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

The 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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Venus Aerospace picks up investment from Lockheed Martin Ventures

space funding

Venus Aerospace, a Houston-based startup specializing in next-generation rocket engine propulsion, has received funding from Lockheed Martin Ventures, the investment arm of aerospace and defense contractor Lockheed Martin, for an undisclosed amount. The product lineup at Lockheed Martin includes rockets.

The investment follows Venus’ successful high-thrust test flight of its rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) in May. Venus says it’s the only company in the world that makes a flight-proven, high-thrust RDRE with a “clear path to scaled production.”

Venus says the Lockheed Martin Ventures investment reflects the potential of Venus’ dual-use technology for defense and commercial uses.

“Venus has proven in flight the most efficient rocket engine technology in history,” Venus co-founder and CEO Sassie Duggleby, a board member of the Texas Space Commission, said in a news release. “With support from Lockheed Martin Ventures, we will advance our capabilities to deliver at scale and deploy the engine that will power the next 50 years of defense, space, and commercial high-speed aviation.”

Chris Moran, executive director and general manager of Lockheed Martin Ventures, said Lockheed Martin has been a longtime supporter of early-stage “transformational” technologies.

“Our investment in Venus Aerospace reflects a conviction that next-generation propulsion will define which nations lead in space and defense for decades to come,” Moran added in the release. “We are committed to helping Venus scale this technology and integrate it into critical systems.”

Since its founding in 2020, Venus has secured more than $106 million in funding. In addition to Lockheed Martin Ventures, investors include Airbus Ventures, America’s Frontier Fund, Trousdale Ventures, and Prime Movers Lab. Supporters of Venus include NASA, the Air Force Research Lab and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

8+ can't-miss Houston business and innovation events for November

where to be

Editor's note: Houston’s innovation calendar is packed this November, with opportunities to connect across climatetech, health care and entrepreneurship. From Greentown Labs’ flagship summit and veteran-led showcases to discussions on medical innovation and startup growth, here's what not to miss and how to register. Please note: this article may be updated to include additional event listings.

Nov. 4 – Greentown Climatetech Summit

Greentown Labs' Climatetech Summit Houston will bring together philanthropists, executives and innovators in the energy transition space. Expect to hear from John Arnold, co-founder and co-chair of Arnold Ventures, and Greentown CEO Georgina Campbell Flatter, who will participate in the day-long event’s keynote fireside chat, along with remarks from Houston Mayor John Whitmire, a course led by TEX-E Executive Director Sandy Guitar and more. Ten Greentown Labs startups will present pitches, and attendees will also be able to meet founders and Greentown members during the afternoon startup showcase.

This event is Tuesday, Nov. 4, from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at Greentown Labs. A networking reception follows from 5-7:30 p.m. at Axelrad Houston. Learn more here.

Nov. 11 – Veterans & Visionaries

Houston Veteran Network will celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit of veterans at its Veterans & Visionaries event. Veteran business owners will have the opportunity to showcase their businesses, connect with investors and participate in speed networking.

This event is Tuesday, Nov. 11, from 2-7 p.m. at the Ion. Find more information here.

Nov. 12 – Energy Drone and Robotics Forum

The Energy Drone + Robotics Coalition will offer a chance for industry leaders, operators and engineers to connect. Attendees will explore real-world uses, hear lessons from successful deployments, and gain practical insights and tools for scaling through various workshops, keynote addresses, Q&As and more.

This event is Wednesday, Nov. 12, from 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. at the Ion. A Bots & Brews / Industrial AI Connect Reception will be held at Second Daught from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Find more information here.

Nov. 12 – TMC Envision 2025: Showcasing Healthcare Innovation

Celebrate 10 years of TMC Innovation at Envision, which shines a light on how TMC’s health tech companies are shaping the future. The event will feature talks from TMC’s Devin Dunn, Jason Sakamoto and Tom Luby that will focus on hospital innovation, health care policies, Texas-specific funding and regulatory dynamics and more.

This event is Wednesday, Nov. 12, from 3:30-6:30 p.m. at TMC Innovation Factory. Find more information here.

Nov. 13 — 2025 Houston Innovation Awards

Join InnovationMap at Greentown Labs on Nov. 13 for the fifth annual Houston Innovation Awards. Our annual celebration of all things Houston innovation offers an exclusive opportunity to network with leaders in the innovation ecosystem and culminates in the awards ceremony, where this year's winners across 10 prestigious categories will be unveiled. Individual tickets and corporate 10-packs with reserved seating are still available.

This event is Thursday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. at Greentown Labs. Get your tickets here.

