New health-focused generative AI company emerges from stealth with Houston office, $4M in funding

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Biostate AI has emerged from stealth this week — with $4 million and a mission to design AI products to predict human and animal health changes. Photo via Getty Images

A new scalable biodata foundry startup has emerged from stealth with $4 million in investment funding and two new health care artificial intelligence tools. The company is co-located in Houston and Palo Alto, California.

Biostate AI was co-founded by former Rice Professor David Zhang, who serves as the company's CEO, in 2023. With the launch, the company announced two service products: Total RNA sequencing and Copilot for RNAseq data analysis, Biostate reveals in a press release.

"The successful training of any AI well requires large quantities of relevant and high-quality data," Zhang says in the release. "Biostate AI has developed the instrumental technologies to facilitate the collection of more biological data at lower costs. We are pleased to offer these capabilities to academic and industry partners and collaborators."

The company has raised more than $4 million in venture funding. Matter Venture Partners led the initial round, with participation from Vision Plus Capital, Catapult VC, and the California Institute of Technology through the Caltech Seed Fund. Additional investors included Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic; Joris Poort, CEO of Rescale; Michael Schnall-Levin, CTO of 10X Genomics; and Emily Leproust, CEO of Twist Bioscience.

"AI is the next frontier and AI needs data, and biological data is a lot harder to get than text or images. We are excited about the potential for Biostate's technology to dramatically lower the cost of collecting RNAseq datasets," adds Haomiao Huang, founding partner at Matter Venture Partners, in the release. "As a US company, Biostate's affordable AI-embedded CRO services are much needed today as the supply of preclinical research services shrinks due to geopolitical tensions."

With an ultimate goal of designing AI products to predict human and animal health changes, Biostate AI is looking to partner with academic researchers, hospital biorepositories, and pharma and other biotech companies.

In addition to its two launched products, Biostate AI has filed nine pending patents on its technologies and is collaborating with Twist Bioscience and California Institute of Technology.

With its official launch, Biostate AI also debut OmicsWeb Copilot, a conversational AI that aids biologists in and visualizing data. Using large-language models, the platform provides access to over 1000 unique RNAseq datasets collected by the Biostate team.

"Bioinformatic analysis of RNAseq and other omics data is a highly complex, multi-step process that currently takes many hours of dedicated specialized programming," explains Ashwin Gopinath, co-founder and CTO of Biostate AI, in the release. "As we scaled up our RNAseq data collection in the past year, we started building OmicsWeb Copilot as an internal tool to help our scientists make sense of the data. And then we realized other people may also find this tool useful, so we're opening it up to the general public for free."

Biostate is asking those interested in collaboration to reach out at partnerships@biostate.ai.

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A Houston startup has launched to keep an eye on your AC to predict and prevent outages and issues. Photo courtesy of SmartAC.com

Houston home tech startup emerges from stealth with $10M series A round

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It can get hot as Hades in Houston during the summer, and a new Houston startup is using machine learning and technology to ensure that users can count on their air conditioning units to stay up and running during the heat.

Houston-based SmartAC.com has emerged from stealth mode with $10 million in funding from a series A investment round. The company's technology focuses on maintaining air conditioning and heating (HVAC) health before a major service issue occurs.

"Over 70 million homes have central air in the U.S., making indoor comfort a regular way of life. People don't often think about their HVAC systems, taking it for granted, until the day the AC or heat goes out," says Josh Teekell, CEO and founder of SmartAC.com, in a news release. "These systems require regular upkeep, and when they aren't maintained, costs can get out of hand. SmartAC.com's offer is simple; we care about your AC so you don't have to."

The company's technology combines three hardware sensors — which users can install themselves — and machine learning software to analyze data to predict service issues. The comfort sensor monitors the temperature of the air coming out of the unit, the filter sensor tracks the lifespan of air filters by tracking pressure and airflow, and the water sensor protects against leaks and clogs.


