8 gift ideas from Houston startups

innovative gifts

From after-alcohol relief to a smart pillbox, these Houston-founded companies have innovative holiday gifts to offer. Images via Instagram

It's holiday gift crunch time right about now, and whether you're scrambling for gifts or planning how you're going to treat yourself, Houston startups have innovative options for you.

All of the following gift ideas have a Houston tie, which makes for an extra special gift within a gift. While they are all available online, some might specify it's too late to ship by Christmas.

Here are eight ideas for gifts made by Houston startups.

A smart pillbox to make taking medicine cool

EllieGrid, the smart pillbox, makes it easier — and way cooler — to take your medicine. EllieGrid/Instagram

Never would you ever think to get a loved one a pillbox for Christmas — but EllieGrid is not your ordinary pillbox. The medical device has been completely reimagined by its Houston founders. The box, which is synced with a smartphone, will light up when it's time to take a dose. The lights indicate which compartment to pull from and how many pills to take. The app notifies you too, and, if you're gifting this to someone you want to stay on top of, you can actually opt in to receive the notifications and can be alerted if there's not compliance.

The box is available online for $149.

A personal, creative card that doubles as a work of art

tellinga

Tellinga creates artistic and personal cards for every occasion. Courtesy of Tellinga

There's giving a card, then there's doing even more than that. Houston-based Tellinga isn't just a maker of greeting cards; it's in the business of storytelling, and customers can have personalized artworks delivered right to their mailboxes — a site for reclaiming, founder Alex Kurkowski says, from the dread of bills and marketing materials.

"I'm trying to tap back into the tangible, physical and real side of life," Kurkowski says.

The cards begin at $9.99 and are perfect for reaching that loved one who you don't get to spend time with this holiday season.

A portable workspace for the friend on the go

Alcove

Alcove transforms from a laptop case to a private workspace in just a few moves. Courtesy of Alcove

It's a mobile world we're living in, but that does not mean you have to sacrifice comfort, design, and privacy. Houston-based Alcove has designed a solution in its laptop-carrier-turned-workspace. The item can convert into a productive work area in seconds — the wings pop out, the top lifts, and a kickstand holds the case upright while ergonomically holds up the laptop at a 40- to 45-degree angle. Founder Yared Akalou even consulted with an acoustic engineer to ensure the materials are optimized for users.

Alcove's items are available online in two colors in two sizes, starting at $49.

Skincare products from a Houston success story

drunk elephant

Houston-founded Drunk Elephant had a great year this year with a huge exit to an international company. Photo via drunkelephant.com

A couple months ago, a Houston skincare company was acquired in an international $845 million deal. So, while Drunk Elephant is far from just a local startup, you can give the gift of beauty this holiday season that is also a nod to a Houston success story.

Houstonian Tiffany Masterson, founder and chief creative officer, started the company in Houston in 2012. The quality of products and playful branding attracted a broad range of demographics as the company experienced exponential growth.

"I started this business as an industry outsider, and from the beginning I did things a little differently," Masterson says in a news release. "To join with a powerhouse beauty company such as Shiseido that leads the industry in innovation and global excellence is a dream come true for me and for Drunk Elephant. We share similar values, most importantly an unwavering commitment to the consumer. I chose a partner who will let the brand continue to be itself, with the same formulations and the same team."

Online, Drunk Elephant sells a few options for holiday gifts. The set pictured is on sale for $62.

An anti-stink workout shirt for the fitness freak

The perfect anti-stink workout wear is designed right here in Houston. Courtesy of Accel Lifestyle

Any devote workout fanatic deserves an opportunity to have workout clothes that don't smell up their entire laundry basket. Houston-based Accel Lifestyle, founded by chemist Megan Eddings, has a solution. The clothing is made with an anti-stink material created patented by Eddings. The pieces are also sustainably and ethically made in the United States. For every shirt bought, the company also plants five trees as a way of giving back.

Men and women's tops are available online in different styles from $59 to $89.

