10 can't-miss Houston business and innovation events in July

where to be

Check out these workshops, networking events, pitch events, and other goings on in Houston and online this month. Photo via Getty Images

This month, Houstonians have yet another good batch of online innovation events — from Zoom panels to virtual conferences — and you and your tech network need to know about them.

Here's a roundup of virtual events not to miss this month — like demo days, workshops, conventions, and more.

Note: This post might be updated to add more events.

July 7 — gBETA Summer 2021 Pitch Night

Pitch Night is a celebration of gBETA Houston's latest cohort. Pitch Night is an exclusive reception during which participating companies have the opportunity to pitch to an audience of entrepreneurs, mentors, investors and community members.

The event is on Wednesday, July 7, at 5:30 pm. It's free and happening at The Cannon (1334 Brittmoore Rd) and online. Click here to register.

July 8 — Esperson Coworking Powered by The Cannon Soft Opening

The Cannon is operating new coworking space in Downtown Houston in the Esperson Building. Celebrate the soft opening with networking in the new space.

The event is on Thursday, July 8, at 3 pm. It's free and happening at the Esperson Building (808 Travis St.). Click here to register.

July 14 — People & Culture - Talent strategy is core to any business, so how do you make sure an external hire will succeed?

Did you know that more than half of external new hires fail within their first 18 months. The reason behind it: the expectations and competencies are misaligned with the recruitment process, which then are also not connected with onboarding and performance KPIs after the process is completed. The event will explore the process from end to end, diving into the main issues that lead to mistakes in executive searches. After you learn our DIY model, you can apply to external hires in levels.

The event is on Wednesday, July 14, at 11 am. It's free and happening online. Click here to register.

July 14-15 — Innovation & Entrepreneurship Summit

The Society of Petroleum Engineers' 2021 program addresses how firms are navigating the current economics of the energy industry, alternative energy partnerships, carbon innovation, resiliency in innovation, and concludes with our interactive and competitive Shark-Tank event, highlighting delivery of the next entrepreneurial solutions.

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Summit is your premier opportunity to build connections and to pursue new solutions within the Energy industry.

The event is on Wednesday, July 14, through Thursday, July 15. Tickets begin at $80. The conference will be held at Norris Conference Center, CityCentre (816 Town & Country Blvd., Suite 210). Click here to register.

July 15 — Solving Startup Challenges at the Corvaverse

Do you have a specific startup challenge or problem you can't seem to solve? Join The Cannon and Corva for lunch and breakout sessions with industry leaders and advisors who will be sharing tips on solutions. Additionally, you will hear from Corva's CEO, Ryan Dawson, who will share his journey. It's going to be an eventful, collaborative and fun time that you don't want to miss.

The event is on Thursday, July 15, at noon. It's free and happening at The Cannon West Houston (1334 Brittmoore Rd.). Click here to register.

July 17-18 — Comicpalooza 

The greatest pop-culture festival returns with celebrities, shopping, and pop culture activities that will unite, inspire, and entertain.

The event is on Saturday, July 17, through Sunday, July 18. Passes start at $54 and the festival is happening at George R. Brown Convention Center (1001 Avenida De Las Americas). Click here to register.

July 21 —  How to Invest in Space

Join Houston Angel Network for a discussion with key thought leaders in the public and private space industry about how to invest in space.

The event is on Wednesday, July 21, at 11:30 am. It's $25 to attend and happening online. Click here to register.

July 23 — HAN Summer Social

Join the Houston Angel Network and Houston Exponential for investor and founder networking over drinks.

The event is on Friday, July 23, at 5 pm. It's free to HAN members and $25 for everyone else. It's happening at Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co. (2101 Summer St.). Click here to register.

July 28 — Understanding Financial Statements

Frost Bank's VP of Commercial Banking will help entrepreneurs learn how to analyze their cash flow to strengthen their business strategy.

The event is on Wednesday, July 28, at 11:30 am. It's free and happening online. Click here to register.

July 28 — Houston Startup Showcase

Hear a select group of local tech startups pitch their company, share their current status, and tell us where they're headed next at this monthly event hosted by The Ion.

The event is on Wednesday, July 28, at 6 pm. It's free and happening online. Click here to register.


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MD Anderson makes AI partnership to advance precision oncology

AI Oncology

Few experts will disagree that data-driven medicine is one of the most certain ways forward for our health. However, actually adopting it comes at a steep curve. But what if using the technology were democratized?

This is the question that SOPHiA GENETICS has been seeking to answer since 2011 with its universal AI platform, SOPHiA DDM. The cloud-native system analyzes and interprets complex health care data across technologies and institutions, allowing hospitals and clinicians to gain clinically actionable insights faster and at scale.

