3 Houston innovators to know this week

Who's who

This week's set of innovators to know are making waves in industries across Houston. Courtesy photos

In this Monday roundup of Houston innovators, we traverse into the restaurant, health care, and higher education industries with a startup founder focused on using technology to improve the dining experience, a self-starter in health care, and a leader on the Rice University campus with a new office for his growing staff.

Brad Burke, managing director of the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship

Photo via alliance.rice.edu

The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship has moved into its new Gensler-designed, 3,000-square-foot Bill and Stephanie Sick Suite that is expected to be a game changer for the program.

"The Rice Alliance meets frequently with venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, students, mentors, and other members of the Houston entrepreneurial ecosystem," says Brad Burke, who leads the innovation arm of Rice University. "The new space is on the first floor of the Jones School and is much more accessible and visible to our guests and visitors." Click here to read more and see photos of the space.

Roberta Schwartz, executive vice president and chief innovation officer at Houston Methodist

Courtesy of Houston Methodist

Roberta Schwartz is an innovator by nature. On last week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast, she shared her story of overcoming breast cancer as a young woman. Seeking a support system and camaraderie, she co-founded the Young Survival Coalition.

"I was 27 when I was unexpectedly diagnosed with breast cancer — I have no family history, no cancer in the family. It certainly was a shock to my system," Schwartz says on this week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast. "Once I was diagnosed, and through some of the original surgery and care I had to do, I knew that I wanted to reach out and find a larger community of young women."

Now, she's leading Houston Methodist's Center for Innovation, another entity she saw a need for, then created. Click here to read the story and stream the podcast episode.

Ken Bridge, founder of Roovy Technologies

Photo courtesy of Roovy

People use their smartphones for everything these days. So, Houston restaurateur Ken Bridge thought, why couldn't they use them to optimize their dining experience? Bridge created Roovy Technologies, and the app uses point-of-sale technology to put the power of ordering, paying, and communicating with the kitchen and bar, right into the hands of customers.

"Roovy is a platform that allows the user to order and pay entirely from their phone," says Bridge. "We will soon be the first company to have all three categories of this type of app: dine-in, take out and delivery." Click here to read more about Roovy.

Houston-based Roovy Technologies has created a mobile app where people can control their dining experience completely from their phones. Photo via roovy.io

Growing Houston startup is digitizing the dining experience

Digital dinner

Imagine going into a popular restaurant, sitting down at an open table and controlling the entire dining experience from a smartphone.

That's food, drinks, and even dessert all ordered and paid for on a phone.

Prolific Houston-area restaurateur Ken Bridge had the vision to converge dining with technology by creating a digital solution to combat chronic wait times in restaurants.

That vision became the Roovy Technologies mobile app, a platform designed to create the ultimate convenience for gastronauts everywhere.

"Roovy was birthed out of frustration," says Bridge, the serial entrepreneur behind the Delicious Concepts restaurant group. "Years ago, we would typically have lines out the door, so I thought to myself, that with technology, there should be a way for a guest to come in and manage their experience entirely from their phone.

"I felt like guests could go in, get sat at a table and order their food from their phone and pay from their phone and call it a day. That's how the idea of Roovy was conceived."

Three years ago, after putting mock pages together, Bridge started attending South by Southwest Interactive in Austin for research and inspiration. That led to commissioning a local boutique development agency in Houston to build out Roovy's Minimum Viable Product or road map before creating a fully functional platform.

Bridge deployed Roovy in his Japanese concept restaurant, Blackbird Izakaya, at 1221 W. 11th St. in the Heights several months ago to test out the app before rolling it out to several other restaurants.

"It's a work in progress like everything else," says Bridge, who hopes for Roovy to be deployed in 20 restaurants very soon, then 40. "Everyday we're going to have issues that we need to resolve. But for now, we'll build it, we'll test it, we'll learn and we'll continue to go back and work out the kinks and keep pushing forward from there."

Convenience — on both sides of the transaction

For users, the value proposition is to be able to order and pay from their phone.

"Even a really good server can be impeding at the same time, over-qualifying or checking too much on a table that it becomes a distraction," says Bridge. "With Roovy, when the user is ready to order they can. It's convenience-based technology."

For operators, it streamlines the entire process, up to and including payment.

"We built this as a native solution, so restaurants can technically operate their entire restaurant on one single iPad, while cutting out all hardware," says Bridge.

The restaurant's menu is fully interactive and constantly updated in the app.

When a user places an order, they can add notes to alert the kitchen or bar with their allergies or substitutions and the kitchen or bar receives the notice on the Kitchen Display Side.

