This week's roundup of Houston innovators includes Alessio Lorusso of Roboze, Tobi Smith of All I Do Is Cook, and Pradeep Sharma of the University of Houston. Courtesy photos

Editor's note: In this week's roundup of Houston innovators to know, I'm introducing you to three local innovators across industries — from 3D printing to food and cooking — recently making headlines in Houston innovation.

Alessio Lorusso, founder and CEO of Roboze

Alessio Lorusso joins the Houston Innovators Podcast to discuss why he chose Houston to set up U.S. operations for his large-scale 3D printing company, and how the city has the potential to become a hub for the industry. Photo via LinkedIn

The hit the pandemic has had on the global supply chain has been a huge hit to so many companies. However, one Italian company with its United States headquarters in Houston, has an alternative for customers — large scale, in-house production. Roboze, which recently completed a multimillion-dollar fundraise, has seen explosive growth due in large part to how COVID-19 has affected the global supply chain over this past two years.

"This was an incredible accelerator for us," says Alessio Lorusso, CEO and founder, on the Houston Innovators Podcast. He adds that, while Roboze has attracted large corporate customers, the business is seeing growth in the small to mid-sized company sector.

"The moment is now," Lorusso says. "The time to integrate printing capabilities and have the possibility to print parts in house is something that needs to be done now." Click here to read more and listen to the podcast.

Tobi Smith, founder of All I Do Is Cook

All I Do Is Cook is on a mission to grow accessibility to Nigerian dishes. Image via allidoiscook.com

Tobi Smith wanted to take his business to the next level — and he found the perfect opportunity to do so. After completing the gBETA accelerator program and winning the grand prize in the ClearCo ClearPitch competition, Smith and his business partner Bethany Oyefeso are transitioning their small business, All I Do Is Cook, into a startup with the ultimate goal of making Nigerian food accessible to everybody.

Smith and Oyefeso came one step closer to that goal when Phoencia, a Houston grocery story, started stocking the startup's condiments in 2021. In that same year, Smith and Oyefesso joined the gBETA accelerator program. Smith described this program as being instrumental in the advancement of their company from a small business to a start up, now at the beginning of their pre-seed funding phase.

“They taught us everything about what it meant to be a start up and connected us with mentors and other individuals working in the food and beverage space,” says Smith. Click here to read more.

Pradeep Sharma, engineering department chair at the University of Houston

Pradeep Sharma, M.D. Anderson Chair Professor and department chair at the University of Houston, was named to the National Academy of Engineering. Photo via uh.edu

The National Academy of Engineering elected its new members, and five local scientists are among the new 133-person cohort — as is Elon Musk, if you were wondering. The appointment is among the highest professional distinctions in an engineer's career.

Pradeep Sharma, M.D. Anderson Chair Professor and department chair, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Houston, was recognized for establishing the field of flexoelectricity, leading to the creation of novel materials and devices and insights in biophysical phenomena.

“Nature has provided us very few piezoelectric materials even though their applications in energy harvesting and in making sensors is very important. What we did was use theory to design materials that perform like piezoelectric ones, so that they can create electricity,” says Sharma in the release. Click here to read more.

All I Do Is Cook is on a mission to grow accessibility to Nigerian dishes. Image via allidoiscook.com

Unique Nigerian cuisine startup propelled by Houston accelerator heads into its next phase

cooking up growth

After completing the gBETA accelerator program and winning the grand prize in the ClearCo ClearPitch competition, Tobi Smith and Bethany Oyefeso are transitioning their small business, All I Do Is Cook, into a startup with the ultimate goal of making Nigerian food accessible to everybody.

Smith and Oyefeso came one step closer to that goal when Phoencia, a Houston grocery story, started stocking the startup's condiments in 2021. In that same year, Smith and Oyefesso joined the gBETA accelerator program. Smith described this program as being instrumental in the advancement of their company from a small business to a start up, now at the beginning of their pre-seed funding phase.

“They taught us everything about what it meant to be a start up and connected us with mentors and other individuals working in the food and beverage space,” says Smith.

It was during their time in the gBETA program that they learned about the ClearCo ClearPitch competition and would ultimately win the $20,000 grand prize.

“The last two years have been bonkers,” exclaims Smith, who started All I Do Is Cook as a blog in 2016, and grew it into a cooking business.

"When I arrived in Denton from Nigeria, I walked into Walmart expecting to find common Nigerian snacks but was surprised when I couldn’t find any so I started cooking my own food and sharing the recipes,” he says.

The pandemic and subsequent closing of restaurants sling-shotted them into overdrive where in just one year their number of total orders increased from 350 to over 2,000 which they then doubled in 2021 to over 4,000.

And if a focus on Nigerian food doesn’t already set them apart, their approach to production does. Smith shared that he and Oyefeso have focused heavily on the operations side of their business.

“We want everything to run as efficiently as possible with as little waste as possible,” says Smith. “We don’t carry an inventory. We only order as much produce as we need, and we only print as much packaging as we need. We know how much food we can produce in a week, and we use the timing and amount of orders as our indicator of when we might need to increase production.”

