3 Houston innovators to know this week

Who's who

In honor of Labor Day, here are three Houston innovators who probably aren't taking the day off. Courtesy photos

It may be Labor Day, but some of the hardest working Houston innovators are probably still checking their email on their phones from the pool.

Here are this week's innovators to know around town.

Marie Myers, CFO of UiPath

Marie Myers is the CFO of UiPath. Courtesy of UiPath

Marie Myers is a self-proclaimed Houstonian, avid bike rider, and robotics nerd — for lack of a better word. She's had a 20-year career in tech — most roles based right here in town — and throughout her whole experience, robotics process automation has been the most exciting technology she's gotten to work with.

UiPath just opened an office in Houston earlier this year, and Myers serves the company as CFO. She first worked with UiPath on the client side of things, and the technology awed her. She says she jumped at the opportunity to join the organization.

"When I think about RPA, the world lights up for me," she says. "It's truly transformative."

Click here to read more about the company.

Marco Bo Hansen, chief customer officer at Sani nudge and his executive team

Marco Bo Hansen, right, the chief customer officer at Sani nudge. Courtesy of TMCx

The Sani nudge executives may not be from Houston, but we give the Denmark-based company a pass for all its success coming out of the Texas Medical Center's accelerator program earlier this year. Sani nudge is a medical device company that can better track and encourage hand sanitation. The company is headed to California after being selected for a prestigious program with the Mistletoe Foundation.

Dr. Marco Bo Hansen is the chief customer officer and says that he'll be vigilantly advocating that his Sani nudge colleagues and the Mistletoe researchers keep hospital patients and staff in mind as Sani nudge moves forward with its innovations.

"We have to make sure that our solutions always generate value to the end users and can easily be used by the clinicians, infection preventionists, and hospital managers," he says.

Click here to read more about the company.

Ashley Gilmore, CEO and co-founder of Tracts.co

When Ashley Gilmore was studying law — specifically for the purposes of going into oil and gas — it amazed him how non-digitized the industry was, especially the mineral buying process. Gilmore figured out a way how to use tech to make the process way easier — and cheaper.

Now, his company, Tracts, has a new land group that's growing at a revenue rate of 30 percent month to month. With more and more clients, Tracts engages more data. And, with more and more data, the product increases in value for his customers.

"For some of our clients, Tracts is now existential for their business," Gilmore says. "In other words, they wouldn't be able to operate on their current business model without Tracts."

Click here to read more about the company.
Sani nudge has developed a hand hygiene tool that prompts medical professionals to clean their hands more often. Courtesy of TMC

Health care tech company with Houston ties gets huge opportunity on the West Coast

hands free

Sani nudge, a graduate of the TMCx healthcare accelerator's nineth cohort at Houston's Texas Medical Center, is getting a significant nudge from a new collaboration with a social-impact organization based in California.

Among more than 1,000 startups that were considered, Copenhagen, Denmark-based Sani nudge was chosen as one of nine participants in the Mistletoe Research Fellowship Startup Collaboration Program, sponsored by the Mistletoe Foundation. Three dozen researchers from seven universities also are taking part in the program.

Fresh off a $1.2 million funding round, Sani nudge's technology is an automated monitoring system aimed at helping healthcare workers bolster hygiene compliance and processes through insights from data and a feature that "nudges" healthcare workers to practice proper hand hygiene. Sani nudge created the technology in conjunction with Bispebjerg Hospital and Aarhus University Hospital, both in Denmark.

In the Mistletoe program, representatives of Sani nudge will work alongside four American researchers to improve the startup's technology, thereby providing hospitals with better data and tapping the researchers' expertise in engineering and robotics to come up with related healthcare platforms. Sani nudge employs 13 people in the U.S., Denmark, and Poland.

During tests in healthcare settings, the use of Sani nudge has resulted in a jump in hand hygiene compliance of as much as 200 percent and a reduction in infections of at least 29 percent, the company says. Several hospitals in Scandinavia are using the Sani nudge system.

Theis Jensen, CEO of Sani nudge, and Dr. Marco Bo Hansen, the chief customer officer, became acquainted with Mistletoe when they met Mark Castleman — a partner at the Mistletoe Inc. global-impact investment fund — during a startup and innovation tour of Texas organized by Capital Factory, a startup accelerator with locations in Houston, Austin, and Dallas.

