10+ can't-miss Houston business and innovation events for August

WHERE TO BE

Houston innovators — put these August events on your radar. Photo via Getty Images

From networking meet-ups to expert startup showcases, August is filled with opportunities for Houston innovators.
Here's a roundup of events you won't want to miss out on so mark your calendars and register accordingly.

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

August 1 — 7th Annual Summer Science Symposium

The 7th Annual MAPTA Summer Science Symposium will showcase work from research trainees, postdoctoral fellows, and medical residents. The symposium will feature all fields of translational, basic science and clinical research. This two-day in-person event will include both poster and oral presentations.

Keynote Speakers:

Brijesh S. “Billy” Gill, MD, FACS
Corina Rosales, PhD

This event is Thursday, August 1, from 9 am to 4 pm at Houston Methodist Research Institute. Click here to register.

August 1 — Bayou Startup Showcase

The Bayou Startup Showcase is a dynamic celebration of entrepreneurship, spotlighting the newest startups and small businesses from Rice University’s OwlSpark and the University of Houston’s RED Labs accelerators. Attendees can listen to pitches, discover ways to support and grow these businesses, and engage with founders during the showcase.

This event is Thursday, August 1, from 4 to 8 pm at The Ion. Click here to register.

August 8 — Out In Tech Mixer

Out in Tech Houston provides an inclusive networking space for LGBTQ+ people and allies working in tech. Check out this relaxed, social-mixer event, hosted on the second Thursday of every month.

This event is Thursday, August 8, from 7 to 8:30 pm at Second Draught. Click here to register.

August 13 — Software Day at The Ion: An Intro to Central Texas Seed Stage VCs

Software Day is a monthly series driving the support, inspiration, and connections needed to help startups on their path to rapid, sustainable growth. Each month, Software Day will include office hours (by application), a keynote session, and networking.

Speakers include:

  • Eric Engineer, S3 Ventures
  • Rajiv Bala, Clutch Ventures
  • Cat Dizon, Active Capital
  • Mike Marcantonio, LiveOak
  • Moderator: Aziz Gilani, Mercury
This event is Tuesday, August 13, from 3:30 to 7 pm at The Ion. Click here to register.

August 15 — TMC Lunch ‘n’ Launch: Phiogen

This monthly event series hosted by TMC Innovation highlights TMC community companies and provides them with a platform to share their journey, current progress, and future goals. This month the lunch features Phiogen, a specialized phage therapy corporation founded by by Baylor College of Medicine.

This event is Thursday, August 15, from 12 to 1 pm at at TMC Innovation Factory. Click here to register.

August 15 — SPRINT Workforce Forum

This two-day event brings together industry, universities, and government entities to discuss the workforce challenges that arise from the rapidly advancing AI and robotics technologies in the energy sector. It has a special emphasis on inspiring students to become advocates of AI and robotics, enabling them to help the energy industry’s digital transformation.

This event is Thursday, August 15, starting at 12 am at Student Center South and UH Hilton. Click here to register.

August 22 — Transition On Tap

Transition On Tap is Greentown Labs’ monthly networking event devoted to fostering conversations and connections among the climate and energy transition ecosystem in Houston and beyond. Entrepreneurs, investors, students, and friends of climatetech are invited to attend, meet colleagues, and discuss solutions.

This event is Thursday, August 22 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at Greentown Houston. Click here to register.

August 23 — 2024 Cardiometabolic Syndrome Conference: A Population Health Crisis

The Cardiometabolic Syndrome Conference is designed to provide attendees with the most contemporary knowledge about the syndrome, including the epidemiology, treatment strategies, and knowledge gaps. There will be a specific focus on high-level discussions that dissect the current shortcomings in the overall management of CMS at the individual and community level and begin to consider new and innovative treatment strategies.

This event is Friday, August 23 from 7 am to 5 pm at The Texas Heart Institute. Click here to register.

August 28 — TMCi Cappuccino Connections

Network with the diverse TMC Innovation Community while enjoying a cup of joe.

This event is Wednesday, August 28, from 8:30 am to 10:30 am at TMC Innovation Factory Lobby. Click here to register.

August 28 — Bayou City Bio Pulse: Pearland

Hear from some of the region’s largest commercial life science manufacturers. This panel discussion will examine the obstacles and potential avenues for the growth of commercial life science firms. Tours of Lonza’s and Millar’s manufacturing facilities will follow the program.

