With the acquisition, Tekmetric is positioned to be the first auto repair technology platform to achieve unicorn status. Screenshot via Tekmetric

Houston cloud-based shop management system company Tekmetric is joining forces with customer relationship management leader for auto repair shops Shopgenie.

Tekmetric will be positioned to be the first auto repair technology platform to achieve unicorn status.

“This combination sets a new standard for efficiency and customer experience in the industry,” Sunil Patel, founder and CEO of Tekmetric, says in a news release. “At Tekmetric, we are committed to providing shop owners with best-in-class tools to manage and grow their businesses. Similarly, Shopgenie’s ability to solve real-world challenges with intuitive technology has earned it the trust of shop owners nationwide.”

Shopgenie’s CRM and customer experience tools and Tekmetric’s shop management solutions will combine to provide a platform across North America. The collaboration will “empower shop owners to streamline operations, manage communication and build stronger customer relationships—all from a single, unified platform,” according to a news release.

Both companies over the next few months, will begin to integrate features from both platforms into a single unified system with one platform, a single login and one phone number for customer communications.

“Tekmetric’s relentless pursuit of innovation and passion for creating products that make shop owners’ lives easier could not be a more perfect fit for Shopgenie and our customers,” Kieran O’Brien, CEO and co-founder of Shopgenie, adds. “Our combined strengths will create a more complete, powerful platform that sets a new standard for auto repair software solutions.”

With the collaboration, shops will have the continued flexibility to leverage over 70 integrations in Tekmetric’s integration ecosystem, while Shopgenie will continue to build and support integrations with other shop management systems. Tekmetric currently serves more than 8,000 shops nationwide, and Shopgenie has over 2,000 customers.

“Together, we are building an all-in-one platform that empowers shop owners to attract, retain and serve customers more effectively, driving long-term growth,” Patel says.

Here are five quick Houston innovation stories — from fundraising to strategic partnerships. Photo via Getty Images

Houston startup raises money, Texas VC closes fund, and more local innovation news

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Houston innovators had no need to beware the ides of March this year. With all the excitement from SXSW, CERAWeek, and Houston Tech Rodeo this month, there might be some headlines you may have missed.

In this roundup of short stories within Houston startups and tech, Houston startups announce new funding and partnerships, while a Texas VC raises its largest fund yet.

Tekmetric closes recent fundraising round

A Houston software company has raised an undisclosed amount of funding. Photo via tekmetric.com

Tekmetric, a cloud-based shop management system for automotive repair shops, announced the close of its growth investment from California-based Susquehanna Growth Equity. The details of the round were not disclosed, but, according to a news release, the fresh funds will go toward growing Tekmetric's engineering and technical teams and expansion across the United States.

Launched three years ago by Prasanth Chilukuri and Sunil Patel, co-founders and co-CEOs, Tekmetric's SaaS solution provides shop owners with digital inspections, integrated payments, and more of their business needs.

“Since our launch in 2016, Tekmetric has always aspired to deliver the greatest possible value to auto repair shop owners who partner with us to run their business,” says Chilukuri in the release. “Susquehanna’s deep industry expertise and support of product-led growth makes the company an ideal partner as we scale our business, boosting our platform’s advanced products and providing the highest caliber of service for our customers.”

The platform provides both convenience and security for its users.

“As a former shop owner myself, I know how difficult it can be to find a system like Tekmetric that shop owners can trust with their business,” says Patel. “At Tekmetric, we strive to build strong relationships with our users to support their business growth. The SGE team has the same mindset, which makes them an ideal partner as Tekmetric continues to grow in the industry.”

The Postage taps new financial planning partner

The Postage has a new strategic partner. Photo courtesy of The Postage

Houston-based legacy and estate planning software platform The Postage has announced a new partnership with Austin-based Whitwell & Co., LLC, an investment management and financial planning firm.

The Postage platform, which will now be available for Whitwell's clients with the new collaboration, range from important information and documents management, estate planning document creation, end-of-life planning, and memory and message storing.

“Whitwell & Co. focuses on supporting their clients through the myriad of choices that arise during planned and unplanned life events and transitions. The Postage fits right into that, and we are thrilled for the opportunity to share our platform with their clients in their planning and organization efforts,” says Emily Cisek, CEO and co-founder of The Postage. “Our hope is to grow awareness of the streamlined digital solutions available and provide Whitwell’s clients the opportunity to create estate planning documents, easily store and safeguard critical information that families will need access at all phases of life. We look forward to providing clients of Whitwell & Co. a comprehensive planning and preparation service that delivers peace of mind to their families.”