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has just announced its official collaboration with SOPHiA GENETICS to accelerate breakthroughs in precision oncology. Together, they are developing a novel sequencing oncology test, as well as creating several programs targeted at the research and development of additional technology.

That technology will allow the hospital to develop new ways to chart the growth and changes of tumors in real time, pick the best clinical trials and medications for patients and make genomic testing more reliable. Shashikant Kulkarni, deputy division head for Molecular Pathology, and Dr. J. Bryan, assistant professor, will lead the collaboration on MD Anderson’s end.

“Cancer research has evolved rapidly, and we have more health data available than ever before. Our collaboration with SOPHiA GENETICS reflects how our lab is evolving and integrating advanced analytics and AI to better interpret complex molecular information,” Dr. Donna Hansel, division head of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at MD Anderson, said in a press release. “This collaboration will expand our ability to translate high-dimensional data into insights that can meaningfully advance research and precision oncology.”

SOPHiA GENETICS is based in Switzerland and France, and has its U.S. offices in Boston.

“This collaboration with MD Anderson amplifies our shared ambition to push the boundaries of what is possible in cancer research,” Dr. Philippe Menu, chief product officer and chief medical officer at SOPHiA GENETICS, added in the release. “With SOPHiA DDM as a unifying analytical layer, we are enabling new discoveries, accelerating breakthroughs in precision oncology and, most importantly, enabling patients around the globe to benefit from these innovations by bringing leading technologies to all geographies quickly and at scale.”

Houston company plans lunar mission to test clean energy resource

lunar power

Houston-based natural resource and lunar development company Black Moon Energy Corporation (BMEC) announced that it is planning a robotic mission to the surface of the moon within the next five years.

The company has engaged NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and Caltech to carry out the mission’s robotic systems, scientific instrumentation, data acquisition and mission operations. Black Moon will lead mission management, resource-assessment strategy and large-scale operations planning.

The goal of the year-long expedition will be to gather data and perform operations to determine the feasibility of a lunar Helium-3 supply chain. Helium-3 is abundant on the surface of the moon, but extremely rare on Earth. BMEC believes it could be a solution to the world's accelerating energy challenges.

Helium-3 fusion releases 4 million times more energy than the combustion of fossil fuels and four times more energy than traditional nuclear fission in a “clean” manner with no primary radioactive products or environmental issues, according to BMEC. Additionally, the company estimates that there is enough lunar Helium-3 to power humanity for thousands of years.

"By combining Black Moon's expertise in resource development with JPL and Caltech's renowned scientific and engineering capabilities, we are building the knowledge base required to power a new era of clean, abundant, and affordable energy for the entire planet," David Warden, CEO of BMEC, said in a news release.

The company says that information gathered from the planned lunar mission will support potential applications in fusion power generation, national security systems, quantum computing, radiation detection, medical imaging and cryogenic technologies.

Black Moon Energy was founded in 2022 by David Warden, Leroy Chiao, Peter Jones and Dan Warden. Chiao served as a NASA astronaut for 15 years. The other founders have held positions at Rice University, Schlumberger, BP and other major energy space organizations.

Houston co. makes breakthrough in clean carbon fiber manufacturing

Future of Fiber

Houston-based Mars Materials has made a breakthrough in turning stored carbon dioxide into everyday products.

In partnership with the Textile Innovation Engine of North Carolina and North Carolina State University, Mars Materials turned its CO2-derived product into a high-quality raw material for producing carbon fiber, according to a news release. According to the company, the product works "exactly like" the traditional chemical used to create carbon fiber that is derived from oil and coal.

Testing showed the end product met the high standards required for high-performance carbon fiber. Carbon fiber finds its way into aircraft, missile components, drones, racecars, golf clubs, snowboards, bridges, X-ray equipment, prosthetics, wind turbine blades and more.

The successful test “keeps a promise we made to our investors and the industry,” Aaron Fitzgerald, co-founder and CEO of Mars Materials, said in the release. “We proved we can make carbon fiber from the air without losing any quality.”

“Just as we did with our water-soluble polymers, getting it right on the first try allows us to move faster,” Fitzgerald adds. “We can now focus on scaling up production to accelerate bringing manufacturing of this critical material back to the U.S.”

Mars Materials, founded in 2019, converts captured carbon into resources, such as carbon fiber and wastewater treatment chemicals. Investors include Untapped Capital, Prithvi Ventures, Climate Capital Collective, Overlap Holdings, BlackTech Capital, Jonathan Azoff, Nate Salpeter and Brian Andrés Helmick.

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This article originally appeared on our sister site, EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

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