This event is Wednesday, August 28, from 11 am to 2 pm at West Pearland Library. Click here to register.

August 29 — SaaStock Local: Scalability in the Age of AI, Building for Growth in SaaS

Attendees will explore innovative strategies and cutting-edge technologies designed to enhance scalability, ensuring that cloud computing environments remain robust, flexible, and capable of supporting dynamic and complex AI workloads. The session will cover best practices for optimizing resource allocation, managing data efficiently, and maintaining high performance as demand increases.

This event is Thursday, August 29, from 5:30 to 8 pm at The Ion. Click here to register.

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Baylor College of Medicine names Minnesota med school dean as new president, CEO ​

new leader

Dr. Jakub Tolar, dean of the University of Minnesota Medical School, is taking over as president, CEO and executive dean of Houston’s Baylor College of Medicine on July 1.

Tolar—who’s also vice president for clinical affairs at the University of Minnesota and a university professor—will succeed Dr. Paul Klotman as head of BCM. Klotman is retiring June 30 after leading Texas’ top-ranked medical school since 2010.

In tandem with medical facilities such as Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center and Texas Children’s Hospital, Baylor trains nearly half of the doctors who work at Texas Medical Center. In addition, Baylor is home to the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Texas Heart Institute.

The hunt for a new leader at Baylor yielded 179 candidates. The medical school’s search firm interviewed 44 candidates, and the pool was narrowed to 10 contenders who were interviewed by the Board of Trustees’ search committee. The full board then interviewed the four finalists, including Tolar.

Greg Brenneman, chair of Baylor’s board and the search committee, says Tolar is “highly accomplished” in the core elements of the medical school’s mission: research, patient care, education and community service.

“Baylor is phenomenal. Baylor is a superpower in academic medicine,” Tolar, a native of the Czech Republic, says in a YouTube video filmed at the medical school. “And everything comes together here because science saves lives. That is the superpower.”

Tolar’s medical specialties include pediatric blood and bone marrow transplants. His research, which he’ll continue at Baylor, focuses on developing cellular therapies for rare genetic disorders. In the research arena, he’s known for his care of patients with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, a severe genetic skin disorder.

In a news release, Tolar praises Baylor’s “achievements and foundation,” as well as the school’s potential to advance medicine and health care in “new and impactful ways.”

The Baylor College of Medicine employs more than 9,300 full-time faculty and staff. For the 2025-26 academic year, nearly 1,800 students are enrolled in the School of Medicine, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and School of Health Professions. Its M.D. program operates campuses in Houston and Temple.

In the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2024, Baylor recorded $2.72 billion in operating revenue and $2.76 billion in operating expenses.

The college was founded in 1900 in Dallas and relocated to Houston in 1943. It was affiliated with Baylor University in Waco from 1903 to 1969.

$50 million for Houston ibogaine research tops innovation news to know

News to know

Editor's note: The Houston innovation scene is entering 2026 with fresh funding for startups and major grants for innovative health treatments and neurological research. Here are the five most-read InnovationMap stories to start the new year, published Jan. 1-15, 2026:

1. Houston hospitals win $50M grant for ibogaine addiction treatment research

UTHealth Houston and UTMB will lead IMPACT, an initiative working toward ibogaine-based treatments for addiction and neurological issues. Photo via Pexels.

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has awarded $50 million to UTHealth Houston in collaboration with The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB Health) to co-lead a multicenter research trial to evaluate the effect of ibogaine, a powerful psychoactive compound, on patients suffering from addiction, traumatic brain injury and other behavioral health conditions. The funding will establish a two-year initiative—known as Ibogaine Medicine for PTSD, Addiction, and Cognitive Trauma (IMPACT)—and a consortium of Texas health institutions focused on clinical trials and working toward potential FDA-approved treatments. Continue reading.

2. Rice scientist earns $600K NSF award to study distractions in digital age

Kirsten Adam, a Rice psychologist, is studying how the brain refocuses in the age of screens, instant gratification and other lingering distractions. Photo via Pexels.

Rice University psychologist Kirsten Adam has received a $600,000 National Science Foundation CAREER Award to research how visual distractions like phone notifications, flashing alerts, crowded screens and busy workspaces can negatively impact focus—and how the brain works to try to regain it. Adam’s work will aim to clarify how the brain refocuses in the age of screens, instant gratification and other lingering distractions. The funding will also be used to train graduate students in advanced cognitive neuroscience methods, expand access to electroencephalography (EEG) and for public data sharing. Continue reading.