The B2B partnership takes effect this month. The Postage, which was founded in 2019, is also closing its crowdfunding campaign on April 4.

“As a company, we are built upon the principles of an innovative approach to investment management and financial planning,” says Stefan Whitwell, CEO at Whitwell & Co. “This partnership is an important approach for us to offer our clients as we progress into the digital age. Having been around families who have had to experience the loss of a loved one, I see the need for a service like The Postage. Too often many are unsure of next steps, where documentation lives, and even last wishes.”

Austin venture capital firm with Houston portfolio companies raised $250M fund

S3 Ventures has fresh funding and eyes for Texas startups. Photo via S3

Billed as the "largest venture capital fund focused on the state of Texas," S3 Ventures's recently announced $250 million Fund VII is focused on investing in Texas startups.

S3 Ventures usually invests $500,000 to $10 million in seed, series A or series B rounds with the capacity to invest more than $20 million throughout the life of a company. The firm has made more than 50 investments since it was founded in 2005 and has more than 25 active portfolio companies and over 20 exits.

“In our first 17 years, we have been fortunate to partner with truly visionary founders who have transformed the way we work, live and heal,” says S3 Managing Director Brian R. Smith in a news release. “We look forward to working with many more in the years ahead.”

The firm has Houston startups in its portfolio: BrainCheck, a provider of interactive cognitive assessment and care planning technology; Saranas, an early bleed detection system; and BuildForce, a construction labor marketplace.

“We believe that by 2030, Texas could be the second-largest technology ecosystem in the country,” Smith said. “That growth is being driven by long-term demographic shifts and broad-based economic strength of not just Austin, but also Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.”

Saranas announces new patent

This Houston medical device company has reached another step in commercialization. Photo courtesy of Saranas

Houston-based early bleed detection medical device company Saranas has been granted a new patent from the Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office. The patent, titled “Access Closure with Bleed Monitoring,” allows for embedding a vascular access closure device with the company’s proprietary bleed monitoring technology.

“As we continue to grow our commercial presence with the Early Bird, we are pleased to secure this important patent that is designed to further expand the implementation of our differentiated bleed monitoring technology,” says Saranas CEO James Reinstein in a news release. “This patent award demonstrates Saranas’ commitment to innovation and further strengthens our intellectual property portfolio.”

At the end of 2021, Saranas announced its first patient in its clinical trials at Morristown Medical Center in Morristown, New Jersey. The trial will eventually enroll up to 265 patients across the U.S.

"We have been using the Early Bird in our clinical practice for the past two years, and the current design of incorporating a fully functional introducer sheath with bleed detection allows for seamless integration into high risk interventional cardiovascular procedures," Dr. Philippe Généreux, interventional cardiologist, says. "Embedding bleed detection directly onto a vascular closure device is the eventual next step and has the potential to become the standard of care across all types of vascular access procedures.”

DECISIO announces new product

DECISIO has a new product on the market. Photo via decisiohealth.com

Houston-based DECISIO has created a suite of customizable clinical decision support tools has announced a new product: EnvisionIQ. The new tool provides templated real-time and customized compliance reports to improve operational efficiency.

EnvisionIQ is a hospital's real-time data and visualization solution enables health systems to benchmark their clinicians, units, and hospitals to accelerate improvements, reduce variation, and expedite data collection for agency reporting requirements.

"Clinical benchmarking tools are essential to enable health systems to quickly identify improvement opportunities that have substantial impact. The addition of EnvisionIQ to our product portfolio allows DECISIO to provide comprehensive surveillance and analytics platforms to benefit hospitals in many capacities," says Paul Sinclair, chief revenue officer at DECISIO, in a news release.

Customers can tap into DECISIO's new product with or without integration with its flagship product, InsightIQTM, which was launched in 2015. The company raised a $13 million series B round in 2019.

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Houston startup secures $22.5M to innovate cell therapy to fight cancer

fresh funding

A promising cell therapy company has raised its latest funding round — to the tune of $22.5 million.