The three men soon found common ground in a shared vision for reducing hospital-acquired infections and combating resistance to antibiotics. Both are costly, potentially fatal problems.

At any given time, 1 in 25 patients in the U.S. are fighting hospital-acquired infections, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says. "These infections lead to the loss of tens of thousands of lives," according to the department, "and cost the U.S. healthcare system billions of dollars each year."

Meanwhile, more than 2 million people in the U.S. are infected each year with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and at least 23,000 people die as a result, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Sani nudge's participation in the Mistletoe program kicked off July 31 and August 1 at a workshop in Tokyo. For the next nine months, the Sani nudge group — led by Rebekah Alexander, the startup's in-house data expert — will team up with its four assigned researchers to advance the startup's wireless technology.

The researchers "will work with us over the following academic year to help us take the Sani nudge solution to the next level and enable hospitals to get even more detailed hand hygiene information that can eliminate hospital-acquired infections," Sani nudge wrote on its blog.

In June 2020, the next-level Sani nudge technology is scheduled to be presented to potential investors and academic researchers in Silicon Valley. Sani nudge says Mistletoe effort will strengthen its ties to the U.S. market and the academic research community.

"There are many opportunities within healthcare IoT that can help both patients and hospitals, and our system is designed to embrace these opportunities," Hansen says.

Hansen, a physician, says he'll be vigilantly advocating that his Sani nudge colleagues and the Mistletoe researchers keep hospital patients and staff in mind as Sani nudge moves forward with its innovations.

"We have to make sure that our solutions always generate value to the end users and can easily be used by the clinicians, infection preventionists, and hospital managers," he says.
Three companies in TMCx's current cohort are leaving the program with new funds. Courtesy of TMCx

3 TMCx companies have raised funds while completing the Houston accelerator

Extracurriculars

According to the CDCThe Texas Medical Center's accelerator program is wrapping up its Digital Health cohort this week with the culmination of its TMCx Demo Day, and, while all of the companies have something to celebrate, three have announced that they are leaving the program with fresh funds.

Meru, Roundtrip, and Sani Nudge have raised over $10 million between the three companies. All three will be presenting at the TMCx Digital Health Demo Day on June 6 with the 16 other companies in the cohort. Click here to RSVP.

Three more TMCx companies have raised funds throughout the program but have let to formally announce their raises. Axem Neurotechnology, Optellum, and Dosentrx have collectively raised over $5 million this spring, according to TMCx.

Here's what you need to know about the three companies that have freshly padded pockets to grow their presence within the digital health industry.

Meru

Meru allows patients mental health treatment at their fingertips. Photos via meruhealth.com

Having access to health care has been an increasing issue and more and more startups are hoping they can provide solutions. Palo Alto, California-based Meru has created a low-cost digital clinic that offers an app-based treatment program from licensed therapists. The company completed a $4.2M raise in April 2019. The round was led by San Francisco-based Freestyle Capital.

Roundtrip

Philadelphia-based RoundTrip, which is in TMCx's current cohort, closed a hefty Series A round. Photo via roundtriphealth.com

An estimated 3.6 million patients miss or postpone their medical appointments annually, which leads to bigger medical issues that could have been prevented or treated earlier. Philadelphia-based RoundTrip created a platform where patients can book transportation to and from appointments. The startup closed its Series A round of $5.14 million led by Virginia-based Motley Fool Ventures in April.

Sani Nudge

Sani Nudge has optimized tech for sanitation compliance in hospitals. Photo via saninudge.com

Denmark-based Sani Nudge is one of the cohort's international members. The company's founders created a few devices that fit onto existing hospital gadgets — ID cards and hand sanitizing stations, for instance — that are able to track and monitor sanitization practices within hospitals.

According to the CDC, there are an estimated 680,000 health care-related infections in the U.S annually with a mortality rate of 10 percent. With the company's devices, hospitals can track compliance and hand sanitizing data within the hospital — but the health care professionals remain anonymous.

Sani Nudge raised $1.2 million in a round led by InQvation. The company will use the funds to grow its presence in the United States, specifically in Houston's medical center.

"Being part of the TMCx accelerator program has been game-changing," says CEO Theis Jensen in a release. "By attending a variety of workshops and hands-on events as well as receiving guidance from many experts and advisors have helped us to fully understand the US market, refine our strategies and connected us with hospitals so we can conduct studies in the TMC Medical Center".
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These Houston entrepreneurs and startups are searching for flooding solutions

Flood tech

The feeling is all too familiar for Houstonians. Tropical Storm Imelda hit Houston with devastating flood waters just two years after Hurricane Harvey did its damage.