3. TMC launches new biotech partnership with Republic of Korea

The Texas Medical Center and KBIOHealth have launched the TMC Republic of Korea BioBridge. Photo via LinkedIn.

Houston's Texas Medical Center has launched its new TMC Republic of Korea BioBridge. The new partnership brings together the TMC with the Osong Medical Innovation Foundation, or KBIOHealth. The Biobridge aims to support the commercialization of Korean biotech and life science startups in the U.S., foster clinical research, and boost collaboration in the public, private and academic sectors. Continue reading.

4. CPRIT CEO: Houston’s $2B in funding is transforming cancer research and prevention

Kristen Doyle, CEO of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). Photo courtesy CPRIT.

With its plethora of prestigious health care organizations like the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, UTHealth Houston, and the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston sits at the heart of cancer research and prevention in Texas. Of course, it takes piles of cash to support Houston’s status as the state’s hub for cancer research and prevention. Much of that money comes from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). Data supplied by CPRIT shows organizations in Harris County gained $2.3 billion in institute funding from 2009 through 2025, or nearly $145 million per year. That represents almost 60 percent of the roughly $4 billion that CPRIT has granted to Texas institutions over a 16-year period. Continue reading.

5. 14 Houston startups starting 2026 with fresh funding

From groundbreaking energy leaders to growing space startups, here's who secured funding in the last six months of 2025. Photo via Getty Images

Houston startups closed out the last half of 2025 with major funding news. Here are 14 Houston companies—from groundbreaking energy leaders to growing space startups—that secured funding in the last six months of the year, according to reporting by InnovationMap and our sister site EnergyCapitalHTX.com. Continue reading.

​Planned UT Austin med center, anchored by MD Anderson, gets $100M gift​

med funding

The University of Texas at Austin’s planned multibillion-dollar medical center, which will include a hospital run by Houston’s University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, just received a $100 million boost from a billionaire husband-and-wife duo.

Tench Coxe, a former venture capitalist who’s a major shareholder in chipmaking giant Nvidia, and Simone Coxe, co-founder and former CEO of the Blanc & Otus PR firm, contributed the $100 million—one of the largest gifts in UT history. The Coxes live in Austin.

“Great medical care changes lives,” says Simone Coxe, “and we want more people to have access to it.”

The University of Texas System announced the medical center project in 2023 and cited an estimated price tag of $2.5 billion. UT initially said the medical center would be built on the site of the Frank Erwin Center, a sports and entertainment venue on the UT Austin campus that was demolished in 2024. The 20-acre site, north of downtown and the state Capitol, is near Dell Seton Medical Center, UT Dell Medical School and UT Health Austin.

Now, UT officials are considering a bigger, still-unidentified site near the Domain mixed-use district in North Austin, although they haven’t ruled out the Erwin Center site. The Domain development is near St. David’s North Medical Center.

As originally planned, the medical center would house a cancer center built and operated by MD Anderson and a specialty hospital built and operated by UT Austin. Construction on the two hospitals is scheduled to start this year and be completed in 2030. According to a 2025 bid notice for contractors, each hospital is expected to encompass about 1.5 million square feet, meaning the medical center would span about 3 million square feet.

Features of the MD Anderson hospital will include:

  • Inpatient care
  • Outpatient clinics
  • Surgery suites
  • Radiation, chemotherapy, cell, and proton treatments
  • Diagnostic imaging
  • Clinical drug trials

UT says the new medical center will fuse the university’s academic and research capabilities with the medical and research capabilities of MD Anderson and Dell Medical School.

UT officials say priorities for spending the Coxes’ gift include:

  • Recruiting world-class medical professionals and scientists
  • Supporting construction
  • Investing in technology
  • Expanding community programs that promote healthy living and access to care

Tench says the opportunity to contribute to building an institution from the ground up helped prompt the donation. He and others say that thanks to MD Anderson’s participation, the medical center will bring world-renowned cancer care to the Austin area.

“We have a close friend who had to travel to Houston for care she should have been able to get here at home. … Supporting the vision for the UT medical center is exactly the opportunity Austin needed,” he says.

The rate of patients who leave the Austin area to seek care for serious medical issues runs as high as 25 percent, according to UT.

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