3 Houston innovators to know this week

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This week's roundup of Houston innovators includes Angela Holmes of Mercury Data Science, Ashok Gowda of BioTex, and Rachel Moncton of ClassPass. Courtesy photos

Editor's note: In the week's roundup of Houston innovators to know, I'm introducing you to three local innovators across industries — data science, consumer tech, and medical device innovation — recently making headlines.

Angela Holmes, chief operating officer of Mercury Data Science

Mercury Data Science has taken a tool it originally developed for COVID-19 research and applied it into new areas of research and innovation. Photo courtesy of MDS

When the pandemic hit, the team at Mercury Data Science knew data was going to have a huge role to play. Last fall, MDS released an AI-driven app designed to help researchers unlock COVID-19-related information tucked into biomedical literature. The app simplified access to data about subjects like genes, proteins, drugs, and diseases.

Now, a year into the coronavirus pandemic, the company is applying this technology to areas like agricultural biotech, in which the platform enables researchers to sift through literature to dig up data about plant genetics, says Angela Holmes, chief operating officer at MDS. The lack of gene-naming standards in the world of plants complicates efforts to search data about plant genetics, she says.

The platform's ability to easily ferret out information about plant genetics "allows companies seeking gene-editing targets to make crops more nutritious and more sustainable as the climate changes to have a rapid way to de-risk their genomic analyses by quickly assessing what is already known versus what is unknown," Holmes says. Click here to read more.

Ashok Gowda, founder and CEO of BioTex

Houston-based BioTex works with medical device and health tech companies from all stages, from R&D to commercialization. Photo via biotexmedical.com

In the process of building a medical device company called Visualase and exiting it to Medtronic for over $100 million, Ashok Gowda learned a lot. And, over the past two decades, he's been sharing that knowledge and expertise of his and his team to medtech companies of all stages at Houston-based BioTex.

"Ultimately we built a nice infrastructure by supporting (the Visualase) spin out," Gowda tells InnovationMap. "And we learned a lot about not just product development, but about commercializing and creating a new market that may not exist. And we had some really good, experienced commercial folks we had hired on the Visualase side. I just think it's a good learning lesson that you can't really teach this stuff — you gotta experience it really to understand." Click here to read more.

Rachel Moncton, vice president of Global Marketing at ClassPass

Rachel Moncton shares why ClassPass tapped Houston as a prime place to expand. Photo courtesy of ClassPass

Rachel Moncton has lived all over the world in her career at fitness and wellness-focused consumer tech company, ClassPass — and her latest assignment has been standing up the company's fourth domestic office right here in Houston, Texas.

On last week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast, Moncton shares how Houston as a hub offers the growing company a chance to be a big fish in a small consumer tech pond.

"I get a lot of people saying, 'Houston? That's an interesting choice and not what we'd expect,'" Moncton says. "But that's one of the things we like about it. There's a good startup scene here but not a million different consumer tech companies, so it's nice that we are able to make a bit of a splash." Click here to read more.

Rachel Moncton joins the Houston Innovators Podcast to share why ClassPass chose Houston for its fourth domestic hub and what the consumer tech company has on its horizon for 2021. Photo courtesy of ClassPass

Tech exec shares how she's excited to 'make a splash' in Houston with recent expansion

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When Rachel Moncton decided she wanted to move back to the United States after years of growing consumer tech company ClassPass internationally, she had no clue where she was going to end up.

The current vice president of marketing had served in various leadership roles for the company, and the powers at be at ClassPass, a consumer-facing tech company that brings together fitness classes and wellness experiences onto one app, decided that Moncton's move would be to spearhead the company's fourth office in Houston.

ClassPass, which was founded in New York City in 2011 before quickly opening its second office in San Francisco. Moncton says a few years ago the company conducted a search for a city that would make for a great expansion and, while Houston was definitely a contender, Missoula, Montana, became the next hub for ClassPass, which has raised over $500 million in venture capital. But, Houston was top of mind for the next expansion.

"When we were thinking about our fourth U.S. office, we wanted something bigger — we're growing quickly and knew we would have to tap into a large talent pool," Moncton says on this week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast, noting other elements like Houston's parks, sports teams, culture, universities, and more.

"I get a lot of people saying, 'Houston? That's an interesting choice and not what we'd expect,'" Moncton says. "But that's one of the things we like about it. There's a good startup scene here but not a million different consumer tech companies, so it's nice that we are able to make a bit of a splash."

Last fall, Moncton made her move to Houston to stand up the office virtually, at first, and now the local team is 10 people strong. Currently, ClassPass is looking for its physical space somewhere inside the loop and is hoping to have it open by this summer. Likely, Moncton says, the office will start in a coworking or flexible space that will be able to grow alongside the team.

And speaking of growth, Moncton says ClassPass is still hiring in Houston for roles from sales and finance to customer service and more.

"We are hiring across the board. It's fun for the teams to get to meet people you might not be working with day to day, and it fosters a better sense of empathy and understanding of how the company works," Moncton says. "Even though I lead marketing, it's by no means a marketing hub."

