AI-backed retail energy startup based in Houston prepares to grow its technology

new tech

Houston-based Evolve Energy uses a subscription-based wholesale energy plan to help its customers find better prices for more sustainable resources. Photo via evolvemyenergy.com

A wholesale retail energy startup based in Houston is preparing to scale its artificial intelligence-backed business based on its positive customer feedback

Evolve Energy uses AI and machine learning to optimize energy usage, providing customers with the best wholesale energy prices on fluctuating renewable resources.

"We want to help our customers save a significant amount of money on electricity costs and help them decarbonize the grid," CEO Michael Lee tells InnovationMap."There's been a serious of emerging events that enable us to do both at the same time, it's no longer a choice."

Evolve Energy, founded in 2018, sells wholesale electricity at cost to residential customers in Texas, charging a $10 monthly subscription fee plus the cost of wholesale electricity. Using their AI technology, they predict when price surges are likely and determine how much energy the customer needs to hit the parameters set on the app by the customer and usage history. The customer does not need to do anything but pair Evolve with their smart thermostat.

According to Lee, this enables customers to continue to use the same volume of electricity but cut their bill by 40 percent over the course of a year. Evolve uses a different business model, positioning itself not as energy providers but as efficient energy managers, passing their wholesale rate with no markup for even more savings to the customer.

"It builds a lot of trust between the customer and the supplier, they truly see that our incentive is to save them money and not to sell them any more power," Lee says.

With the increasing trend of electrification, Lee sees the role of energy companies grow in importance. This gives energy managers like Evolve a magnified role as machine learning and AI becomes imperative to shift consumption when renewables are cheaper on the grid.

Evolve is backed by several investors including Matt Rogers, the original co-founder of Nest thermostats through his investment platform, Incite; Urban-X funded by BMW MINI which focuses on smart applications; and the Austin-based startup accelerator and investor, Capital Factory.

The company has been officially on the market for the past two months, but it's already working on deploying capital to build in features requested by customers. Evolve expects significant growth in the next few years due to its highly scalable model.

"I'm just glad we could create a product that no longer makes it a choice between reducing emissions and saving money," Lee says.

Houston-based Innowatts closed its Series B funding round — a $18.2 million commitment from the likes of Energy Impact Partners, Shell Ventures, and more. Photo via innowattts.com

Houston AI-enabled retail energy platform receives $18.2M investment

Follow the money

Houston-based Innowatts has closed its Series B funding round lead by Energy Impact Partners. The company, which enables artificial intelligence through its retail energy technology platform, secured a $18.2 million investment. Current funders also include Shell Ventures, Iberdrola, and Energy and Environment Investment (EEI Japan) — which all three supported the company in its Series A — along with new investor Evergy Ventures.

The funds will be used to grow the company's eUtilityTMplatform technology — a B2B cloud-based software tool to help retail energy providers better deliver quality energy services and insights to clients. The eUtilityTM platform already processes meter data from over 21 million customers globally and across 13 regional energy markets, according to the release.

"Competing in today's complex and evolving marketplace requires utility companies use data and intelligence to drive business and customer value," says Siddhartha Sachdeva, founder and CEO of Innowatts, in a release. "Energy Impact Partners, along with its coalition of innovative utility investors, appreciates the role that the eUtilityTM platform can play in creating a smarter, more efficient energy value chain. We're excited to have EIP join us on the next phase of our journey in building the digital utility of the future."

The company is "poised to become a key building block in the software-driven, intelligent grid of the future," says Michael Donnelly, partner and chief risk officer at EIP in the release.

"We invest in companies driving the transformation of the energy sector towards an increasingly decarbonized, digitized, and electrified future – solutions that our utility partners can commercialize at scale and have the greatest impact," Donnelly continues.

Innowatts' $6 million Series A round closed in August 2017. Shell Ventures lead that round.

"Utilities have the opportunity to deliver more value to customers, at lower costs and with greater personalization than ever before, while helping streamline the complex energy marketplace," says Geert van de Wouw, vice president Shell Ventures, in a release. "The predictive customer intelligence and digital solutions provided by Innowatts' eUtilityTM platform is central to executing that vision."

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Rice University partners with astronaut foundation to offer new STEM scholarship

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Rice University has partnered with The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF) to offer a new scholarship opportunity for junior or senior STEM majors, beginning this spring.

The prestigious Astronaut Scholarship includes up to $15,000, mentorship, networking and a paid trip to the ASF Innovators Symposium and Gala. The scholarship is funded by the James A. Lovell Jr. Family Endowment, in honor of the late American astronaut and founder of the ASF.

“This scholarship opportunity represents an exciting new avenue for Rice STEM students to synthesize their experiences in courses and research and their commitment to advancing the public good as leaders in their field,” Danika Brown, executive director for the Center for Civic Leadership at Rice, said in a news release. “We are so grateful to the Lovell family and to the foundation for investing in Rice students, and we are confident that the foundation will be impressed with our nominees and that selected students will have a life-changing experience as astronaut scholars.”

The Rice Space Institute and the Center for Civic Learning recently hosted the ASF at the Ralph S. O’Connor Building for Engineering and Science.