With any obstacle or challenge, there is room for innovation. Over the past year, InnovationMap has covered various flood tech startups in Houston. Here are six innovations that can make a difference the next time a storm decides to take its toll on Houston.

Self-deploying flood protection for buildings

FloodFrame's technology can protect a home or commercial building from flood water damage. Photo via floodframe.com

A self-deploying flood damage prevention device caught Tasha Nielsen's eye on a trip to Denmark, and then launched the U.S. iteration of FloodFrame to bring the technology here.

FloodFrame works by using buoyancy. A lightweight cloth is wrapped around a tube is installed underground outside the perimeter of your home or business. One end of that cloth is attached to a box that is also installed underground. As flooding begins, an automatic system will release the lids to deploy the inflation of the tube that will protect the structure. When the flood comes in, the system will float on top of the flood — kind of like a pool noodle — and protect the structure from the water.

FloodFrame adds a level of security during flooding events and can be considered more cost-effective when compared to the high cost of renovating or rebuilding after flooding.

"Right now we are focused on residential but I think there's a huge potential for it to go commercial. A lot of commercial buildings are self insured, and commercial developers, industrial developers, this would be a drop in the bucket for the overall cost of the entire project," Nielsen tells InnovationMap. "For homeowners, it's kind of a bigger expense, but I think there is the potential for homebuilders to include it as an option in the entire package of a new house because when you put it in to a mortgage, it's only another like $0.50 a month."

A waterproof container for your car.

After the floods from Hurricane Harvey totaled her car, Rahel Abraham wanted to find a solution. ClimaGuard/Facebook

Floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey seriously damaged about 600,000 vehicles in the Houston area, which included Rahel Abraham's 2008 Infiniti G35. Now, Abraham's brainchild forms the backbone of her Houston-based startup, ClimaGuard LLC. The company's waterproof, temperature-resistant, portable Temporary Protective Enclosure (TPE) can entirely cover a compact car, sedan, or midsize SUV. It comes in three sizes; the cost ranges from $349 to $499.

To protect a vehicle, someone sets a TPE on the ground, a driveway, or another flat surface, then drives the vehicle onto the bottom part of the product, and connects the bottom and top parts with the zipper. Abraham likens it to a clamshell preserving a pearl.

"My goal is not to make it to where it's an exclusive product — available only to those who can afford it — but I want to be able to help those who it would make even more of an economic impact for," Abraham tells InnovationMap.

A network to find shelter.

Reda Hicks create GotSpot — a digital tool that helps connect people with commercial space with people who need it. Courtesy of GotSpot

It only took a natural disaster for Reda Hicks to make her startup idea into a reality.

"I had been thinking on what it would be like to help people find space to do business in and how businesses find a way to stay in business a long time," Hicks tells InnovationMap. "But, I was afraid of the tech."

Hicks, who has practiced law for almost 15 years, wanted to create a website that allows for people with commercial space — a commercial kitchen, conference room, spare desks, etc. — to list it. Then, space seekers — entrepreneurs, nonprofits, freelancers, etc. — can rent it. When Hurricane Harvey hit, Hicks was kicking herself for not acting on her idea sooner.

"It was really Harvey and having so many people desperate to find space for emergency purposes that made me realize there are so many contexts in which people need space right away for something specific," she says. "Certainly the primary user is the entrepreneur trying to grow their business, but there are so many other reasons why a community would need better access to the space it already has."

Now Hicks is growing GotSpot in hopes that short-term rental space and emergency housing can be smooth sailing no matter the circumstances. Recently, the company was named a finalist for MassChallenge Texas in Austin.

A water-absorbing tower. 

Fil Trat would be able to absorb water, filter it, and release it into the body of water when the time comes. Courtesy of Gensler's ByDesign

In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, many Houstonians began to think of solutions for the next time Mother Nature struck with her full-force of flooding. Gensler designers Chelsea Bryant, Jordan Gomez, Luisa Melendez, Barbara Novoa, Benjamin Nanson, Maria Qi, and Melinda Ubera created a solution as a part of Gensler's By Design program called Fil Trat. The tower can absorb, filter, and store flood waters until the bayou is ready for the water to be released — cleaner than it was before.