That order is then colored and timed, depending on the restaurant's flow and the user then receives a page when the order is ready.

"When restaurant's not packed, they can prepare orders in four minutes, but when packed, it may take eight minutes," says Bridge. "So through the machine learning, they can input a flow time, but then the system intuitively will become more and more intelligent based on the number of tickets and how frequently the operator is stocking and selling a particular item."

Bridge funded Roovy with his own money, so running the cloud-based platform in his own restaurants provided another distinct advantage for his startup's bottom line. And, with operators running the Roovy platform, it has officially entered post-revenue valuation. Roovy's revenue, like other payments facilitators, comes from its restaurant clients.

With the method of payment tied into the app, users pay from their phone and Roovy processes that payment transaction between the user, operator and bank tied to that payment method for a processing fee, much like a point-of-sale provider would with traditional POS devices.

Increasing opportunities for sales

What separates Roovy from other processors, though, is more than just the disruption of bulky hardware, printers and other equipment that can be very expensive for the operator.

It's the ability to maximize sales through convenience.

Case in point: in a busy restaurant, customers who have finished their meal, but possibly have cravings for another drink or a dessert might choose to eschew the urge based on the availability of their wait staff or the line at the bar.

But with Roovy, they could simply add the additional food item or drink to their cart, and have it at their table in no time.

"A lot of restaurants are not taking advantage of opportunities to maximize their sales," says Bridge. "If the per person average for a particular restaurant is $20, the likelihood that there are customers that want one more beer but don't want to go through the motions of ordering it based on service not being around is high. They're going to just leave and the restaurant just missed out on a potential $6.

"That would have been a 30 percent increase in sales," Bridge continues. "So, because of Roovy's ease of use, restaurants can increase their per person revenue and we guarantee an increase of 19 or 20 percent for operators that use our platform."

An additional revenue stream for Roovy centers on its pinpointed marketing campaigns designed to push promotions to its users based on user data and analytics.

"We can help operators run promotions for our users that can be very specific to the demographic of their choice," says Bridge. "They can be very direct and specific push notifications that go out to users based on location, vicinity or proximity, for example. We could also push notifications to a restaurant's repeat customers."

More features to come

For users that want take out, Roovy will be working with predictive arrival technology to estimate better execution times for orders so that they will be as fresh as possible for customer pickup.

Roovy will also be adding "Roovy Coin," a loyalty and rewards programs, as well as a social component for those users that like to share their experience with their friends.

"Beyond this super unique emerging technology, we are building heavily on the sociability aspects of it," says Bridge. "For example, users will be able to check in with friends, plan potential meetups, share video clips with their friends and the community on the platform and be able to review restaurants.

"I kid about this all the time, but most of us remember two things: the first kiss we had and the first time we used Uber. We'll never forget that. Our goal is to come in with that same kind of impact and convince users and operators that Roovy is not just a great technology, it's the inevitable technology that will be adopted on mass levels."

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Houston Innovation Awards to honor Wade Pinder as 2025 Trailblazer

And the award goes to...

On Nov. 13, we'll gather for the 2025 Houston Innovation Awards to celebrate the best and brightest in Houston innovation right now. And, as is tradition with the annual program, we'll honor one longstanding Houston innovator with the Trailblazer Award.

The award was established to recognize an individual who has left a profound impact on Houston's business and innovation ecosystem and is dedicated to continuing to support Houston and its entrepreneurs. The recipient is selected by our esteemed panel of judges from a pool of internal and external recommendations.

The 2025 Trailblazer Award recipient is Wade Pinder of Product Houston. A familiar face to those active in Houston's innovation sector, Pinder identifies as an "Ecosystem Wayseeker" and is the founder of Product Houston.

Pinder, a former product manager at Blinds.com, arrived in Houston in 2008 and has been deeply engaged in Houston’s startup and innovation scene since 2012. Over the years, he has supported hundreds of founders, product leaders, and community builders across the Houston area.

In 2023, he was honored as Mentor of the Year in the Houston Innovation Awards. Today, he fosters collaboration, clarity, and connection through his work at Product Houston, and he helps innovators find their place in the local sector via his monthly "Houston Ecosystem Mapping" sessions.

Read below for Pinder's insightful takes on the Houston innovation scene and what it means to blaze a new trail. Then, join us as we celebrate Pinder and all of our nominees and winners at the 2025 Houston Innovation Awards on Nov. 13 at Greentown Labs. Tickets are available now.

InnovationMap: Describe the growth of the Houston innovation ecosystem from your arrival in 2008 to now.