A creative cocktail that fizzes

What started as an idea to get her kids to drink more water has turned into a profitable party favor company. Courtesy of My Drink Bomb

The ability to make bar-quality cocktails at home has never been easier — or as fun — now that Houston-based My Drink Bomb is in business. The company, which has seen great success in the wedding favor industry, creates drink bombs that fizz like bath bombs that are packed with flavors and ingredients. All the user has to do is just add water and, if so inclined, their liquor of choice. Mocktails and kid-friendly options are available too.

The bombs are available online in two-packs for $12.50, but prices per bomb drop as you order larger packs.

A foolproof hangover cure

cheers

Cheers has a solution for after-alcohol recovery. Photo via Instagram/cheershealth

Hangovers are never fun and seem to just get worse as the years go by. Houston-based Cheers has created a suite of products that help you when you're in recovery mode. The key ingredient, Dihydromyricetin, a natural extract — like caffeine to coffee. This year, the company even has gift sets to choose from where you can even customize a message to your recipient.

The sets range from just $20 to $80, which includes all three products, and are available online.

Timeless table pieces for any occasion

rigby

This isn't your grandmother's tableware company. Courtesy of Rigby

A good tableware set comes into your life once in a lifetime — and usually that occasion is from a wedding registry. But a Houston entrepreneur wants to change that way of thinking. Sara Kelly created her direct-to-consumer tableware brand called Rigby, which features handcrafted stoneware dishes, glassware, and a flatware line.

"With Rigby I want to encourage individuals in all life stages to feel at home with the present," says Kelly in a news release. "You shouldn't feel like you have to wait for a big lifetime event, like getting married or buying a house, to purchase tableware and other items that make your time at home more enjoyable."

The products, which are sold in sets, range from $19 to $280. They are available online, as are gift card options.

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From restaurant finding apps to a healthy food startup — these are the lifestyle startups to watch in Houston. Getty Images

5 Houston lifestyle startups changing the way you live, work, and play

Companies to watch

While sometimes it seems like a lot of the Houston innovation landscape is energy and medical tech companies, there are several lifestyle-focused startups that fly under the radar. Whether it's a fizzle cocktail creator — or a cure for a hangover from said fizzy cocktail — these five Houston startups are ones to watch.

Cheers

Cheers, which has its office out of The Cannon, serves up pre-drinking pills to prevent any day after regrets. Courtesy of Cheers

While the sharks on Shark Tank didn't bite, Brooks Powell's Houston-based startup, Cheers, went on to close a $2.1 million seed round lead by NextView Ventures, which has the likes of TaskRabbit, thredUP, and Letgo among its portfolio. The new investment, Brooks says, has been helping the company rebrand from Thrive, its original moniker, to Cheers.

Powell thought up the company when he was a sophomore at Princeton University. He came across the science surrounding his product's key ingredient, Dihydromyricetin, a natural extract — like caffeine to coffee — that had been identified as an anti-alcohol treatment in 2012 following experiments on the effects on rats.

"I started working with some of my professors and asking them if it was safe and would it be effective," Powell says. Read more about Cheers' growth and origin story here.

Work & Mother

Work & Mother gives new moms a save, stylish place to pump during the workday. Courtesy of Work & Mother

Abbey Donnell has been advocating for new mothers long before she had any babies of her own. Though, as of a few weeks ago, the founder of Work & Mother claims a new title of mom to her newborn son.

While laws regulate employers to have private nursing rooms available for new moms, most either offer sub-par conditions or worse — none at all.

"There were constant stories about [women] being told the use the IT closet, or the conference room, or the bathroom or their cars," Donnell tells InnovationMap. "Some of them were pretty big oil and gas firms companies that should've had the resources and space to do better than that."

Work & Mother offers a solution that solves the problem on both sides: A suite of nursing rooms in a downtown office building where business can purchase memberships for employees — and new moms can have a stylish, relaxing place to pump. Read more about Work & Mother here.

