Biosciences startup becomes Texas' first decacorn after latest funding

Colossal News

Colossal Biosciences specializes in genetic engineering technology designed to bring back extinct animals or protect various species. Photo courtesy Colossal Biosciences

A Dallas-based biosciences startup whose backers include millionaire investors from Austin and Dallas has reached decacorn status — a valuation of at least $10 billion — after hauling in a series C funding round of $200 million, the company announced this month. Colossal Biosciences is reportedly the first Texas startup to rise to the decacorn level.

Colossal, which specializes in genetic engineering technology designed to bring back or protect various species, received the $200 million from TWG Global, an investment conglomerate led by billionaire investors Mark Walter and Thomas Tull. Walter is part owner of Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers, and Tull is part owner of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers.

Among the projects Colossal is tackling is the resurrection of three extinct animals — the dodo bird, Tasmanian tiger and woolly mammoth — through the use of DNA and genomics.

The latest round of funding values Colossal at $10.2 billion. Since launching in 2021, the startup has raised $435 million in venture capital.

In addition to Walter and Tull, Colossal’s investors include prominent video game developer Richard Garriott of Austin and private equity veteran Victor Vescov of Dallas. The two millionaires are known for their exploits as undersea explorers and tourist astronauts.

Aside from Colossal’s ties to Dallas and Austin, the startup has a Houston connection.

The company teamed up with Baylor College of Medicine researcher Paul Ling to develop a vaccine for elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV), the deadliest disease among young elephants. In partnership with the Houston Zoo, Ling’s lab at the Baylor College of Medicine has set up a research program that focuses on diagnosing and treating EEHV, and on coming up with a vaccine to protect elephants against the disease. Ling and the BCMe are members of the North American EEHV Advisory Group.

Colossal operates research labs Dallas, Boston and Melbourne, Australia.

“Colossal is the leading company working at the intersection of AI, computational biology, and genetic engineering for both de-extinction and species preservation,” Walter, CEO of TWG Globa, said in a news release. “Colossal has assembled a world-class team that has already driven, in a short period of time, significant technology innovations and impact in advancing conservation, which is a core value of TWG Global.”

Well-known genetics researcher George Church, co-founder of Colossal, calls the startup “a revolutionary genetics company making science fiction into science fact.”

“We are creating the technology to build de-extinction science and scale conservation biology,” he added, “particularly for endangered and at-risk species.”

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The Sallyport Partners Fund focuses on investments in founder- and family-owned businesses, corporate carve-outs and startups in various industries. Photo via Getty Images

Houston private equity firm beats target on first investment fund

fresh funds

Houston-based private equity firm Sallyport has raised $160 million for its first investment fund, exceeding the target amount by $10 million.

The Sallyport Partners Fund focuses primarily on investments in founder- and family-owned businesses, corporate carve-outs and startups in various industries.

The firm’s chairman, Doug Foshee, seeded the fund. He and managing partners Kyle Bethancourt and Ryan Howard started the firm in 2023.

“Sallyport Partners Fund was created to utilize the proven processes our team has developed over time to generate value for like-minded investors on a larger and more impactful scale,” Foshee says in a news release.

Investors in the Sallyport fund include entrepreneurs, business executives and influential Texas families. Aside from Foshee, names of the fund’s investors weren’t disclosed.

“We are deeply committed to working hand-in-hand with management teams to drive transformative growth and generate long-term value,” says Bethancourt. “Our operational capabilities are forged from decades of firsthand experience leading, investing in, and building thriving businesses from the ground up. We have a unique appreciation for the management team’s perspective because we’ve been in their shoes.”