Wade Pinder: When I first arrived in Houston in 2008, the innovation ecosystem was more fragmented than it is today. Connecting with other innovators often meant attending a lot of hit-or-miss events. Over the years, it’s been incredible to see the network take shape and grow into a true community. I’ve had the privilege of being involved with several coworking spaces and accelerator programs along the way, and it’s been especially exciting to see Station Houston evolve into what is now the Ion District. What makes the Ion unique is how it blends openness and opportunity… ideas spill into and out of the space, and anyone can walk in, participate in programming, and find themselves in proximity to people who might help them take the next steps.

Additionally, the expansion of spaces like Texas Medical Center Innovation, Helix Park, The Cannon, and many others, have broadened Houston’s innovation landscape in powerful ways.

Today, when someone new moves to Houston and wants to plug into the startup and innovation scene, it’s much easier for them to find their way than when I moved here in 2008. I think that’s something Houston can really be proud of.

IM: As someone who engages with the broader Houston innovation community on a regular basis, what are the shared characteristics and traits that you see among its members?

WP: One of the things that makes Houston’s innovation community unique is how deeply it’s rooted in industry. So many of the innovators I meet come from within Houston’s major sectors, and they’ve seen firsthand where opportunities lie, which gives their innovation a certain practicality. They’re developing solutions that solve real, often complex, business and industry problems, not chasing trends or trying to create the next flashy consumer app.

What I admire most is that this community is growing in its understanding of the value of collaboration. They work with the systems and expertise that already exist, and find better ways to make them work together. Another shared trait I see across Houston’s innovators is a deep sense of curiosity and a drive to question the status quo while looking for better ways to build, improve, and solve.

IM: You’ve said, "Houston has Houston problems, and Houston needs Houston solutions." How do you see this taking shape in the innovation sector right now?

WP: When I first started getting connected to Houston’s startup and innovation scene in 2012, I noticed folks had a tendency to look at other cities and ask, "How can we do what they did?" Back then, we saw phrases like "Silicon Bayou" pop up, and while that enthusiasm was hopeful, it often discounted the things that make Houston unique. Over time, I’ve come to believe that the better question is: "What are we already great at, and how can we innovate from there?" The flip side of that question is to reflect on the things that hold us back as an ecosystem… identifying the friction points and finding practical ways to smooth them out.

From my time wandering around our ecosystem, I’ve come to understand Houston is great at infrastructure at scale, solving life-and-death challenges in the global spotlight, and "boldly going where no one’s gone before." These three things, in my opinion, capture the essence of Houston does best: We do hard things here.

What excites me today is that we’re applying innovation to those core strengths in ways that feel authentically Houston. One area I’m especially excited about is the emergence of the “New Space Economy,” captured beautifully in Wogbe Ofori’s thought piece “The Astropreneur’s Startup Journey Map.” It's a great example of how the next wave of space-related innovation might connect to Houston’s long-standing strengths in manufacturing, logistics, and problem-solving at scale.

Another challenge Houston faces is what I call a "proximity problem." Even when events are only a few miles apart, traffic can make it difficult for people to stay connected across the city. That’s why I’m so encouraged by the rise of what I think of as "intent-based gatherings" around the city: events designed with purpose, where people know they’ll find real connection and value once they arrive.

IM: Finally, what does being a "Trailblazer" mean to you?
WP: To me, trailblazing in the Houston innovation ecosystem means being willing to wander through the many different corners of the community and look for value in places we often overlook. It’s about showing up at events, community meetings, and pitch competitions — not just to participate, but to notice how each of these "nodes" in the ecosystem connects and adds value to the others.

Sometimes the trailblazer only walks a trail once: as they are discovering it. If you can help others see a newfound trail’s purpose and potential, it becomes a path others can follow more easily in the future. That’s the real work of a trailblazer: mapping connections, framing their value, and helping people recognize how those pathways strengthen the ecosystem as a whole.

In a broader sense, trailblazing is about seeing things not just as they are, but as they could be. Then taking the steps, however small, that make that vision real.

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The Houston Innovation Awards program is sponsored by Houston Community College, Houston Powder Coaters, FLIGHT by Yuengling, and more to be announced soon. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact sales@innovationmap.com.

Houston-area VC funding sunk to 5-year low in Q3 2025, report says

by the numbers

Fundraising for Houston-area startups experienced a summertime slowdown, sinking to a five-year low in the third quarter, according to the latest PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor.

The PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor shows startups in the Houston metro area attracted $204.4 million in venture capital from June through August. That’s 55 percent below the total for the previous quarter and 51 percent below the total for the third quarter of 2024.