Crityk

Crityk's main goal is to be a marketing asset to restaurants. Getty Images

What started as Sumit Sikka's mission to find the best Moscow Mule in Santa Monica has turned into a restaurant locating tool that doubles as a marketing platform for eateries. Houston-based Crityk launched last fall and now serves Houston and Austin restaurants.

"That was kind of the first big pivot," Sikka says. "First, we had an app based on user content. Then we pivoted to have content curated by the restaurant. For the first time ever, the restaurant gets to create their own profile."

There are hundreds of restaurants from Houston on the app now. Read more about Crityk here.

My Drink Bomb

What started as an idea to get her kids to drink more water has turned into a profitable party favor company. Courtesy of My Drink Bomb

Chloé Di Leo was just trying to encourage her kids to drink more water is now by creating fizzing, flavored drink mixes. She sent some extras to school with her kids, who then came home that day with $40.

"Our kids took some to school and came home with some pocket change," Di Leo tells InnovationMap. "They weren't supposed to sell it, but the kids liked it."

Di Leo realized there was a market for these mixes — specifically for adult beverages. She launched My Drink Bomb LLC in Houston at the beginning of summer 2018 and tells InnovationMap that the product was inspired by bath bombs, fizzing once added to a beverage. She created the company with her husband, William Roberts. Together, they own a few local businesses, and Di Leo also is also a jewelry designer at her own store, Chloé Di Leo & Co. Read more about My Drink Bomb here.

The Blonde Pantry

The Bayou City has its own Blue Apron-style startup with locally sourced produce. Courtesy of The Blonde Pantry

While Marla Murphy, a local entrepreneur and nutritionist, has helped Houstonians make healthy decisions with her food blog and consulting company for years, she wasn't sure she was doing enough. Now, the Houstonian has expanded from her meal delivery service to her own store front for locally sourced meals and meal kids.

Murphy relaunched her company, The Blonde Pantry, in March of last year she says to create the only local meal delivery service for the greater Houston area. She opened her store at 2800 Kirby Dr. in February. Read more about The Blonde Pantry here.

What started as an idea to get kids to drink more water has turned into a profitable party favor company. Courtesy of My Drink Bomb

Houston startup makes a splash as wedding vendor

The biz of fizz

What started as a way for Chloé Di Leo to encourage her kids to drink more water is now — just a few months later — a startup making a splash on the wedding industry.

Di Leo, the founder, launched My Drink Bomb LLC in Houston at the beginning of summer 2018. She tells InnovationMap that the product was inspired by bath bombs, fizzing once added to a beverage. She created the company with her husband, William Roberts. Together, they own a few local businesses, and Di Leo also is also a jewelry designer at her own store, Chloé Di Leo & Co.

The first flavor created she created for The Bomb Squad, the line for children, was bubblegum, but now she has seven different flavors online, including Strawberry, Birthday Cake, Watermelon, and more.

"Our kids took some to school and came home with some pocket change," says Di Leo. "They weren't supposed to sell it, but the kids liked it."

One day, her kids came home with $40, and she knew the idea was taking off.

The Bomb Squad line quickly transformed into Mixologi, a version of the product meant to be added to alcohol for cocktails. Di Leo tells InnovationMap that the addition stemmed from dinner parties she was hosting with her husband. She put the five major ingredients of a cocktail into a drink bomb.

"It's basically a mixer you drop in," she says. "We wanted to make it super easy and fun to use."

There are currently 23 Mixologi flavors available online, including Margarita, Moscow Mule, Pina Colada, Cosmo, and more. Custom flavors are available and take six to eight weeks to perfect the flavor and recipe before delivery.

To begin crafting the cocktail flavors, Di Leo says that she traveled to Tulum to spend time with a mixologist in Mexico and came back to the states with recipes for the drink bombs.

"Six months later, here we are," says Di Leo.

The company also offers a hangover bomb, crafted from activated charcoal and zesty tangerine extract to reduce headaches and reduce and release toxins in your body, according to the My Drink Bomb website.