During Harvey, thousands of people were displaced, but Fil Trat has a solution for that too. The tower's floors would alternate between filtration floors and shelters, which could house up to 24 families per floor.

While the suggested Houston locale would be by Buffalo Bayou, the group suggests putting the tower in other coastal cities at risk of devastating flooding.

Sensor-enabled rubber ducks that can track weather developments.

Sensor-enabled rubber ducks might be the solution to keeping track of major weather events. Courtesy of Project Owl

Nearly two years after Hurricane Harvey battered the Houston area, a flock of electronic "rubber ducks" flew above homes in Katy in a broader endeavor to keep first responders and victims connected during natural disasters.

Developers and backers of Project Owl, an Internet of Things (IoT) hardware and software combination, conducted a pilot test of this innovation June 1 — the first day of this year's hurricane season. In the Katy test, 36 "ducks" took flight.

"So, our technology can be deployed to help communities that have been destroyed after natural disasters by providing quickly accessible communications network to coordinate and organize a response," Bryan Knouse, co-founder and CEO of Project Owl, tells InnovationMap.

The DuckLink network comprises hubs resembling rubber ducks, which can float in flooded areas if needed. It takes only five of these hubs to cover one square mile. This network sends speech-based communications using conversational systems (like Alexa and Facebook Messenger) to a central application. The app, the Owl software incident management system, relies on predictive analytics and various data sources to build a dashboard for first responders.

Restored native wetland coastal prairies.

Memorial Park Conservancy is gearing up to unveil one if its first projects within its 10-year master plan redevelopment. Photo courtesy of MPC

Before it was the fourth largest city in America, Houston was a prairie. That type of ecosystem — thick with prairie grass — is very absorbing when it comes to rain water. Cassidy Brown Johnson, a Rice University lecturer and president of the Coastal Prairie Partnership, has been taking every opportunity to raise awareness on the importance of prairie restoration.

"It's really surprising to people that the trees and all this lushness is actually all artificial," Johnson says. "We know that this ecosystem evolved with the cyclical flooding events that happened here."

This movement to bring back Houston's ancient ecosystem is a new focus on a few prairie conservationist groups — and even the Harris County Flood Control. This has been going on for a while, but recent flooding events have opened the eyes of people now looking for reliable solutions to flooding problems.

"After Hurricane Harvey, people started realizing that this might be one of the solutions we could actually investigate and see if it can help us," Johnson says. "A green space is going to absorb way more water than a parking lot."

Memorial Park Conservancy's its master plan redevelopment project includes a lot of prairie restoration plans is expected to deliver by 2028.

The project is a collaborative effort between MPC, Uptown Houston TIRZ, and Houston Parks and Recreation Department to redevelop the 1,500-acre park. An ongoing part of the transformation will be stormwater management upgrades. MPC has budgeted $3 million to this asset of the renovation. While a part of the plan is tributaries for run-off water, bringing back prairie and wetlands will do a great deal to help abate stormwater.

"We're taking ball fields, parking lots, and roads and converting them back to what was here — native wetland coastal prairie," MPC president and CEO Shellye Arnold tells InnovationMap. "This serves important stormwater purposes."

5 most popular innovation stories in Houston this week

What's trending

Editor's note: This week's top stories include an innovation news roundup, a new TMC accelerator program, what startups can learn from successful Houston exits, and more.

3 Houston innovators to know this week

Accenture and Plug and Play Tech Center made strategic hires in Houston. Plus, a local expert shares how important electronics recycling is. Courtesy photos

The movers and shakers of the Houston innovation world did a lot of extra moving and shaking last week. This week's Houston innovators to know include two new hires within the ecosystem. Continue reading.

New coworking space to open, Houston to host Accenture's health tech awards, and more innovation news

Spaces plans to open a new location in Houston this month, Chevron Technology Ventures invests in autonomous vehicle tech, and more Houston innovation news. Courtesy of Spaces

A lot is happening in the Houston innovation ecosystem — so much that you may have missed a few key news items. Let's hit the highlights, shall we?

Applications are open for major health tech awards program that is coming to town, a Houston corporate venture fund doles out cash to self-driving cars, new coworking space to deliver, a diversity-focused partnership launches, and more Houston innovation news. Continue reading.