As ClassPass expands its presence, Moncton says she's focused on expanding the company's partners on the app. ClassPass has historically connected users to fitness studios but now is featuring more and more health, wellness, and beauty experiences.

"The technology we've built is to help people find things to book in their city," Moncton says. "There's a lot of (fitness studios) and it can be hard to find what you're looking for. Beauty and wellness are no different."

Moncton shares more about what she's excited about for the future of ClassPass, and how she's experienced Houston so far on the episode. Listen to the full interview below — or wherever you stream your podcasts — and subscribe for weekly episodes.


Here's why ClassPass tapped Houston as a prime place to expand. Photo via Getty Images

Why my global tech startup picked Houston for its next location

guest column

Most people know that fitness and wellness leader ClassPass started in New York City. It's less well known that ClassPass has a large office in Missoula, Montana that houses several members of our leadership team, including CEO Fritz Lanman.

In 2017, the ClassPass team spent nine months conducting an intensive nationwide search for a city that matched our mission and values. As a brand focused on supporting an active lifestyle, we wanted a city that offered a connection to the outdoors. One of the most important driving factors in our search was finding a city where we could attract incredible talent to our team. Though we settled on Missoula, Houston was high on the list.

I'm thrilled that four years later, we are finally adding Houston as the fourth US ClassPass office. I have personally relocated to this city and now call myself a Houstonian. Here's five reasons why ClassPass chose Houston for our new US office:

Houston has a welcoming and collaborative culture

Since moving to Houston, every person I have met has been so welcoming. Locally founded tech companies are looking for ways to partner, and accelerators such as Houston Exponential have gone out of their way to make our transition smooth and facilitate introductions within the tech ecosystem. This is a friendly city, and one that encourages the growth of tech companies.

Great sports teams and miles of biking trails

Play is such an important part of the ClassPass culture (one of our values is "play to win"), and Houston is a dynamic place to do just that. With great sports teams, amazing museums, and tons of green space with miles of running and biking trails, there is something for everyone. And particularly in the winter when our colleagues are dealing with huge snow storms in NYC and Montana, it is such a treat to be able to spend time outside.

Self care is an important part of the culture

Locally, ClassPass partners with more than 900 Houston businesses including fitness centers, gyms, spas and beauty salons. In the Houston area, we have seen tremendous usage for both our fitness and wellness offerings, with members booking classes such as a full body strength class at Tropa Z Fitness or a Pilates session at 713 Pilates. Our beauty and wellness offerings are also popular, with people making the time for a sports recovery massage at Serenite Massage, a compression session at Restore Cryotherapy, or a bikini wax at Wink Lash Bar. It's important to us to know we are based in a city where the community embraces self-care, and where we can help local businesses to grow.

The legendary food

You need food to fuel your workouts! The food scene in Houston is incredible, and I am personally delighted to keep exploring and trying takeout from more places (I am currently on a quest for the best breakfast tacos!). Whether it's ordering lunch together once we are all able to be in-person, or going out for a meal after a new milestone is reached, I look forward to sampling the food scene with our new Houston team members.

The large talent pool

Houston is home to universities including Rice University and The University of Houston, and Texas A&M and UT Austin are nearby. With so much feeder talent coming out of local schools, and a reputation as one of the most diverse cities in the US, we are confident that Houston will be a place to recruit for teams across our organization.

Want to join our team? Check out open roles here.

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Rachel Moncton is the vice president of Global Marketing at ClassPass, the leading fitness and wellness membership and a global provider of corporate wellness benefits. She is based in Houston.

ClassPass is expanding into Houston with over 20 new jobs and a local office. Image courtesy of ClassPass

Fitness tech platform expands to Houston and plans to hire

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When a global technology company focused on fitness and wellness was looking for a city to open their fourth office in the United States, the team wanted a community that was active and full of young professionals. They landed on Houston.

Membership-based fitness and wellness company ClassPass is opening a local office in Houston and is planning on hiring over 20 professionals across departments — from analytics, customer experience, design, and engineering, to marketing, partnerships and product.

Rachel Moncton, vice president of global marketing for ClassPass, has already relocated to Houston to lead the new office.

"Houston is a friendly, community-focused city with a rich talent pool. We are thrilled to contribute to the Houston economy by creating new opportunities for professionals with varying skill sets, and hope to build a local team with a broad range of experiences and backgrounds," says Moncton says in a news release.

Headquartered in New York City, ClassPass's membership and mobile application connects members to fitness and wellness appointments at over 30,000 studios and 11,500 wellness venues. In Houston, ClassPass has over 900 partners.

Currently, the company has 400 employees worldwide with offices in Missoula, Montana, and San Francisco. ClassPass's new hires will work remotely at first, and the organization is hoping to open a physical office later this year.

"It's great to see another Bay Area company expanding to Houston like Nuro, Bill.com, and Homebase," says Harvin Moore, president of Houston Exponential. "ClassPass is already using the HTX Talent jobs board to build its Houston team and we hope to work more with them as they build their presence here."

The app has 900 fitness and wellness partners in Houston already. Image courtesy of ClassPass

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Houston falls from top 50 in global ranking of 'World's Best Cities'

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Houston is no longer one of the top 50 best cities in the world, according to a prestigious annual report by Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing firm Resonance Consultancy.