Those shoes have covered some pretty impressive ground:

  • Foshee is former chairman, president, and CEO of Houston-based El Paso Corp., which owned and operated a 44,000-mile natural gas pipeline network. In 2012, El Paso merged with Houston-based pipeline company Kinder Morgan in a multibillion-dollar deal.
  • Before Sallyport, Bethancourt was a vice president in the credit division of Blackstone, an investment powerhouse with more than $1 trillion in assets under management. Earlier, he worked at D.E. Shaw & Co., a New York City-based hedge fund with more than $65 billion in assets under management.
  • Before Sallyport, Howard worked at Platform Partners, a Houston-based private equity firm. Earlier, he worked for the natural resources arm of investment banking giant Goldman Sachs.
Pelican Energy Partners has raised more than it intended with its new nuclear-focused fund. Photo via Getty Images

Houston firm closes oversubscribed $450M fund for clean energy innovation

seeing green

Houston-based private equity firm Pelican Energy Partners has raised a $450 million fund to invest in nuclear energy services and equipment companies.

Pelican had aimed to raise $300 million for Pelican Energy Partners Base Zero LP and had imposed an initial “hard cap” of $400 million. Investors include endowments, foundations, family offices, and pension plans.

As of the fund’s closing date, the fund had wrapped up six investments, with several more deals expected to close by the end of this year.

In a news release, Pelican says the fund “is committed to growing and improving nuclear services companies, which are critical to sustaining and enhancing the installed nuclear power generation base.” Nuclear energy accounts for more than one-fifth of U.S. power generation and nearly half of U.S. carbon-free electricity.

“The wide-ranging enthusiasm for Base Zero is a testament to the growing interest and necessity of nuclear power. We look forward to continuing to build an outstanding portfolio where we can add substantial value and achieve excellent returns for our partners,” says Jay Surina, managing director of Pelican.

Since 2012, Pelican has raised over $1 billion for investments in companies in the energy services, equipment manufacturing, and technology sectors.

Houston-area companies that have received Pelican investments include AWC Frac Technology, Axon Energy Services, GHT, Vault Pressure Control, Epic International, P360 Management Solutions, Multilift Wellbore Technology, EnerCorp, Downhole Technology, and Capline Environmental Services.

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This article originally ran on EnergyCapital.

HF Capital, the Knoxville, Tennessee-based investment arm of the Haslam family, made the multimillion-dollar commitment to set up Ara Energy Decarbonization. Photo via Getty Images

Houston PE firm scores $725M to launch new business unit to invest in decarbonization

seeing green

Houston-based Ara Partners, a private equity firm that focuses on industrial decarbonization investments, is receiving up to $725 million from a Tennessee-based family office to launch an energy decarbonization unit.

HF Capital, the Knoxville, Tennessee-based investment arm of the Haslam family, made the multimillion-dollar commitment to set up Ara Energy Decarbonization. The new business will work toward reducing carbon emissions at ethanol plants, natural gas power plants, and other traditional energy assets.

The Haslam family founded Pilot Co., North America’s largest transportation fuel business and chain of travel centers. Shameek Konar, former CEO of Pilot, has been tapped to lead Ara Energy Decarbonization.

“It is an uncomfortable truth that highly pollutive energy sources are going to play an essential role in delivering an energy transition over the next several decades,” Charles Cherington, co-founder and managing partner of Ara, says in a news release. “We can ignore these staggering carbon emissions, or we can apply our proven methods and financing expertise to decarbonize the conventional energy value chain.”

The energy sector accounts for more than 75 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

“The world’s energy demands are increasing and complex, and renewable power needs time and support for it to fulfill rising global energy demand. Ara’s … skillset, portfolio network, and decarbonization management knowledge [are] perfectly positioned to attack the carbon-intensive energy sector,” Konar says.

Ara Partners closed its third private equity fund in December 2023 with over $2.8 billion in new commitments. As of June 30, 2024, Ara Partners had about $6.3 billion of assets under management.

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This article originally ran on EnergyCapital.

As emerging technology continues to grow electricity load demand, Cloverleaf has identified an opportunity to develop large-scale digital infrastructure sites powered by low-carbon electricity. Photo via Pexels

Houston-based clean energy site developer raises $300M to decarbonize big tech projects

fresh funding

Houston energy executives have started a new company dedicated to developing clean-powered infrastructure for the large electric loads.

