2 lab-stage Houston startups receive fresh funding from Rice University grant program

cashing in on innovation

The two new awardees are LymphGuide and HEXASpec, which were selected from 26 applications. Each company received an $100,000 grant. Photo courtesy of The Ion

Rice University has doled out another batch of grants from its program supporting lab-based innovations.

The One Small Step Grant, which was announced a year ago and gave out its first grants in February, was established to fund Rice-founded, lab-stage projects on their path to commercialization

“The One Small Step Grant invites applications from students and faculty who are tackling some of the world’s most pressing challenges and preparing to bring their innovative technologies to market,” Nafisa Istami, innovation manager at Rice, says in a news release. “We received highly competitive applications from across campus, truly showcasing the growing momentum of technology innovation happening at Rice.”

The two new awardees are LymphGuide and HEXASpec, which were selected from 26 applications. Each company received an $100,000 grant.

LymphGuide was developed by Martha Fowler in Rice professor Omid Veiseh’s lab. The hydrogel platform is a customizable alginate that's combined with an engineered cell therapy to aid in lymphatic cell regrowth, initially targeting the treatment and prevention of lymphedema.

"We are profoundly grateful to the One Small Step Grant for supporting our vision to treat lymphedema,” says Martha Fowler, cofounder of LymphGuide. “This funding will propel our biotechnology into pre-clinical evaluation to make a meaningful impact in scientific research and for people suffering from lymphatic disease.” Fowler is also an active contributor in the Rice entrepreneurship ecosystem and an Liu Idea Lab of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Innovation Fellows Cohort 2 member.

Led by by Tianshu Zhai in Rice professor Jun Lou’s lab, HEXASpec develops inorganic fillers and molding compounds for next-generation chip packaging. Zhai is also one of the Liu Idea Lab of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Innovation Fellows.

“We are thrilled to receive the One Small Step Grant from Rice Innovation,” says Tianshu Zhai, cofounder of HEXASpec. “This support is crucial for advancing HEXASpec and signifies the strong backing of the Rice entrepreneurship community. We’re grateful for the opportunity to develop our technology with such robust support.”

The next round of grant opportunities will open next month with an online application process.

“The One Small Step Grant program is a demonstration of Rice’s commitment to supporting the commercialization of Rice technologies,” says Adrian Trömel, associate vice president of Innovation Strategy and Investments. “Each cycle further highlights the impactful work of Rice students and faculty to solve global problems across industries.”

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For the third year, Rice University has tapped 10 Rice Innovation Fellows working in engineering and materials science fields to support. Photo via rice.edu

10 Houston scientists named to fellowship for turning research into businesses

top of class

Rice University has announced its latest cohort of fellows who aim to translate research into real-world startups.

The 2024 cohort of Rice Innovation Fellows is the third of its kind since the university's Office of Innovation and The Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (or Lilie) launched the program in 2022. The group includes 10 Ph.D. and postdoctoral students working in engineering and materials science fields.

The program provides personalized mentorship and up to $20,000 equity-free funding.

According to Lilie, the 10 members of the 2024 cohort are:

  • Barclay Jumet, a Ph.D. candidate in the department of mechanical engineering, working under Dan Preston and specializing in mechanics, thermal systems and wearable technologies. InnovationMap covered his recent technology here.
  • Tianshu Zhai, a Ph.D. student studying materials science specializing in hexagonal boron nitride-based thermal interface materials
  • Zachary Kingston, a postdoctoral research associate and lab manager for the Kavraki Lab in the Computer Science department at Rice, working under the direction of Dr. Lydia Kavraki, a pioneer in the field of robot motion planning. Kingston is developing a novel approach to high-performance, low-cost robot motion planning with Wil Thomason.
  • Soobin Cho, a Ph.D. student and co-founder of Duromem, which created the Dual-Role Electrically Conductive Membrane to improve existing water treatment systems
  • Sara Abouelniaj, a Ph.D. candidate in Material Science and Nanoengineering and founder of Graphene Grids LLC, which is exploring opportunities to diversify its range of grid types services offered
  • Alisha Menon, is founding a medical device startup that's developing wireless, AI-enabled patient monitoring devices for babies in the NICU. Her work is being done in collaboration with the Texas Medical Center and Rice, with support from NSF and the Southwest Pediatric Device Consortium.
  • Wil Thomason, a CRA Computing Innovation postdoctoral fellow in the Kavraki Lab at Rice University who is developing low-cost robot motion planning with Kingston
  • Jeremy Daum, a Ph.D. candidate at Rice in the Materials Science department working on a a novel production method to create photocatalysts
  • Jonathan Montes, a Ph.D. candidate in Bioengineering focused on combating neurodegenerative diseases with highly selective neuromodulation
  • Andrew (AJ) Walters, a Ph.D. student in Bioengineering working in the labs of Dr. Caleb Bashor (Rice) and Dr. Scott Olson (UTHealth Houston McGovern Medical School) who's building an accessible allogeneic cell therapy to treat inflammation disorders and potentially cancer. He was awarded a three-year NSF Graduate Research Fellowship in 2022.