The three SmartAC.com sensors are magnetic and easy to install. Photo courtesy of SmartAC.com

All three sensors are linked by SmartAC.com Hub, which sends data from the sensors to the cloud and the SmartAC.com app to translate the data into recommendations to help users reduce costs and get ahead of issues.

"The average AC replacement cost is $7,500 — an expense that can be a huge burden on homeowners. Caring for these assets is inconvenient and oftentimes confusing, resulting in 80 percent of homeowners skipping the recommended maintenance on their AC systems," says Andrew Fuselier, SmartAC.com's COO, in a news release. "It's time to digitize the AC ownership experience to solve a decades old problem. SmartAC.com was formed in stealth mode with feedback from thousands of homeowners, so we're thrilled to finally show the world what we've built."

In addition to working directly with consumers, SmartAC.com has teamed up with HVAC service providers.

"SmartAC.com is a total game-changer," says David Lewis of Mission AC in a news release. "Our clients love the additional transparency and the technology allows us to improve our service speed and quality because, for the first time, we have real-time data on the systems we service."

The data from the sensors is analyzed and sent to users via the smart phone app. Photo courtesy of SmartAC.com

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German biotech co. to relocate to Houston thanks to $4.75M CPRIT grant

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Armed with a $4.75 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, a German biotech company will relocate to Houston to work on developing a cancer medicine that fights solid tumors.

Eisbach Bio is conducting a clinical trial of its EIS-12656 therapy at Houston’s MD Anderson Cancer Center. In September, the company announced its first patient had undergone EIS-12656 treatment. EIS-12656 works by suppressing cancer-related genome reorganization generated by DNA.

The funding from the cancer institute will support the second phase of the EIS-12656 trial, focusing on homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) tumors.

“HRD occurs when a cell loses its ability to repair double-strand DNA breaks, leading to genomic alterations and instability that can contribute to cancerous tumor growth,” says the institute.

HRD is a biomarker found in most advanced stages of ovarian cancer, according to Medical News Today. DNA constantly undergoes damage and repairs. One of the repair routes is the

homologous recombination repair (HRR) system.

Genetic mutations, specifically those in the BCRA1 and BCRA1 genes, cause an estimated 10 percent of cases of ovarian cancer, says Medical News Today.

The Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) says the Eisbach Bio funding will bolster the company’s “transformative approach to HRD tumor therapy, positioning Texas as a hub for innovative cancer treatments while expanding clinical options for HRD patients.”

The cancer institute also handed out grants to recruit several researchers to Houston:

  • $2 million to recruit Norihiro Goto from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to MD Anderson.
  • $2 million to recruit Xufeng Chen from New York University to MD Anderson.
  • $2 million to recruit Xiangdong Lv from MD Anderson to the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

In addition, the institute awarded:

  • $9,513,569 to Houston-based Marker Therapeutics for a first-phase study to develop T cell-based immunotherapy for treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer.
  • $2,499,990 to Lewis Foxhall of MD Anderson for a colorectal cancer screening program.
  • $1,499,997 to Abigail Zamorano of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston for a cervical cancer screening program.
  • $1,497,342 to Jennifer Minnix of MD Anderson for a lung cancer screening program in Northeast Texas.
  • $449,929 to Roger Zoorob of the Baylor College of Medicine for early prevention of lung cancer.

On November 20, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute granted funding of $89 million to an array of people and organizations involved in cancer prevention and research.

Top Houston startups, innovators win big, space tech rolls out rover, and more trending news

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Editor's note:Let's roundup the most-read Houston innovation news from the week. Trending Houston tech and startup articles from InnovationMap and its daily newsletter included the announcement of the Houston Innovation Awards winners, Intuitive Machines rolling out its rover, and more.

2024 Houston Innovation Awards winners named at annual event

This year's award recipients span industries and technologies. Photos courtesy

Houston innovators — the moment you've been waiting for. The winners of the 2024 Houston Innovation Awards were named at the annual event.

The Houston Innovation Awards honored over 40 finalists across categories, naming the 12 winners and honoring the two Trailblazer Legacy Awards at the event. Click here to see the winners.