Cloverleaf Infrastructure, dually headquartered in Houston and Seattle, Washington, announced its launch and $300 million raised from NGP and Sandbrook Capital, two private equity firms. The company's management team also invested in the company.

As emerging technology continues to grow electricity load demand, Cloverleaf has identified an opportunity to develop large-scale digital infrastructure sites powered by low-carbon electricity.

"The rapid growth in demand for electricity to power cloud computing and artificial intelligence poses a major climate risk if fueled by high-emission fossil fuels," David Berry, Cloverleaf's CEO, says in a news release. "However, it's also a major opportunity to catalyze the modernization of the US grid and the transition to a smarter and more sustainable electricity system through a novel approach to development.

"Cloverleaf is committed to making this vision a reality with the support of leading climate investors like Sandbrook and NGP."

Berry, who's based in Houston, previously co-founded and served as CFO at ConnectGen and Clean Line Energy Partners, clean energy and transmission developers. Last year, he co-founded Cloverleaf with Seattle-based Brian Janous and CTO Jonathan Abebe, who most recently held a senior role at the United States Department of Energy. Nur Bernhardt, director of Energy Strategy at Microsoft who's also based in Seattle, rounds out the executive team as vice president.

"The large tech companies have become dominant players in the electricity sector, and they are genuinely determined to power their growth with the lowest possible emissions," Janous, who serves as chief commercial officer, says in the release. "Achieving this objective doesn't depend on disruptive new technologies as much as it does on dedicated teams working hand in hand with utility partners to maximize the use of the clean generation, storage, and other technologies we already have."

Cloverleaf will work with regional U.S. utilities and data center operators to provide clean electricity at scale through strategic investments in transmission, grid interconnection, land, onsite power generation, and electricity storage, per the release.

"The sustainable development of digital infrastructure at scale is fundamentally a technical power problem," Alfredo Marti, partner at Sandbrook, adds. "We have witnessed members of the Cloverleaf team effectively address this challenge for many years through a blend of creativity, specialized engineering, a partnership mindset, and astute capital deployment."

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This article originally ran on EnergyCapital.

CardioOne, which built a physician enablement platform for independent cardiologists, has been acquired by WindRose Health Investors. Photo via cardioone.com

Houston cardiology-focused tech platform exits to private equity, plans to scale

making moves

A Houston health tech startup founded only last year has exited to a New York private equity firm.

CardioOne, which built a physician enablement platform for independent cardiologists, has been acquired by WindRose Health Investors. The complete terms of the deal were not disclosed, but according to a WindRose news release, the firm will provide up to $100 million of additional capital to go toward supporting CardioOne's growth.

The fresh influx of capital will go toward expanding and enhancing existing service options. The CardioOne leadership team will continue to be at the helm of the startup.

"We are excited for the opportunity to partner with WindRose as CardioOne embarks on its next chapter of growth," Dr. Jasen Gundersen, CardioOne's CEO and co-founder, says in the release. "We believe that working with WindRose, which has a history of successfully partnering with companies to help navigate the transition to value-based care, will empower us to continue supporting independent cardiologists while developing additional solutions that maximize each practice's potential in the shift to VBC arrangements."

Last year, CardioOne raised an $8 million seed round and announced key partnerships at clinics in New Jersey, Florida, and Pennsylvania, in addition to existing relationships in Texas and Maryland. CardioOne also partnered with MedAxiom, an organizational performance solutions provider in the industry.

"CardioOne's unique, physician-aligned model meets the market where it is and positions the Company to take advantage of the growing desire among cardiologists to maintain their independence," Oliver Moses, managing partner with WindRose, adds. "We believe CardioOne delivers a compelling tech-enabled offering to the independent cardiology market and has significant growth potential as the Company builds upon its momentum in 2023. We are excited to join forces with Jasen and his team as they continue to build upon the differentiated platform they have created."

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6 Houston health tech startups making major advancements right now

meet the finalists

Home to leading hospitals, universities and health-focused incubators, Houston is a breeding ground for innovative medical technology and breakthroughs that can improve outcomes and lead to a better quality of life for patients.