The company gained attention after Sabrina Bryan of The Cheetah Girls reached out to Di Leo after finding the company on Instagram. Bryan wanted Mixologi to supply drink bombs for her wedding in October 2018. Custom flavors are available and take six to eight weeks to perfect the flavor and recipe before delivery.

In Spring 2019, Di Leo shares that My Drink Bomb plans to create and launch a coffee and tea drink bomb. She also hopes to create a drink bombs geared toward detox, anti-aging, health, and fitness, and Di Leo wants to work with a mixologist and a health and fitness expert.

In addition to new flavors, My Drink Bomb is heading to local brick and mortar stores — and she has her eye on a few local boutiques and spas, as well as all 20 flagship Specs store.

"When you have an idea, just keep working hard," Di Leo says. "A simple idea can turn into something beautiful."

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Texas is the 4th hardest working state in America, report finds

Ranking It

It's no secret that Texans are hardworking people. To align with the Labor Day holiday, a new WalletHub study asserts that the Lone Star State is one of the five most hardworking states in America for 2025.

The report ranked Texas the fourth most hardworking state this year, indicating that its residents are working harder than ever after the state fell into seventh place in 2024. Texas previously ranked No. 4 in 2019 and 2020, slipped into No. 5 in 2021 and 2022, then continued falling into sixth place in 2023. But now the state is making its way back to the top of the list.

WalletHub's analysts compared all 50 states based on "direct" and "indirect" work factors. The six "direct" work factors included each state's average workweek hours, employment rates, the share of households where no adults work, the share of workers leaving vacation time unused, and other data. The four "indirect" work factors consisted of workers' average commute times, the share of workers with multiple jobs, the annual volunteer hours per resident, and the average leisure time spent per day.

North Dakota landed on top as the most hardworking state in America for 2025 for another year in a row, earning a score of 66.17 points out of a possible 100. For comparison, Texas ranked No. 4 with 57.06 points. Alaska (No. 2), South Dakota (No. 3), and Hawaii (No. 5) round out the top five hardest working states.

Across the study's two main categories, Texas ranked No. 5 in the "direct" work factors ranking, and earned a respectable No. 18 rank for its "indirect" work factors.

Broken down further, Texans have the second-longest average workweek hours in America, and they have the 12th best average commute times. Texans have the 6th lowest amount of average leisure time spent per day, the report also found.

According to the study's findings, many Americans nationwide won't take the chance to not work as hard when presented with the opportunity. A 2024 Sorbet PTO report found 33 percent of Americans' paid time off was left unused in 2023.

"While leaving vacation time on the table may seem strange to some people, there are plenty of reasons why workers choose to do so," the report's author wrote. "Some fear that if they take time off they will look less dedicated to the job than other employees, risking a layoff. Others worry about falling behind on their work or are concerned that the normal workflow will not be able to function without them."

The top 10 hardest working states are:

  • No. 1 – North Dakota
  • No. 2 – Alaska
  • No. 3 – South Dakota
  • No. 4 – Texas
  • No. 5 – Hawaii
  • No. 6 – Virginia
  • No. 7 – New Hampshire
  • No. 8 – Wyoming
  • No. 9 – Maryland
  • No. 10 – Nebraska
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This story originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Houston co. makes waves in brain health and more innovation news to know

Trending Topics

Editor's note: The top innovation news for the second of half of August includes the Inc. 5000, a big contract from NASA, a new energy accelerator's launch, and innovative brain health treatment. Here are the five most-read InnovationMap stories from August 15-31:

1. How a Houston company is fighting anxiety, insomnia & Alzheimer’s through waveforms

Nexalin develops non-invasive devices that help reset networks in the brain associated with symptoms of anxiety and insomnia. Photo via Getty Images.

A Houston-based company is taking a medicine-free approach to target brain neurologically associated with mental illness. Nexalin Technology’s patented, FDA-cleared frequency-based waveform targets key centers of the midbrain to support the normalization of neurochemicals through a process known as Transcranial Alternating Current Stimulation (tACS). Delivered via a non-invasive device, the treatment gently stimulates the hypothalamus and midbrain, helping to “reset networks associated with symptoms” of anxiety and insomnia. Early clinical evidence suggests this approach can promote healthier brain function and improved sleep. Continue reading.