Over the last three years, Innovation Fellows have brought in more than $6 million in funding for their ventures, according to Rice.

Last year, the cohort of 10 included doctoral and postdoctoral students working in fields from bioengineering and chemistry to civil and environmental engineering.

Late last year, Lilie also announced its new entrepreneurship council known as Lilie’s Leadership Council. The group is made up of 11 successful business leaders with ties to Houston from the likes of co-founder Frank Liu to former Houston Mayor Annise Parker and several other CEOs and board members of successful companies. The council members agreed to donate time and money to the university’s entrepreneurship programs.

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Eli Lilly scoops up Houston biotech startup in $300 million deal

big pharma deal

Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly has acquired Houston biotech startup CrossBridge Bio, which develops antibody-drug conjugates for cancer, in a deal worth up to $300 million. The deal was celebrated by TMC Venture Fund and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston last week.

CrossBridge, founded in 2023, is developing ADCs based on research by Kyoji Tsuchikama and Zhiqiang An, both of UT Health Houston. Tsuchikama is an associate professor of medicinal chemistry and a globally recognized ADC pioneer, and An is a professor of molecular science and vice president of drug discovery.

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are a potent combination of targeted therapy and chemotherapy that kills cancer cells while saving healthy tissue.

Clinical trials for CrossBridge’s primary ADC candidate, CBB-120, are expected to start this year, pending approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

“I’m proud of how well our team has executed and advanced our platform in such a short time since the company’s founding,” Michael Torres, co-founder and CEO of CrossBridge, said in a news release. “By becoming a part of Lilly, a leader in patient-focused therapeutic development, we are well-positioned to further accelerate the clinical potential of this approach.”

Under the Lilly deal, CrossBridge shareholders were expected to receive an upfront payment along with a follow-up payment based on the achievement of certain milestones.

In 2024, CrossBridge closed a $10 million seed round. Among the investors in CrossBridge are the Texas Medical Center Venture Fund, CE-Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, Portal Innovations, Linden Lake Labs, and the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). It was formed in TMC Innovation’s Accelerator for Cancer Therapeutics program."Built within the TMC ecosystem, CrossBridge Bio grew with the support, funding, and resources that helped shape its trajectory. TMC led the company's early financing and watched it evolve from its earliest days to its acquisition by Eli Lilly," William McKeon, president and CEO of the Texas Medical Center, shared in a LinkedIn post. "[This is a] strong reminder that breakthrough science and the right early backing can change what’s possible."

7 Houston neighbors named to U.S. News' best places to live in 2026

Living Well

Several Houston suburbs have been crowned the best places to live in the U.S. for 2026, according to U.S. News & World Report. Sugar Land is the highest-ranked city in the Houston metro, and it ranks as the 10th best place to live in the country.

The annual list of Best Places to Live in the U.S. is designed to help readers make the most informed decisions when choosing where to settle down, using data from sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau, Department of Commerce, the Federal Reserve and the Bureau for Economic Analysis, as well as state and local sources.

For the 2026-2027 rankings, U.S. News featured 250 U.S. cities and ranked them across four livability indexes — quality of life, value, desirability, and job market — weighted by importance based on survey results of approximately 500 Americans. The rankings were also broken down state-by-state, as well as the best big, medium, and small cities overall.

Sugar Land is the No. 4 best places to live in Texas, and it soared into the No. 10 spot overall in the nation after ranking 16th last year. Sugar Land also ranks as the fourth-best mid-sized city to live in America for 2026-2027.

According to U.S. News, Sugar Land's median household income is far higher than the national average. Residents make $140,511 per year, while the average American household income is only $83,181.

Additionally, the $431,815 median home value in Sugar Land is also far greater than the $359,870 national average.

After ranking in the top 10 in the 2025 report, League City and Pearland now both rank outside the national top 10 for 2026. League City slipped from No. 6 to No. 13 this year, while Pearland dropped from No. 3 nationwide to No. 16.

These three Houston suburbs also boast highly desirable job markets for potential newcomers or current residents that want to start or change their career.

Houston proper, however, remains outside of the top 250 and is the 327th best place to live in the U.S., and it's the 60th best place to live in Texas.