TMC introduces new cancer therapeutics accelerator program following $5 million grant

A new accelerator program will aim to advance cancer therapeutics technology. Photo courtesy of TMC

The Texas Medical Center is taking a step forward in cancer prevention and treatment thanks to a multimillion-dollar grant from a Texas organization.

Last month, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas announced 71 new statewide grants that totaled $136 million. TMC was the recipient of a $5 million grant that is being used to develop a new accelerator geared at designing new cancer therapeutics treatments. Continue reading.

Here's what startups can learn from Houston exits

At Houston Exponential's second annual HX Capital Summit, four Houston entrepreneurs turned investors discussed their lessons learned. Getty Images

One way to evaluate a city's innovation ecosystem is by the number of successful exits they've had. From startups being acquired by big companies to bringing in a private equity partner, exits can put a city on the map.

Houston has quite a few exits under its belt, and some of those entrepreneurs have stayed in town to fund future success stories. At Houston Exponential's second annual HX Capital Summit, four entrepreneurs discussed their exits, providing key lessons learned for entrepreneurs. Continue reading.

3 startup lessons you can learn from this Texas Olympian turned entrepreneur

Whether it's in the gym or the boardroom, the ability to pick yourself up after a failure is key to success, as this former Olympian learned. Getty Images

I've hit rock bottom more times than I can count. As a gymnast, I overcame injuries that would have ended many other athletes' careers — only to watch my Olympic dreams slip out of reach. As a businessman, I built a successful startup — and then lost it all.

The main thing I've learned? Setbacks can be productive if you're willing to learn from them. Today, as I lead a successful company, I constantly inform my decision-making with the lessons I learned as an athlete and entrepreneur.

Three of those lessons can help everyone — both in the gym and in the boardroom. Continue reading.

Houston startup creates device to keep loved ones in touch with each other

Caring is sharing

When Charley Donaldson's mother-in-law was battling cancer, he and his wife had great support from their friends and family. But they also knew there were a lot of people who cared about them who didn't know what to say or do during such a challenging time.

"It's like, you want to show people that you care about them, but you don't want to interrupt their day, or you don't want to be a burden to them if they aren't up to company," Donaldson says about the common reactions he heard from others – and often felt himself when he had friends going through similar struggles. "There had to be a way to share the idea of, 'Hey, I'm thinking about you.'"

It took three years of rattling around that idea before CaringBand came to life. The light-up bracelet is Bluetooth enabled, and connects to a mobile app. A person gives the bracelet to a loved one, who then pairs it with his or her smartphone. App users can send and receive pre-set messages of encouragement to and from other app users.

Those wearing a CaringBand bracelet get alerted by a blinking light or vibration that lets them know someone is thinking about them. The wearer then reads these encouraging messages on the CaringBand app when convenient and with no need to respond.

"When we pilot tested it, we were super excited to find out what we thought was validated," says Donaldson. "People really loved knowing that others were keeping them in their thoughts, and those who sent messages liked that they didn't have to worry about saying or doing the wrong thing."

Donaldson says he wanted The CaringBand to be as easy as possible for people to use, and also ensure that it was a solid support system. When someone is going through medical treatments, he knows that can be exhausting, and he also realizes that friends and family want to be able to do something, anything, to express their love and support.

"If you're a normal, compassionate person, you want to show you care about someone," he says. "This lets you do that in your own way."

And while it might sound like The CaringBand is designed to make the senders of messages feel better about offering a good thought for someone, Donaldson says those going through treatments have really loved seeing their bracelets light to up to tell them they're on someone's mind. That small show of support has made a big difference, they told Donaldson in surveys.

"She is sitting on the couch having so much fun reading her messages," says one user in a testimonial. "The smile on her face is priceless." "People tell you they think of you and pray for you all the time," read another. "The bracelet gives you a reminder that they really are."

"We made it super easy," he says. "It's a hardware to software solution and we wanted to erase as many friction points as possible in its creation. This is two touches of a smart phone."

Currently, the CaringBand app is live and functional. The bracelet is still in developmental stages, and Donaldson says the team is working with individuals and groups such as the Tyler Robinson Foundation to further test it. The bracelet should be a go for full distribution and sale by the first quarter of 2020.

"Obviously, this doesn't replace driving over to see someone or having a cup of coffee with a friend," says Donaldson. "But it is a great supplemental tool to show your love and care when you might not know what else to do."

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