At the ASF event, Jeff Lovell—son of James Lovell, who commanded Apollo 13 and flew on Apollo 8—announced the scholarship aimed at Rice STEM students. Charlie Duke, who served as spacecraft communicator for the Apollo 11 Moon landing and as the lunar module pilot for Apollo 16, also spoke at the event.

The ASF awarded 74 scholarships to students from 51 universities across the U.S. last May.

The ASF awarded its first seven $1,000 scholarships in 1986 to pay tribute to the Mercury 7 astronauts. It has since awarded more than $10 million to more than 850 college students.

So far, only students from Texas A&M University and the University of Texas at Austin have received the scholarship in Texas.

Houston hospital first in U.S. to use new system for minimally invasive surgery

sharper images

Houston’s Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center has introduced an innovative new surgical imaging system that will allow surgeons to increase the number of minimally invasive procedures as well as reposition on the fly during operations.

Minimally invasive surgery has been shown across the board to improve patient outcomes with less chance of infection and shorter recovery times compared to traditional open surgery. However, the human body is not exactly easy to work on through small incisions, necessitating the development of state-of-the-art cameras and imaging technology to guide surgeons.

Enter GE HealthCare’s Allia Moveo, now a part of the Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center operating room. Using cutting-edge technology, it uses the same high-definition imaging usually seen in the catheterization lab at speeds fast enough to respond to shifting surgical conditions. Its cable-free setup allows surgeons to switch positions much faster, and it features advanced 3D imaging that compensates for breathing motion and interference from metal implants.

Its design supports a range of cardiovascular, vascular, non-vascular, interventional and surgical procedures, according to CommonSpirit Health, a nonprofit Catholic health network, of which Baylor St. Luke's is a member.

“This innovative platform enhances how our clinicians navigate complex minimally invasive procedures by improving mobility, image clarity, and workflow efficiency. It strengthens our ability to deliver precise, patient-centered care while supporting our teams with technology designed for the evolving demands of modern interventional medicine,” Dr. Brad Lembcke, president of Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, said in a news release from Baylor and the Texas Heart Institute.

Baylor St. Luke’s is the first hospital in the U.S. to use the Allia Moveo technology. The definition and responsiveness of the new system allow surgeons to navigate the body with greater accuracy and smaller incisions, even for very delicate operations.

“Allia Moveo gives us the flexibility and image quality needed to manage increasingly complex minimally invasive procedures with greater confidence,” Dr. Gustavo Oderich, vascular surgeon and professor of surgery at Baylor College of Medicine, added in the release. “The ability to quickly reposition the system, obtain high-quality 3D imaging, and integrate advanced guidance tools directly into the workflow enhances procedural accuracy. This technology supports our mission to push the boundaries of what is possible in endovascular and interventional surgery.”

Houston clocks in as one of the hardest working cities in America

Ranking It

Houston and its residents are proving their tenacity as some of the hardest working Americans in 2026, so says a new study.

WalletHub's annual "Hardest-Working Cities in America (2026)" report ranked Houston the 37th most hardworking city nationwide. H-town last appeared as the 28th most industrious American city in 2025, but it still remains among the top 50.

The personal finance website evaluated 116 U.S. cities based on 11 key indicators across "direct" and "indirect" work factors, such as an individual's average workweek hours, average commute times, employment rates, and more.

The U.S. cities that comprised the top five include Cheyenne, Wyoming (No. 1); Anchorage, Alaska (No. 2); Washington, D.C. (No. 2); Sioux Falls, South Dakota (No. 4); and Irving, Texas (No. 5). Dallas and Austin also earned a spot among the top 10, landing as No. 7 and No. 10, respectively.

Based on the report's findings, Houston has the No. 31-best "direct work factors" ranking in the nation, which analyzed residents' average workweek hours, employment rates, the share of households where no adults work, the share of workers leaving vacation time unused, the share of "engaged" workers, and the rate of "idle youth" (residents aged 16-24 that are not in school nor have a job).

However, Houston lagged behind in the "indirect work factors" ranking, landing at No. 77 out of all 116 cities in the report. "Indirect" work factors that were considered include residents' average commute times, the share of workers with multiple jobs, the share of residents who participate in local groups or organizations, annual volunteer hours, and residents' average leisure time spent per day.

Based on data from The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), WalletHub said the average American employee works hundreds of more hours than workers residing in "several other industrialized nations."

"The typical American puts in 1,796 hours per year – 179 more than in Japan, 284 more than in the U.K., and 465 more than in Germany," the report's author wrote. "In recent years, the rise of remote work has, in some cases, extended work hours even further."

WalletHub also tracked the nation's lowest and highest employment rates based on the largest city in each state from 2009 to 2024.

ranking

Source: WalletHub

Other Texas cities that earned spots on the list include Fort Worth (No. 13), Corpus Christi (No. 14), Arlington (No. 15), Plano (No. 17), Laredo (No. 22), Garland (No. 24), El Paso (No. 43), Lubbock (No. 46), and San Antonio (No. 61).

Data for this study was sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Travel Association, Gallup, Social Science Research Council, and the Corporation for National & Community Service as of January 29, 2026.

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

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