This focus on efficiency and mindfulness of the environment should keep them attractive to both investors and consumers alike.

“We are getting ready to kick off our pre-seed funding phase,” shares Smith, “and our goal is to get into the big supermarkets like Walmart, HEB, and Kroger.”

Tobi Smith and Bethany Oyefeso are taking their startup to the next level. Photos via allidoiscook.com

Here's what companies are in the latest cohort for gBETA. Photo courtesy of gBETA

Early-stage accelerator announces 5 startups to its fall 2021 Houston cohort

ready to grow

An early-stage accelerator has picked its latest cohort of five Houston companies.

The Fall 2020 cohort of gBETA Houston includes:

  • AllIDoIsCook is founded by Tobi Smith and focused on exposing the world to Africa's cuisine by manufacturing gourmet food products delivered directly to customer doors and available at grocers. Since launching, AllIDoIsCook has built out a manufacturing facility, shipped over 8,000 boxes and generated $1.1 million in revenue all without outside funding.
  • Chasing Watts makes it easy for cyclists to coordinate or find rides with fellow riders in their area with its web-based and native application. The company has over 3,000 users and grew 135 percent from Q2 to Q3 in new ride views.
  • DanceKard, founded by Erica Sinner, is a new dating platform that connects individuals and groups with one another by bringing the date to the forefront of the conversation and making scheduling faster and easier with special promotions featuring local establishments. Since launching in August of 2021, DanceKard has over 170 users on the platform.
  • Dollarito is a digital lending platform that helps the low-income Hispanic population with no credit history or low FICO score access fair credit. Founded by Carmen Roman, Dollarito applies AI into banking, transactional and behavioral data to evaluate the repayment capability more accurately than using FICO scores. The company has1,000 users on their waitlist and plans to beta test with 100 or more customers in early 2022.
  • SeekerPitch, founded by Samantha Hepler, operates with the idea that jobseekers' past job titles and resumes are not always indicative of their true capabilities. Launched last month, SeekerPitch empowers companies to see who jobseekers are as people, and get to know them through comprehensive profiles and virtual speed interviews, and the company already has 215 jobseekers and 20 companies on the platform, with one pilot at University of Houston and three more in the pipeline.

The companies kicked off their cohort in person on October 18, and the program concludes on December 14 with the gBETA Houston Fall 2021 Pitch Night. At this event, each company will present their five-minute pitch to an audience of mentors, investors, and community members.

"The five founding teams selected for our gBETA Houston Fall 2021 cohort are tackling unique problems they have each experienced personally, from finding access to cultural foods, fitness communities and authentic dating experiences to challenges with non-inclusive financing and hiring practices," says Kate Evinger, director of gBETA Houston, in the release. "The grit and passion these individuals bring to their roles as founders will undoubtedly have a tremendous impact in the Houston community and beyond."

The accelerator has supported 15 Houston startups since it launched in Houston in early 2020. The program, which is free and hosted out of the Downtown Launchpad, is under the umbrella of Madison, Wisconsin-based international accelerator, gener8tor.

"Downtown Launchpad is an innovation hub like no other, and I am so proud of what it is already and what it will become," says Robert Pieroni, director of economic development at Central Houston Inc., in the release. "The five startups selected for the gBETA Houston Fall 2021 cohort are exploring new challenges that can become high-impact Houston businesses."

gBETA announced its plan to launch in Houston in September 2019. The program's inaugural cohort premiered in May and conducted the first program this summer completely virtually. The second cohort took place last fall, and the third ran earlier this year.

"These founders are building their companies and benefiting from the resources Downtown Launchpad provides," Pieroni continues, "and the proof is in the data – companies in these programs are creating jobs, growing their revenues and exponentially increasing their funding, which means these small starts up of today, working in Downtown Launchpad, are growing into the successful companies of tomorrow."

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Houston e-commerce unicorn reaches $1.6B valuation with $50M fundraising round

fresh funding

Houston-based Cart.com, a provider of fulfillment and logistics services for B2C and B2B brands, has raised $50 million in venture capital, pushing its valuation to $1.6 billion. Since it was founded in 2020, Cart.com has raised $475 million.

Cart.com earned “unicorn” status in 2023 after securing a $60 million Series C round of funding. In the startup universe, “unicorn” refers to a private company that’s valued at $1 billion or more. Last year, Cart.com nailed down $130 million in debt funding, lifting its valuation to $1.2 billion.

Technically, Cart.com no longer qualifies as a startup. Rather, it’s now in “scaleup” territory. This term refers to a startup that has notched substantial growth and has maintained a stable workforce, among other positive achievements. Notable brands that have graduated from startup to scaleup include Airbnb, Peloton and Uber.

The $50 million round includes money from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock and Neuberger Berman, and new investors such as eGateway Capital, along with several unidentified venture capital firms, investors and family offices.

The company said it will use the fresh capital to fuel its global expansion through investments in infrastructure, technology, and M&A.