The Health Tech Business category in our 2025 Houston Innovation Awards will honor an innovative startup within the health and medical technology sectors.

Six forward-thinking businesses have been named finalists for the 2025 award. They range from an end-of-life care company to others developing devices and systems for heart monitoring, sleep apnea, hearing loss and more.

Read more about these businesses, their innovative founders, and how they're shaping the future of health care below. Then join us at the Houston Innovation Awards on Nov. 13 at Greentown Labs, when the winner will be unveiled at our live awards ceremony.

Tickets are now on sale for this exclusive event celebrating all things Houston Innovation.

Bairitone Health

Bairitone Health is bringing anatomy imaging for sleep apnea to the home environment. The company's platform maps users' anatomy during natural sleep using a facial patch to determine the root cause of airway obstruction. It then offers effective therapies for each patient. The system is currently in the research and development phase and is being used in clinical trials and studies.

The company was founded in 2022 in the Texas Medical Center's Biodesign program by CEO Meagan Pitcher, CTO Onur Kilic and chief medical officer Britt Cross. It was a member of Activate Houston's inaugural cohort and has participated in numerous accelerators and incubators. It raised a pre-seed round last year of $435,000.

Corveus Medical

Corveus Medical has developed a novel catheter device that allows cardiologists to perform a splanchnic nerve ablation, restoring the pressure balance in patients with moderate heart failure. Its pre-FDA-approved, minimally invasive solution deactivates a nerve that has been demonstrated to be a root cause behind heart failure progression, which allows physicians to treat patients who have traditionally had few options.

The company, formerly known as Caridian Medical, was founded in 2021 by CEO Tyler Melton and CMO Ishan Kamat. It has participated in incubators such as TMC Biodesign, Y Combinator, MedTech Innovator and Fogarty Innovation and was named one of the 10 most promising life science companies at Texas Life Science Forum in 2022. The company says it will move toward validation and verification testing for its device in Q4 of this year.

FibroBiologics

Regenerative medicine company FibroBioligics uses fibroblasts, the body’s most common type of cell, rather than stem cells, to help grow new cells to repair tissue and modulate the immune system. The cell therapies offer treatments for chronic conditions such as degenerative disc disease, multiple sclerosis and non-healing wounds.

The publicly traded company was founded in 2021 by CEO Pete O'Heeron. It opened a new 10,000-square-foot Houston lab earlier this year to scale up research efforts and pave the way for in-house manufacturing. The company says it plans to launch its first clinical trial for diabetic foot ulcers soon, representing the transition of its fibroblast technology to the clinic setting.

Koda Health

Koda Health has developed an advance care planning platform (ACP) that allows users to document and share their care preferences, goals and advance directives for health systems. The web-based platform guides patients through values-based decisions with interactive tools and generates state-specific, legally compliant documents that integrate seamlessly with electronic health record systems. The company also added kidney action planning to its suite of services for patients with serious illnesses last year.

Koda Health was founded out of the TMC's Biodesign Fellowship in 2020 by CEO Tatiana Fofanova, chief medical officer Dr. Desh Mohan, and chief technology officer Katelin Cherry. The company raised a $7 million series A earlier this year, and also announced major partnerships and integrations with Epic, Guidehealth, Medical Home Network, Privia Health and others.

NanoEar

NanoEar has miniaturized hearing aid technology so that it can be implanted across the eardrum, allowing adults with age-related hearing loss to enjoy better sound quality than they would with behind-the-ear hearing aids.

Dr. Ron Moses, an ENT specialist and surgeon at Houston Methodist, developed the technology, and the company was founded in 2016 with CFO Willem Vermaat and COO Michael Moore. The company participated in the TMC Innovation Institute in 2016. It has issued nine U.S. patents and performed successful human cadaver and animal proof-of-concept experiments. Its next step is developing a prototype.

Wellysis USA

Wellysis USA Inc. works to detect heart rhythm disorders with its continuous ECG/EKG monitor with AI reporting. Its S-Patch cardiac monitor is designed for extended testing periods of up to 14 days on a single battery charge. The device weighs only 9 grams, is waterproof and designed to be comfortable to wear, and is considered to have a high detection rate for arrhythmias. It is ideally suited for patient-centric clinical trials to help physicians make diagnoses faster, cheaper and more conveniently.