Other cities in the greater Houston area that ranked among the top 100 include:

  • No. 28 – The Woodlands
  • No. 38 – Katy
  • No. 61 – Missouri City
  • No. 82 – Spring

The Lone Star State had a "strong showing" in the overall top 10 thanks to its "high affordability scores," a release said. Besides Sugar Land, three more popular Texas suburbs made the cut: Leander (No. 8) outside Austin and Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs Flower Mound (No. 3) and Frisco (No. 9).

"As prices of everyday goods continue to rise, consumers are considering affordability as a top priority when choosing a place to live," said U.S. News consumer lending analyst Erika Giovanetti. "While U.S. News’ consumer survey indicated that quality of life and affordability were close in importance, cost-of-living concerns resulted in many Americans putting what they can afford above their aspirations."

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

7+ can't-miss Houston business and innovation events in June 2026

where to be

Editor's note: The FIFA World Cup comes to Houston this month, joined by major energy conferences and a lineup of fan-favorite, recurring events. Here’s what not to miss and how to register. Please note: this article may be updated to add more events.


June 1-4 — CLEANPOWER 2026 Conference and Exhibition

CLEANPOWER unites policymakers, experts, and corporate leaders to solve the challenges that none can solve alone. This must-attend, four-day conference is packed with cutting-edge discussions about wind, solar, storage, and transmission; dealmaking; networking; and fun.

This event begins June 1 at the George R. Brown Convention Center. Register here.

June 2 — Humans of Healthcare

Houston Methodist Center for Innovation will present its quarterly speaker series, Humans of Healthcare. The series will feature a panel of experts who will share about their career paths and discuss the nuances of the health care industry. This month's session will focus on today’s nursing landscape, the industry’s expectations of nurses and what career paths are possible in the field.

The event is Tuesday, June 2, from 5-6:30 p.m. at the Ion. Register here.

June 9 — Greentown Go Make Kickoff

Head to the Ion to celebrate the Greentown Go Make 2026 cohort. The open-innovation program with Shell Catalysts & Technologies and Technip Energies focuses on catalytic solutions for industrial decarbonization and the energy transition. Hear pitches from the founders and network with a select group of startups while enjoying food and drink.

This event is Tuesday, June 9, from 5:30-8 p.m. Register here.

June 9-10 — Texas Brain Economy Summit

The Center for Houston’s Future and UTMB are bringing the Texas Brain Economy Summit back to Houston this summer to continue to position the region as a global leader in brain health. Expect to hear from leaders of global institutions, including the World Economic Forum, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, McKinsey Health Institute, Global Brain Economy Initiative, Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative, Business Collaborative for Brain Health (UsAgainstAlzheimer’s), Rice University, Memorial Hermann, MD Anderson and many others. Read InnovationMap's full preview of the event here.

This event begins Tuesday, June 9. Purchase tickets here.

June 10 — MIT Future of Healthcare Technology Forum

The MIT Club of South Texas will host an in-person forum to explore how innovation, government and policy are changing the healthcare industry. The event will feature MIT alumni and Houston healthcare leaders, including Dr. Tim Boone, dean of the Texas A&M School of Engineering Medicine; Cynthia Reinhart-King, chair of bioengineering at Rice University; Dr. Tony Lin, CEO and chairman emeritus of Kelsey-Seybold Clinic; and others.

This event is Wednesday, June 10, from 5:15-8:30 p.m. at the TAMU EnMed Building. Register here.

June 11 — Goals & Gigawatts: Houston Energy & Climate Week The Power of & Kickoff Party

Come watch the Mexico City FIFA opening match while celebrating energy and innovation at the Goals & Gigawatts Kickoff Party. The event will feature food, drinks, and a showcase on Houston Energy & Climate Week. Learn what to expect and how to get involved in HECW before closing the night with a DJ and karaoke.

This event is Thursday, June 11, from 1:30-6:30 p.m. Find more information here.

June 16-17 — Energy Projects Conference & Expo

The Energy Projects Conference & Expo (EPC Show) is the largest event in North America for professionals working at the heart of major energy projects. The essential event for engineering, construction, commissioning, operations and maintenance across multiple energy sectors brings together five leading conferences under one roof. Conference subjects span LNG exporting, hydrogen and ammonia, midstream, petrochem and refining, and sustainable aviation fuels.

This event begins June 16 at George R. Brown Convention Center. Register here.

June 25 – NASA Tech Talk

Every fourth Thursday of the month, NASA experts, including longtime engineer Montgomery Goforth, present on technology development challenges NASA’s Johnson Space Center and the larger aerospace community are facing, and how they can be leveraged by Houston’s innovation community. Stick around after for drinks and networking at Second Draught.

This event is Thursday, June 25, from 6-7 p.m. at the Ion. Register here.

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