More telling than those figures is that the third-quarter haul dropped to its lowest total for Houston-area startups since the fourth quarter of 2020, when $133.4 million in VC was raised. That was the third full quarter after health officials declared the pandemic in the U.S.

In Q3 2025, AI accounted for nearly 40 percent of VC deal volume in the U.S., Kyle Stanford, director of U.S. venture research at PitchBook, said in the report. And through the first nine months of 2025, AI represented 64 percent of U.S. deal value.

VC deal activity “has been nearly steady, emphasizing a consistent influx of companies, especially at the pre-seed and seed stages,” Stanford said. “Large deals remain the primary driver of market deal value, with almost all of these deals focused on AI.”

Bobby Franklin, president and CEO of NVCA, said that while fundraising hasn’t returned to pre-pandemic highs, deal values are going up in sectors such as AI, manufacturing, robotics and space tech, many of which have already exceeded their investment totals for all of 2024.

Meet 6 of the fastest-growing scaleup companies in Houston right now

meet the finalists

From raising funding rounds to earning FDA acceptance, some of Houston's most innovative companies have reached major milestones this year.

The 2025 Houston Innovation Awards will recognize their progress by bringing back our Scaleup of the Year category for the second year. The award honors an innovative later-stage startup that's recently reached a significant milestone in company growth.

Six breakthrough businesses have been named finalists for the 2025 award. They range from climatetech startups to a biotech company developing new drugs for neurodegenerative diseases and more.

Read more about these businesses and their impressive growth 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. Corporate 10-packs, featuring reserved seating and custom branding, and individual tickets are still available. Secure your seats today.

Coya Therapeutics

Clinical-stage biotechnology company Coya Therapeutics (NASDAQ: COYA) has developed COYA-302 that enhances anti-inflammatory T cell function and suppresses harmful immune activity. The drug candidate is being advanced for several neurodegenerative diseases—including ALS, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and frontotemporal dementia—and has demonstrated promising reductions in neuroinflammation in preclinical and early clinical studies, according to the company.

Coya, founded in 2021, received FDA acceptance for its investigational new drug application for COYA-30 this summer. It closed its IPO in January 2023 for more than $15 million and added $26 million in PIPE funding that same year. Last year, the company secured an additional $15 million in PIPE funding.

Fervo Energy

Houston-based Fervo Energy is working to provide 24/7 carbon-free energy through the development of cost-competitive geothermal power. The company is developing its flagship Cape Station geothermal power project in Utah, which is expected to generate 400 megawatts of clean energy for the grid. The first phase of the project will supply 100 megawatts of power beginning in 2026. The second phase is scheduled to come online by 2028.

The company raised $205.6 million in capital to help finance the project earlier this year and fully contracted the project's capacity with the addition of a major power purchase agreement from Shell. Founded in 2017 by CEO Tim Latimer and CTO Jack Norbeck, Fervo is now a unicorn, meaning its valuation as a private company has surpassed $1 billion. In March, Axios reported Fervo is targeting a $2 billion to $4 billion valuation in an IPO.

Koda Health

Houston-based 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.

Mati Carbon

Houston climatetech company Mati Carbon removes carbon through its Enhanced Rock Weathering (ERW) program that works with agricultural farms in Africa and India. Mati says the farmers it partners with are some of the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The nonprofit won the $50 million grand prize in the XPRIZE Carbon Removal competition, backed by Elon Musk’s charitable organization, The Musk Foundation, earlier this year.

Mati Carbon scaled operations in India, Zambia, and Tanzania this year and has advanced its proprietary measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) platform, known as matiC, enabling seamless field data capture, chain-of-custody and carbon accounting at scale. The company was founded in 2022 by co-directors Shantanu Agarwal and Rwitwika Bhattacharya.

Molecule

Houston-based Molecule Software has developed an energy trading risk management (ETRM) platform that allows companies trading power, oil and gas, biofuels, renewables and more stay ahead as the markets evolve.

The company closed a Series B round earlier this year for an undisclosed amount. Sameer Soleja, founder and CEO of Molecule, said at the time that the funding would allow the company to "double down on product innovation, grow our team, and reach even more markets." The company was founded in 2012 by CEO Sameer Soleja and participated in the Surge Accelerator the same year.

Utility Global

Houston-based Utility Global has developed its proprietary eXERO technology that produces low-cost, clean hydrogen from water and industrial off-gases without requiring grid electricity.

First founded in 2018 by CEO Parker Meeks, the company participated in Greentown Labs and the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship programs. It raised a $55 million funding round earlier this year and launched commercial partnerships with ArcelorMittal Brazil and Hanwha Group in South Korea to deploy its hydrogen solutions at scale.

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