The newest "World's Best Cities" list dropped Houston from No. 40 last year to No. 58 for 2026.

The experts at Resonance Consultancy annually compare the world's top 100 cities with metropolitan populations of at least 1 million residents or more based on the relative qualities of livability, "lovability," and prosperity. The firm additionally collaborated with AI software company AlphaGeo to determine each city's "exposure to risk, adaptation capacity," and resilience to change.

The No. 1 best city in the world is London, with New York (No. 2), Paris (No. 3), Tokyo (No. 4), and Madrid (No. 5) rounding out the top five in 2026.

Houston at least didn't rank as poorly as it did in 2023, when the city surprisingly plummeted as the 66th best city in the world. In 2022, Houston ranked 42nd on the list.

Despite dropping 18 places, Resonance Consultancy maintains that Houston "keeps defying gravity" and is a "coveted hometown for the best and brightest on earth."

The report cited the Houston metro's ever-growing population, its relatively low median home values ($265,000 in 2024), and its expanding job market as top reasons for why the city shouldn't be overlooked.

"Chevron’s shift of its headquarters from California to Houston, backed by $100 million in renovations, crowns relocations drawn by record 2024 Port Houston throughput of more than four million containers and a projected 71,000 new jobs in 2025," the report said.

The report also draws attention to the city's diversity, spanning from the upcoming grand opening of the long-awaited Ismaili Center, to the transformation of several industrial buildings near Memorial City Mall into a mixed-use development called Greenside.

"West Houston’s Greenside will convert 35,000 square feet of warehouses into a retail, restaurant and community hub around a one-acre park by 2026, while America’s inaugural Ismaili Center remains on schedule for later this year," the report said. "The gathering place for the community and home for programs promoting understanding of Islam and the Ismaili community is another cultural jewel for the country’s most proudly diverse major city."

In Resonance Consultancy's separate list ranking "America's Best Cities," Houston fell out of the top 10 and currently ranks as the 13th best U.S. city.

Elsewhere in Texas, Austin and Dallas also saw major declines in their standings for 2026. Austin plummeted from No. 53 last year to No. 87 for 2026, and Dallas fell from No. 53 to No. 78.

"In this decade of rapid transformation, the world’s cities are confronting challenges head‑on, from climate resilience and aging infrastructure to equitable growth," the report said. "The pandemic, long forgotten but still a sage oracle, exposed foundational weaknesses – from health‑care capacity to housing affordability. Yet, true to their dynamic nature, the leading cities are not merely recovering, but setting the pace, defining new paradigms of innovation, sustainability and everyday livability."

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Waymo self-driving robotaxis will launch in Houston in 2026

Coming Soon

Houston just cleared a major lane to the future. Waymo has announced the official launch of its self-driving robotaxi service in the Bayou City, beginning with employee-only operations this fall ahead of a public launch in early 2026.

The full rollout will include three Texas cities, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio, along with Miami and Orlando, Florida. Currently, the company operates in the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, and Los Angeles, with service available in Austin and Atlanta through Uber.

Before letting its technology loose on a city, Waymo first tests the routes with human drivers. Once each locale is mapped, the cars can begin driving independently. Unique situations are flagged by specialists, and engineers evaluate performance in virtual replicas of each city.

“Waymo’s quickly entering a number of new cities in the U.S. and around the world, and our approach to every new city is consistent,” explained the announcement. “We compare our driving performance against a proven baseline to validate the performance of the Waymo Driver and identify any unique local characteristics.”

The launch puts Waymo ahead of Tesla. Elon Musk’s Austin-based carmaker has made a lot of hullabaloo about autonomy being the future of the company, but has yet to launch its service on a wide scale.

Waymo started testing San Antonio’s roadways in May as part of a multi-city “road trip,” which also included Houston. The company says its measured approach to launches helps alleviate local concern over safety and other issues.

“The future of transportation is accelerating, and we are driving it forward with a commitment to quality and safety,” Waymo wrote. “Our rigorous process of continuous iteration, validation, and local engagement ensures that we put communities first as we expand.”

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Shipley Donuts launches AI-powered ordering assistant

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Popular Houston-born doughnut chain Shipley Donuts has added a first-of-its-kind AI-powered assistant to its online ordering platform.

The new assistant can create personalized order recommendations based on individual or group preferences, according to a news release from the company. Unlike standard chatbox features, the new assistant makes custom recommendations based on multiple customer factors, including budgetary habits, individual flavor preferences and order size.

"We're not just adding AI for the sake of innovation — we're solving real customer pain points by making ordering more intuitive, personalized and efficient," Kerry Leo, Shipley Vice President of Technology, said in the release.

The system also works for larger events, as it can make individual orders and catering recommendations for corporate events and meetings by suggesting quantities and assortments based on group size, event type and budget.

According to Shipley, nearly 1 in 4 guests have completed orders with the new AI technology since it launched on its website.

“The integration of the AI ordering assistant into our refreshed website represents a significant leap forward in how restaurant brands can leverage technology to enhance the customer experience,” Leo added in the release.

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