3 Houston innovators to know this week

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This week's roundup of Houston innovators includes Steve Latham of DonateStock, Arianne Dowdell of Houston Methodist, and Howard Berman of Coya Therapeutics. Photos courtesy

Editor's note: In this week's roundup of Houston innovators to know, I'm introducing you to three local innovators across industries — from fintech to health care DEI — recently making headlines in Houston innovation.

Steve Latham, co-founder and CEO of DonateStock

Houstonian and serial entrepreneur plans to scale nonprofit fintech toolThe sky's the limit for DonateStock, Co-Founder and CEO Steve Latham says. Photo courtesy of DonateStock

For the third time in his career, serial entrepreneur Steve Latham recession activity, so he feels confident he knows the playbook of how to handle what's on the horizon. For his latest venture, Donate Stock, a tech platform that simplifies stock donation for both the donor and the beneficiary, he's focused on weathering whatever storm is incoming.

"We've raised more money to extend our runway, and we're keeping a super tight lid on expenses because your cash is your oxygen," he says. "There are companies going out of business in our industry right now that had really promising businesses but just spent too much money before they could get to the revenue phase."

He shares the background story on DonateStock and his own career on last week's Houston Innovators Podcast episode. Read more and stream the episode.

Arianne Dowdell, vice president and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at Houston Methodist

Arianne Dowdell spoke with InnovationMap about Houston Methodist's DEI initiatives — and how they will help develop the hospital of the future. Photo courtesy of Houston Methodist

Innovation and equity are two things they have to go together — and Houston Methodist knows that. Which is why Arianne Dowdell serves as vice president and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at Houston Methodist. Under her leadership, the health care provider is putting the patients at the forefront of the hospital system's priorities through its DEI initiatives.

In an interview with InnovationMap, Dowdell shares more about these ongoing initiatives and her role, as well as the importance of DEI in innovative health care.

"It doesn't matter if you're down here in the medical center or out in Baytown," she says. "The innovation and what we're thinking about and the technologies and the way that we communicate with our patients, all that is part of innovation, which helps our DEI initiatives become more successful in everything that we're doing." Read more.

Howard Berman, CEO of Coya Therapeutics

A Houston biotech startup focused on developing therapeutics for neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases has closed its IPO. Photo courtesy of Coya

A clinical-stage biotech company based in Houston has announced the closing of its $15.25 million IPO.

Coya Therapeutics, now trading under the ticker COYA, announced this week that its IPO — previously disclosed in December — has closed its initial public offering of 3,050,000 shares of its common stock and accompanying warrants to purchase up to 1,525,000 shares of common stock, per a news release. Howard Berman, CEO of Coya Therapeutics, has lead the company since February of 2021. Read more.

The sky's the limit for DonateStock, Co-Founder and CEO Steve Latham says. Photo courtesy of DonateStock

Houstonian and serial entrepreneur plans to scale nonprofit fintech tool

Houston innovators podcast episode 167

Donating stock can be a smart way to offload assets and optimize a donation — but Steve Latham thought it was so cumbersome a process that it didn't even feel worth it.

"It was such a hassle that I never did it again," says Latham on the Houston Innovators Podcast.

That opportunity for innovation stuck with Latham as he advanced his career in AdTech in New York before moving back to Houston a few years ago. A serial entrepreneur, Latham was an early co-founder of the Houston Technology Center.

His latest venture is DonateStock — a tech platform that simplifies stock donation for both the donor and the beneficiary. The early version of Latham's vision was to clear up the lack of communication the original process had — nonprofits receiving stock donations were never notified about who made each donation.

The next phase for the fintech company, as Latham explains on the show, is to scale this idea by way of channel distribution, rather than just directly working between donor and nonprofit. He says he wants DonateStock to be a featured as an "easy button" option wherever donations are accepted online.

"Now that we've proven and shown that our process works," he says, "let's scale that to make that button available to the 20 or so online donation platforms."

In order to accomplish this goal, Latham is preparing to fundraise early this year, but it's a challenging time for fintech amid economic uncertainty, he says. So far, the company has raise $2.25 million from within the company's network along with angel and family office investment.

This is the third time in Latham's career that he's seen this recession activity, so he feels confident he knows the playbook of how to handle what's on the horizon.

Latham shares more about the difference his company is making within the nonprofit sector, as well as his passion for Houston and its local tech ecosystem — which he's seen grow up from afar — on the podcast episode. Stream the episode below, or wherever you listen to your podcasts.

