebrate Women's History Month with an engaging panel discussion hosted by the University of Houston's Division of Energy and Innovation. UH's Tanu Chatterji, Stacey Gorniak and Chrysa Latrick will discuss the achievements of trailblazing women across various industries, as well as share challenges and experiences. Lunch will be provided.

This event is Monday, March 17, from noon–1 p.m. at UH's Faculty Cafe. Find more information here.

March 24-28 — H-Town Roundup 2025

Celebrate innovation, entrepreneurship and collaboration this month during Houston Exponential's H-Town Roundup. During the fifth-annual free event series, previously known as Houston Tech Rodeo, attendees can expect insightful talks, workshops and networking events at venues across the city like the Ion, Greentown Labs, University of Houston and more.

This event begins Monday, March 24. See the full schedule of events here.

​March 27 — NASA Tech Talks

Every fourth Thursday of the month, NASA experts, including longtime engineer Montgomery Goforth, present on technology development challenges NASA’s Johnson Space Center and the larger aerospace community are facing and how they can be leveraged by Houston’s innovation community. Stick around after for drinks and networking at Second Draught.

This event is Thursday, March 27, from 6-7 p.m. at the Ion. Register here.

View All Listings