Indapta Therapeutics, which has a dual headquarters in Houston and Seattle, is a clinical stage biotechnology and next-generation cell therapy company focused on the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. The company announced it has closed a $22.5 million round of new financing to accelerate the clinical development of its differentiated allogeneic Natural Killer cell therapy.

"This funding will enable us to generate significant additional data in our ongoing trial of IDP-023 in cancer as well as initial data from our first trial in autoimmune disease," Mark Frohlich, Indapta’s CEO, says in a news release.

Indapta has completed enrollment in the safety run-in portion of the Phase 1 clinical trial of IDP-023 in Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and Multiple Myeloma, according to the company. The patients received up to three doses of IDP-023 without and with interleukin (IL)-2.

Completing the round were current investors RA Capital Management, Bayer's impact investment arm Leaps, Vertex Ventures HC, Pontifax, and the Myeloma Investment Fund, the venture philanthropy subsidiary of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. Earlier in December, Indapta announced a collaboration with Sanofi to explore the combination of its allogeneic g-NK cell therapy IDP-023 with Sanofi’s CD38 that targets the monoclonal antibody, Sarclisa (isatuximab).

"Preliminary results of IDP-023 in cancer are encouraging and we look forward to initiating our Phase 1 trial for multiple sclerosis in Q1 2025,” Frohlich continues. “This financing, together with our recently announced collaboration with Sanofi, highlights the promise of our differentiated platform.”

Also in August, Indapta announced a FDA clearance of its IND of IDP-023 in combination with ocrelizumab in progressive MS.


Mark Frohlich is the CEO of the Houston- and Seattle-based company. Photo courtesy of Indapta Therapeutics

Houston startup's revolutionary automotive recycling tech to begin commercial operations

houston innovators podcast episode 267

Vibhu Sharma observed a huge sustainability problem within the automotive industry, and he was tired of no one doing anything about it.

"Globally, humans dispose 1 billion tires every year," Sharma says on the Houston Innovators Podcast. "It's a massive environmental and public health problem because these tires can take hundreds of years to break down, and what they start doing is leaking chemicals into the soil."

Today, 98 percent of all tires end up in landfills, Sharma says, and this waste contributes to a multitude of problems — from mosquito and pest infestation to chemical leaks and fire hazards. That's why he founded InnoVent Renewables, a Houston-based company that uses its proprietary continuous pyrolysis technology to convert waste tires into valuable fuels, steel, and chemicals.

While the process of pyrolysis — decomposing materials using high heat — isn't new, InnoVent's process has a potential to be uniquely impactful. As Sharma explains on the show, he's targeting areas with an existing supply of waste tires. The company's first plant — located in Monterrey, Mexico — is expected to go online early in the new year, an impressive accomplishment considering Sharma started his company just over a year ago and bootstrapped the business with only a friends and family round of funding.

"It's about 16 months or so from start to commercial operations, which is phenomenal when you consider what it takes to build and operate a chemical or petrochemical facility," Sharma says.

Currently, with the facility close to operations, Sharma is looking to secure customers for the plant's products — which includes diesel, steel, and carbon black — and he doesn't have to look too far out of the automotive industry for his potential customer base. Additionally, the plant should be net zero by day one, since Sharma says he will be using the output to fuel operations.

While the first facility is in Mexico, Sharma says they are already looking at potential secondary locations with Texas at the top of his list. Houston, where Sharma has worked for 26 years, has been a strategic headquarters for InnoVent.

"When it came to doing the research and development, we were able to work with experts in the Houston and Texas areas to test out our idea and validate it," Sharma says. "One thing that gets under appreciated about Houston is how well it's connected to the rest of the world. There are so many direct connections between Houston and Latin America, as well as Europe, Middle East, and Asia."

"I also find that the Houston ecosystem is very supportive of new companies and helping them grow," he adds.

Houston expert on what AI is changing in the workplace — and why employers need to recognize the 'human edge'

guest column

When OpenAI's GPT-4 made headlines by passing the bar exam and scoring in the top 10 percent on medical licensing tests, I noticed something fascinating: everyone focused on AI replacing professionals, but they missed the deeper story. AI isn't just disrupting work – it's exposing fundamental flaws in how we've built our entire workplace ecosystem. It's holding up a mirror to our organizations, revealing just how far we've strayed from what makes us uniquely human.