Houston-based DonateStock is $50,000 richer after claiming a recent pitch competition win. Photo via donatestock.com

Houston fintech startup snags Capital Factory's $50,000 pitch investment prize

winner, winner

Capital Factory, one of the most active startup investors with a presence across Texas, recently hosted a virtual pitch competition — and one Houston startup took home the big prize.

As a part of the Houston Tech Rodeo, Capital Factory hosted its $50K Houston Investment Challenge with five finalists — DonateStock, Elastique, Elemental Coatings, M&S Biotics, and ScalaMed. The panel of judges included Andy Cloyd, vice president of Revolution; Aleece Hobson, venture partner at HX Venture Fund; and Juliana Garaizar launch director of Greentown Labs.

DonateStock, a tech-enabled tool that automates the stock donation process, took home the big win. Steve Latham, founder and chairman of DonateStock, presented the company's pitch and explained how the tool has the potential to unlock $100 billion for nonprofits.

"A lot of people aren't aware about the benefits of donating stock," Latham explains. "If you're sitting on stock that you've owned or several years that's appreciated quite a bit. If you sell it, you pay capital gains tax — anywhere from 15 to 30 percent. If you donate it, you avoid the tax and you get a big write off, you can deduct the full market value of the donated stock."

He goes on to explain how only 2 percent of people donate stock — and its due to the archaic process that it takes. DonateStock's platform optimizes the education of donors, the connection of nonprofits to new donors, and the simplification of the process. What used to take hours now takes just 10 minutes, Latham says.

Nonprofits get a free page, free customer support, and there is no fee to be on the platform, and DonateStock makes a 2 percent transaction fee. The company already has 40 nonprofits on the platform, and over 70 in the queue to sign up. The goal, Latham says, is to have 900 organizations online by the end of the year. He's already seen a lot of interest in light of the pandemic.

"This is the time to solve this problem," Latham says. "If you have friends at nonprofits or charities, you know what the pandemic did to giving programs. They've all been devastated and they have gotta find new ways to diversify and grow their revenue."

DonateStock anticipates a seed round later this year. It's the third startup Latham has worked on with his co-founder.

"We see a path to building a billion-dollar company over the next five years while impacting millions of lives around the world," he says.

Each of the other finalists' consolation prize is a connection and a foot in the door at Capital Factory, says CEO Joshua Baer.

"Every time we do one of these, we meet a bunch of companies that we end up working with — and many of whom we end up investing in," he says at the virtual event. "We're going to be following up with all of the companies from today. Anyone who was a finalist and up on the stage is someone we are excited about and interested in working more closely with."

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UTHealth Houston officially opens new tower in TMC's Helix Park

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UTHealth Houston School of Public Health recently opened its new state-of-the-art tower in the Texas Medical Center’s Helix Park.

The 350,000-square-foot, 10-story campus at 1930 Old Spanish Trail was celebrated with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony on Oct. 28. The $229 million project will consolidate all UTHealth Houston School of Public Health operations into one facility. It will also connect students who are at the Austin, Brownsville, Dallas, El Paso and San Antonio campuses with peers and faculty through digital and distance learning.

Disciplines taught in the new tower will include epidemiology, genetics, nutrition, health policy, data science and health promotion, UTHealth shared when the building first broke ground in 2023.

Architects Kirksey Architecture and Smith Group designed the building, and Vaughn Construction served as general contractor. The facility features labs for studying human disease, classrooms and spaces to support interdisciplinary and community-based research, a broadcast studio and a teaching kitchen. A skybridge over Old Spanish Trail connects the new tower with a plaza that's shared with MD Anderson.

“This new facility reflects the kind of forward-looking investment that will serve Texans for generations,” Janiece Longoria, vice chairman of the UT System Board of Regents, said in a news release. “By creating an environment where talented people can learn, collaborate, and pursue new ideas, UTHealth Houston is building capacity to meet the challenges of tomorrow while strengthening its impact across our state.”

UTHealth says the system aims for the new campus to expand on collaborative research efforts and continue graduate education, as enrollment at the School of Public Health has increased by 27 percent over the last five years.

“This new building, with its state-of-the-art education technology and learning environment, will strengthen and advance the school’s mission to educate and train the next generation of experts who will advance scientific discovery, shape evidence-based health policy, and lead innovative solutions to the complex health challenges in communities throughout Texas and across the nation,” Kevin Morano, senior vice president, provost and chief academic officer of UTHealth Houston, added in a news release.