Nov. 13 – Houston Methodist Leadership Speaker series

Head to the Houston Methodist Tech Hub at Ion to hear the latest installment of the Houston Methodist Leadership Speaker Series. The month’s event will feature Dr. Shlomit Schaal, executive vice president and chief physician executive at Houston Methodist. She is also the president and CEO of the Houston Methodist Physician Organization. Schaal will focus on physician group innovation.

This event is Thursday, Nov. 13, from 4:45-6 p.m. at the Ion. Find more information here.

Nov. 18 – Rice Customer-based Strategy Symposium

Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business will present this recurring forum for exchanging innovative ideas on customer-centered strategy planning and execution. The symposium features peer-reviewed research from leading academics with industry trends and insights from executives. Hear from Jones School Dean Peter Rodriguez, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, Laura Lopez, SVP of marketing, communications and public relations at Houston Methodist; Farid Virani, CEO of Prime Communications; and several Rice MBA graduates and executives.

This event is Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, from 7:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. at the Ion. Learn more here.

Nov. 20 – Houston Startup Speedrun

Wade Pinder, founder of Product Houston, will host the Houston Startup Speedrun. This intensive and fast-paced program is designed to provide early-stage founders and aspiring entrepreneurs with a comprehensive understanding of the “Startup Founder's Journey” and the Houston startup ecosystem. The event is broken up into 10 consecutive 50-minute sessions, including topics such as “Creating a Compelling Business Plan,” “Operations and Scaling” and others.

This event is Thursday, Nov. 20, from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. at the Ion. Find more information here.

Nov. 20 – State of the Texas Medical Center

The Greater Houston Partnership will present the State of the Texas Medical Center. Hear from William F. McKeon, president and CEO of TMC, and GHP president and CEO Steve Kean as they discuss “the tremendous progress happening in health care delivery and life sciences in the world’s largest medical center.”

This event is Thursday, Nov. 20, from 4-6:30 p.m. at Helix Park. Find more information here.

Houston's most promising health tech startups lead innovation news to know

Trending Topics

Editor's note: As October comes to a close, we're looking back at the biggest innovation stories in recent weeks. From innovations in health tech to Mark Cuban's hot take on AI, here are the top InnovationMap stories from Oct. 15-31:

1. 6 Houston health tech startups making major advancements right now

Tatiana Fofanova and Dr. Desh Mohan, founders of Koda Health. Photo courtesy Koda Health.

The Health Tech Business category in our 2025 Houston Innovation Awards (taking place Nov. 13) 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. Continue reading.

2. 7 innovative startups that are leading the energy transition in Houston

Houston-based Solidec was founded around innovations developed by Rice University associate professor Haotian Wang (far left). Photo courtesy Greentown Labs.

As part of the 2025 Houston Innovation Awards, our Energy Transition Business category honors innovative startups that are providing solution within renewables, climatetech, clean energy, alternative materials, circular economy, and more. Seven energy transition companies have been named finalists for the 2025 award. They range from a spinoff stimulating subsurface hydrogen from end-of-life oil fields to a company converting prickly pear cactus biogas into energy. Continue reading.

3. Mark Cuban calls AI ‘the greater democratizer’ for young entrepreneurs

Mark Cuban described AI as "the great democratizer" for low-income, young people at the Clover x Shark Tank Summit this month. Photo courtesy Clover.

Texas billionaire Mark Cuban—whose investment portfolio includes Houston-based Holliball, a startup that makes and sells large inflatable holiday ornaments—believes AI is leveling the playing field for budding low-income entrepreneurs. At the recent Clover x Shark Tank Summit in Las Vegas, the Shark Tank alum called AI “the greater democratizer.” Continue reading.

4. CPRIT hires MD Anderson official as chief cancer prevention officer

Ruth Rechis has been named chief prevention officer of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. Photo courtesy CPRIT.

The Austin-based Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, which provides funding for cancer research across the state, has hired Ruth Rechis as its chief prevention officer. She comes to CPRIT from Houston’s University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where she led the Cancer Prevention and Control Platform. Continue reading.

5. Axiom Space announces new CEO amid strategic leadership change

Axiom Space has named Jonathan Cirtain as its new CEO. Photo via axiomspace.com.

Six months after promoting Tejpaul Bhatia from chief revenue officer to CEO, commercial space infrastructure and human spaceflight services provider Axiom Space has replaced him. On Oct. 15, Houston-based Axiom announced Jonathan Cirtain has succeeded Bhatia as CEO. Bhatia joined Axiom in 2021. Cirtain remains the company’s president, a role he assumed in June. Continue reading.

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