It was established in Houston in 2023 and participated in the JLABS SFF Program the same year. It closed a $12 million series B last year. It was founded by CEO Young Juhn, CTO Rick Kim, CFO JungSoo Kim and chief strategy officer JoongWoo Kim.

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Houston university is at the top of the class in new college ranking

Top of the Class

Rice University is maintaining its reputation as one of the top colleges in the U.S., according to a new batch of rankings from WalletHub.

Rice topped WalletHub's 2026 lists comparing the best colleges and universities in Texas and the best universities in the South. The private institution also ranked as the 9th best university in the country, three spots lower than its 2024 ranking.

The personal finance website's experts analyzed nearly 800 colleges and universities in the U.S. using 30 key metrics, including factors like student-faculty ratios, graduation rates, campus safety, and many more.

Rice was ranked across seven major categories in the report and scored highly for its faculty resources (No. 10), student educational outcomes (No. 12), student selectivity (No. 16), student career outcomes (No. 26), and campus experience (No. 46).

The only two categories Rice lagged behind in were campus safety (No. 576) and cost and financing (No. 700). U.S. News & World Report says tuition and fees at Rice can add up to more than $65,000 per year for in-state students, with the total cost soaring to nearly $84,000 when factoring in the price for housing, food, books and supplies, transportation, and personal expenses.

In addition to topping WalletHub's rankings, Rice has also claimed top spots in other prestigious lists by U.S. News, Forbes, The Princeton Review, and more. Rice's revered graduate schools – including the MBA program at the Jones Graduate School of Business and Brown School of Engineering and Computing – are also among the best in the country, according to U.S. News and The Princeton Review.

Locally, University of Houston also ranked among the statewide top 10 and ranked as the 268th best university in the U.S. for 2026. In the regional rankings of best universities in the South, UH ranked 52nd on the list

The 10 best colleges and universities in Texas for 2026 are:

  • No. 1 – Rice University, Houston
  • No. 2 – The University of Texas at Austin
  • No. 3 – Trinity University, San Antonio
  • No. 4 – Texas A&M University-College Station
  • No. 5 – Texas Christian University, Fort Worth
  • No. 6 – Austin College, Sherman
  • No. 7 – Southwestern University, Georgetown
  • No. 8 – University of Dallas
  • No. 9 – The University of Texas at Dallas
  • No. 10 – University of Houston
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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Port Houston reports emissions progress as cargo volumes climb

Greener growth

Port Houston’s initiatives to reduce emissions have shown some positive results, according to new data from the Port of Houston Authority.

Pulling from the Goods Movement Emissions Inventory (GMEI) report, which tracks port-related air emissions, Port Houston cited several improvements compared to the most recent report from 2019.

The port has seen total tonnage and container volumes increase by 16 percent and 28 percent, respectively, since 2019. However, greenhouse gas emissions have increased at a slower rate, growing only by 10 percent during the same time period, according to the data.

Additionally, emissions of nitrogen oxide fell by 7 percent, and emissions of particulate matter fell by 4 percent, despite adding 280 more pieces of cargo handling equipment.

“These results show that our emission-reduction efforts are working, and we are moving in the right direction,” Chairman Ric Campo said in a news release.

The Port Commission also recently approved items related to the $3 million U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean Ports Program (CPP) grant, which it received last year. The items will allow the port to work towards five new sustainability initiatives.

They include:

  1. An inventory of the port’s Scopes 1, 2, and 3 for greenhouse gas emissions
  2. A Port Area Climate Action Plan for the area and surrounding communities
  3. A CPP Truck Route Analysis
  4. Creation of the CPP Trucking Industry Collaborative
  5. Design of a customized website for Port of Houston Partners in Maritime Education, which is a non-profit leading maritime workforce development effort in local schools

Port Houston aims to be carbon neutral by 2050.

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