Attending the ceremony were Dr. Melina R. Kibbe, UTHealth Houston president and Alkek Williams Distinguished Chair; Eric Boerwinkle, dean, M. David Low Chair in Public Health and Kozmetsky Family Chair in Human Genetics at the School of Public Health; Texas State Representative Lauren Ashley Simmons, Texas House District 146; representatives of the offices of Senator John Cornyn and Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis; and Dr. Theresa Tran, director of the Houston Health Department.

"This building represents far more than a home for our school,” Boerwinkle added in the release. “It represents the people who make our mission possible: the faculty, staff, and students who fill each laboratory and classroom with curiosity, discovery, and purpose to improve the population’s quality of life.”

Rice University breaks ground on new innovation hub, The Arc

breaking ground

Construction is officially underway on Rice University's The Arc in Houston’s Ion District.

The university broke ground on the 200,000-square-foot research, corporate innovation and office building on Nov. 4. The facility will share a plaza with the existing Ion building, fostering collaboration within the innovation space, according to Rice.

“The Arc will bring Rice’s extraordinary research and talent and Houston’s impactful innovation ecosystem into even closer connection with the industries and innovators working to solve some of the world’s most consequential challenges,” Rice President Reginald DesRoches said in an announcement. “That constant exchange of ideas and expertise will help move discoveries more rapidly from the laboratory to real-world impact.”

Construction is scheduled to be completed by Q2 2028. Rice Real Estate Co. is developing the project, and Rice University will occupy about 80,000 square feet in the building (about 40 percent). Preleasing has begun, with floor plans ranging from 28,000 to 31,000 square feet.

The Arc will feature conference and meeting spaces, an amenity lounge, fitness center, outdoor plazas, underground parking, and on-site retail and dining, according to the release.

It aims to host tenants focused on artificial intelligence and machine learning, data science, robotics, quantum science and engineering and energy, including Rice's new AI Foundry.

Rice says the AI Foundry will be a space where university experts and partners can support organizations with AI challenges. Rice recently committed to hiring 75 new AI-focused faculty and announced plans to launch a new Master of Artificial Intelligence (MAI) next fall.

“The AI Foundry is exactly the kind of collaboration the Arc is designed to enable,” Amy Dittmar, the Howard R. Hughes Provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Rice, added in the release. “By bringing Rice researchers together with industry partners in a shared environment, we can accelerate the movement of ideas from research into practical applications while helping organizations build the capabilities they need to succeed as AI continues to evolve.

Developers of The Arc are targeting LEED Gold certification by incorporating smart building automation and energy-saving features into the project's design. Rice first announced the project in September 2025.

Rendering courtesy Bogza

Houston battery tech startup FlowCellutions acquired by Katy energy co.

M&A

Katy-based TerraFlow Energy, an energy storage and infrastructure company, has acquired Houston-based battery technology startup FlowCellutions. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

FlowCellutions still operates under its established name, but with the tagline “A TerraFlow Energy Company.” Becca Segel, founder and CEO of FlowCellutions, now runs the business as its president.

FlowCellutions specializes in electrochemical sensing, diagnostics, analytics, and testing that offer insights into battery chemistry, charging capabilities, and system performance.

“FlowCellutions has always been focused on developing better ways to understand what is happening inside a flow battery and using that information to improve how these systems perform,” Segal said in a press release. “Joining TerraFlow gives us the opportunity to apply that work at a much larger scale while continuing to build the capabilities and expertise that make FlowCellutions unique.”

The FlowCellutions platform supports data centers and other heavy users of power. It’s designed to help reduce operating costs, prevent failures and costly downtime, and extend battery lifetime from about seven years to more than 30 years.

Segel founded the company in 2022. A member of Greentown Labs, the company raised more than $2 million in non-dilutive funding and received $1.5 million in National Science Foundation funding earlier this year.

FlowCellutions is one of five finalists in the Energy Transition Business category of InnovationMap’s 2026 Houston Innovation Awards.

“FlowCellutions brings a depth of scientific and technical expertise that fits naturally with where TerraFlow is going,” Jon Parrella, CEO of TerraFlow, said in the release.

“As we move from developing these systems to deploying them at commercial scale, understanding performance at a deeper level matters,” he said. “Bringing FlowCellutions into TerraFlow strengthens that capability and gives both teams more opportunity to advance the technology.”TerraFlow, founded in 2024, develops long-duration energy storage and power infrastructure for data centers, industrial facilities, utilities and other large power consumers.

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This article originally appeared on EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

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