The World Economic Forum tells us 44 percent of workers' skills will need updating by 2027, but that statistic only scratches the surface. In my conversations with business leaders, I'm watching a transformation unfold in real-time. Take the accounting industry, where I've observed forward-thinking firms like Deloitte and PwC turning their accountants into strategic business advisors while other firms continue training junior staff for tasks that AI will soon handle. This isn't just a skills mismatch – it's a fundamental misunderstanding of human potential.

The challenge runs deeper than individual industries. McKinsey predicts 30 percent of hours worked globally could be automated by 2030, but I believe they're missing a crucial point. We've spent decades designing jobs around industrial-era ideals of efficiency and standardization – the very qualities that make them perfect targets for AI automation. In our obsession with measuring, standardizing, and streamlining everything, we've created workplaces that treat humans like machines rather than the complex, creative beings we are.

What's emerging is a striking paradox: as work becomes more automated, our workplace cultures are growing more disconnected. Microsoft researchers identified a "collaboration deficit" in remote work environments, with 56 percent of employees reporting a decline in workplace friendships. This cultural shift is occurring precisely when we need human connection most. During the Great Resignation of 2021, 47 million Americans quit their jobs, they weren't leaving because of salary considerations or technological inadequacies. The most common reasons cited were lack of human connection, purpose, and authentic leadership.

Yet instead of heeding this wake-up call, the rise of AI is pushing us further apart. A decade ago, the concept of "workplace family" was commonplace – now it's often dismissed as manipulative corporate rhetoric. This shift reveals a troubling blindspot in our thinking about work. Consider this: we spend more than 90,000 hours at work over our lifetime – more time than we spend with our own families – yet we're increasingly treating these relationships as purely transactional. In our rush to establish boundaries and protect ourselves from corporate exploitation, we've overcorrected, creating sterile workplaces stripped of human connection.

This timing couldn't be worse. As someone who studies the intersection of technology and workplace culture, I've observed a clear pattern: the more we automate routine tasks, the more our success depends on distinctly human qualities like trust, emotional sensitivity, and the ability to navigate complex interpersonal dynamics. Yet we're systematically dismantling the very cultural foundations that enable these qualities to flourish. It's as if we're entering a boxing match by tying one hand behind our back – at precisely the moment we need every advantage we can get.

The real crisis isn't that AI might replace jobs – it's that we're creating workplace environments that suppress the very qualities that make us irreplaceable. When we treat our colleagues as mere interfaces rather than complex human beings, we don't just damage relationships – we damage our capacity for innovation, creativity, and the kind of deep collaboration that complex problem-solving requires.

Some companies are starting to get it right. When I look at examples like IKEA, who chose to retrain their call center workers as interior design advisors rather than simply replacing them with chatbots, I see a glimpse of what's possible. They recognized something profound: you can't automate the human ability to understand what a frustrated customer really needs, or the intuition to read between the lines of what they're saying.

This is what I call the "human edge" – and it's far more nuanced than most leadership teams realize. It's the marketing manager who can sense team tension during a video call and address it before it derails a project. It's the sales representative who builds such strong relationships that clients stay loyal through market upheavals. It's the team leader who knows exactly when to push for more and when to show compassion. These aren't just nice-to-have soft skills – they're becoming our most valuable business assets.

But here's the challenge: we're still trying to measure workplace success like it's 1990. We track productivity metrics, sales numbers, and project timelines, but how do we quantify someone's ability to defuse a tense client situation? How do we measure the value of a team leader who creates an environment where people feel safe to innovate? These human capabilities – empathy, emotional intelligence, relationship building, creative problem-solving – are increasingly what separate successful companies from failing ones, yet they're nearly impossible to capture in a performance review.

When I talk to business leaders, I tell them bluntly: if a job can be reduced to a process, AI will eventually do it better. Our value lies in all the messy, human things that happen between the bullet points of a job description. Instead of asking "How many tasks did you complete?" we should be asking "How did you help your team navigate that difficult change?" Instead of training people to follow processes, we should be developing their ability to build relationships and navigate complexity.

It's time we started treating these human capabilities not as soft skills, but as core business competencies. The question isn't whether AI will change work – it's whether we'll use this moment to finally build workplaces that enhance rather than diminish our humanity.

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Nada Ahmed is the founding partner at Houston-based Energy Tech Nexus and author of Amazon Bestseller “Determined to Lead- The Disruptive Woman's Guide to Stop Playing Small and Transform your Career through Agile Leadership.”