2. Houston innovation hub announces first cohort for energy-focused accelerator

Alabama-based Accelerate Wind is a member of the COPILOT cohort. Courtesy photo

Energytech Nexus, a Houston-based hub for energy startups, has named its inaugural cohort of 14 companies for the new COPILOT accelerator. The eight-month COPILOT program offers mentorship, training and networking for startups. Program participants will be tasked with developing pilot projects for their innovations. Two Houston startups are members of the first COPILOT class. Continue reading.

3. Houston foundation doles out $700K for Texas chemical research

The Welch Foundation has awarded funding through two of its newest grant programs. Photo via Getty Images.

Houston-based The Welch Foundation has issued $700,000 in additional funding to support chemical research through two of its newest grant programs. The foundation has named the recipients of its Welch eXperimental (WelchX) Collaboration Retreat and Pilot Grants and the Welch Postdoctoral Fellows of the Life Sciences Research Foundation Grants. The WelchX grants were awarded to teams of two Texas researchers who presented "innovative and collaborative ideas" addressing challenges in the clean energy space, according to the foundation. Continue reading.

4. Houston tech company secures $450M NASA contract

Barrios Technology has secured a two-year contract with NASA. Photo via Getty Images.

NASA’s Johnson Space Center awarded Houston-based aerospace technology and engineering services company Barrios Technology the Mission Technical Integration Contract (MTIC). The two-year contract is worth $450 million and will begin Oct. 1, 2025. Barrios will provide technical and management support to some of NASA’s human spaceflight programs, which include the Orion and Gateway programs, the International Space Station (ISS) and possibly more human spaceflight initiatives. Continue reading.

5. Fast-growing Houston tech firm leads dozens of local companies on Inc. 5000

Houston-based Action1 landed at No. 29 nationally and No. 1 in the software category in this year's Inc. 5000 ranking. Photo via Getty Images.

Dozens of Houston-area businesses appear in this year’s Inc. 5000 ranking of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S., with a security software provider capturing the region’s No. 1 spot on the list. Landing at No. 29 nationally and No. 1 in the software category, the top-ranked Houston-area private company is Houston-based Action1. The company recorded median revenue growth of 7,188 percent from 2021 to 2024, according to the Inc. 5000. It’s the first appearance on the Inc. 5000 list for Action1, founded in 2018. Continue reading.

Houston femtech co. debuts new lactation and wellness pods

mom pod

Houston-based femtech company Work&, previously known as Work&Mother, has introduced new products in recent months aimed at supporting working mothers and the overall health of all employees.

The company's new Lactation Pod and Hybrid Pod serve as dual-use lactation and wellness spaces to meet employer demand, the company shared in a news release. The compact pods offer flexible design options that can serve permanent offices and nearly all commercial spaces.

They feature a fully compliant lactation station while also offering wellness functionalities that can support meditation, mental health, telehealth and prayer. In line with Work&'s other spaces, the pods utilize the Work& scheduling platform, which prioritizes lactation bookings to help employers comply with the PUMP Act.

“This isn’t about perks,” Jules Lairson, Work& co-founder and COO, said in the release. “It’s about meeting people where they are—with dignity and intentional design. That includes the mother returning to work, the employee managing anxiety, and everyone in between.”

According to the company, several Fortune 500 companies are already using the pods, and Work& has plans to grow the products' reach.

Earlier this year, Work& introduced its first employee wellness space at MetroNational’s Memorial City Plazas, representing Work&'s shift to offer an array of holistic health and wellness solutions for landlords and tenants.

The company, founded in 2017 by Lairson and CEO Abbey Donnell, was initially focused on outfitting commercial buildings with lactation accommodations for working parents. While Work& still offers these services through its Work&Mother branch, the addition of its Work&Wellbeing arm allowed the company to also address the broader wellness needs of all employees.

The company rebranded as Work& earlier this year.

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