Photos: Houston Innovation Awards celebrates city's startup, tech leaders at annual event

Over 500 members of Houston's innovation community showed up to celebrate the best and brightest of the ecosystem. Photo by Emily Jaschke/InnovationMap

The 2024 Houston Innovation Awards season has come to a close with last week's event.

With a crowd of around 500 attendees, the Houston Innovation Awards, which took place on November 14, celebrated over 40 finalists and a dozen winners across categories. Click here to view photos from the event.

Houston space tech co. rolls out futuristic lunar rover for NASA's Artemis missions

Intuitive Machine unveiled its RACER lunar terrain vehicle at Space Center Houston. Photo courtesy of Intuitive Machines

Houston-based space exploration company Intuitive Machines just unveiled its version of a lunar terrain vehicle that’s designed to be used by astronauts in NASA’s Artemis moon discovery program.

Intuitive Machine recently rolled out its RACER lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) at Space Center Houston. RACER stands for Reusable Autonomous Crewed Exploration Rover. Click here to continue reading.

Houston accelerator names inaugural cohort to propel digital transformation in energy

The NOV Supernova Accelerator will work to cultivate relationships between startups and NOV. Photo via Getty Images

Houston-based Venture Builder VC has kicked off its NOV Supernova Accelerator and named its inaugural cohort.

The program, originally announced earlier this year, focuses on accelerating digital transformation solutions for NOV Inc.'s operations in the upstream oil and gas industry. It will support high-potential startups in driving digital transformation within the energy sector, specifically upstream oil and gas, and last five months and culminate in a demo day where founders will present solutions to industry leaders, potential investors, NOV executives, and other stakeholders. Click here to continue reading.

2 Houston health innovation leaders award grants to cancer-fighting researchers

The Cancer Bioengineering Collaborative announced the projects that were selected for its first round of seed grants. Photo via Rice.edu

Five cancer-fighting research projects were named inaugural recipients of a new grant program founded by two Houston institutions.

Last summer, Rice University and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center announced they were teaming up to form the new Cancer Bioengineering Collaborative. The shared initiative, created to form innovative technologies and bioengineering approaches to improve cancer research, diagnosis and treatment, recently launched with an event at the TMC3 Collaborative Building in Helix Park. Click here to continue reading.

West Coast innovation organization unveils new location in Houston suburb to boost Texas tech ecosystem

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Leading innovation platform Plug and Play announced the opening of its new flagship Houston-area location in Sugar Land, which is its fourth location in Texas.

Plug and Play has accelerated over 2,700 startups globally last year with corporate partners that include Dell Technologies, Daikin, Microsoft, LG Chem, Shell, and Mercedes. The company’s portfolio includes PayPal, Dropbox, LendingClub, and Course Hero, with 8 percent of the portfolio valued at over $100 million.

The deal, which facilitated by the Sugar Land Office of Economic Development and Tourism, will bring a new office for the organization to Sugar Land Town Square with leasing and hiring between December and January. The official launch is slated for the first quarter of 2025, and will feature 15 startups announced on Selection Day.

"By expanding to Sugar Land, we’re creating a space where startups can access resources, build partnerships, and scale rapidly,” VP Growth Strategy at Plug and Play Sherif Saadawi says in a news release. “This location will help fuel Texas' innovation ecosystem, providing entrepreneurs with the tools and networks they need to drive real-world impact and contribute to the state’s technological and economic growth."

Plug and Play plans to hire four full-time equivalent employees and accelerate two startup batches per year. The focus will be on “smart cities,” which include energy, health, transportation, and mobility sectors. One Sugar Land City representative will serve as a board member.

“We are excited to welcome Plug and Play to Sugar Land,” Mayor of Sugar Land Joe Zimmerma adds. “This investment will help us connect with corporate contacts and experts in startups and businesses that would take us many years to reach on our own. It allows us to create a presence, attract investments and jobs to the city, and hopefully become a base of operations for some of these high-growth companies.”

The organization originally entered the Houston market in 2019 and now has locations in Bryan/College Station, Frisco, and Cedar Park in Texas.

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