“Cart.com is continuing our strong growth trajectory across all operating metrics, and we intend to utilize this additional capital to accelerate the expansion of our platform and bring our customers new capabilities to enable their growth,” Omair Tariq, founder and CEO of Cart.com, said in a news release. Tariq added that his company is “well on our way to building the largest and most comprehensive platform in our space.”

Over the past 12 months, Cart.com completed its acquisition of OceanX, the fulfillment operation of direct marketing company Guthy-Renker, and Amify, an Amazon marketplace optimization and advertising platform. Bill Guthy, founder of Guthy-Renker, now sits on Cart.com’s board of directors

Texas luxury bus service adds route connecting The Woodlands and Dallas

Travel Time

Houston-area business and leisure travelers have a convenient new route to check out thanks to Vonlane. The Texas-based luxury motor coach service is adding a new daily service between The Woodlands and Dallas starting June 13.

Vonlane already offers service between Dallas and downtown Houston, at the Hyatt Regency at 1200 Louisiana St., eight times per day starting at 6 am. The ride takes 3 hours and 45 minutes.

According to Vonlane founder and CEO Alex Danza, The Woodlands has been a much-requested route.

“The Woodlands area has been our most requested geographic addition for several years, so we’re thrilled to announce this expansion, our 10th destination on our 11th anniversary,” Danza says. “Bringing our elevated bus service to suburban areas is a strategic priority as we seek to relieve the hassles of driving and air travel for our passengers and better meet them where they live, work, and play.”

The new service brings a convenient nonstop route to and from the northern fringe of Houston — The Woodlands, Spring, Cypress, Conroe, Montgomery County, and northern Harris County.

Beginning June 13, The Woodlands-Dallas route will offer the following departures:

  • Monday, Thursday, and Friday: 6:15 am, 10:15 am, 2:15 pm, and 6:15 pm – departing both The Woodlands and Dallas
  • Tuesday, Wednesday, and Sunday: 10:15 am and 2:15 pm – departing both The Woodlands and Dallas
  • Saturday: 9 am: departing The Woodlands
  • Saturday 1 pm: departing Dallas

This ride will take 3 hours and 15 minutes.

The new drop-off point for The Woodlands service will be at Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center, 1601 Lake Robbins Dr.. According to Danza, The Woodlands Waterway Marriott offers easy access to I-45, ample parking, and high-quality accommodations.

Riders will depart in Dallas at the established stop at Doubletree Love Field, 3300 W. Mockingbird Ln. The new route offers proximity to major employers in the area such as Alight Solutions, Baker Hughes, Chevron Phillips, Entergy, ExxonMobil, Hewlett-Packard, Houston Methodist, Huntsman Corporation, Lone Star College, McKesson, Memorial Hermann, Occidental Petroleum, St. Luke’s Health, and Texas Children’s.

Visit The Woodlands president Nick Wolda says in a statement that The Woodlands is a popular destination for Dallas residents.

“Visit The Woodlands is excited to welcome Vonlane to The Woodlands Waterway Marriott and Conference Center. This first-class amenity is a fantastic addition to our vibrant community, perfectly designed to elevate the travel experience,” Wolda says. “The Woodlands is the go-to destination for trips from the DFW area—whether you're a corporate conventioneer, a Pavilion concertgoer, a college student coming home, or a weekend shopping trip with friends. With this new service, getting to and from The Woodlands has never been easier or more enjoyable!"

Vonlane buses have 22 first-class leather seats, ample workspace, complimentary Wi-Fi, and an onboard attendant offering premium cabin service with snacks, meals, and beverages included.

Fares are a flat rate of $125 for one-way trips with advance purchase. No taxes, baggage fees, or change fees apply. Rates increase with less than seven days’ notice and within 24 hours before departure.

Tickets can be booked at www.vonlane.com.

Vonlane was founded in Texas in 2014 and offers more than 475 weekly departures across 10 destinations.

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A version of this story originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Houston aerospace co. soars with first U.S. test flight of hypersonic engine

taking off

Houston-based Venus Aerospace successfully completed the first U.S. flight test of its proprietary engine at a demonstration at Spaceport America in New Mexico.

Venus’ next-generation rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) is supported by a $155,908 federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from NASA and aims to enable vehicles to travel four to six times the speed of sound from a conventional runway. The recent flight test was the first of an American-developed engine of its kind.

"With this flight test, Venus Aerospace is transforming a decades-old engineering challenge into an operational reality,” Thomas d'Halluin, managing partner at Airbus Ventures, an investor in Venus, said in a news release. “Getting a rotating detonation engine integrated, launch-ready, and validated under real conditions is no small feat. Venus has shown an extraordinary ability to translate deep technical insight into hardware progress, and we're proud to support their bold approach in their attempt to unlock the hypersonic economy and forge the future of propulsion."

Venus’ RDRE operates through supersonic shockwaves, called detonations, that generate more power with less fuel. It is designed to be affordable and scalable for defense and commercial systems.

The RDRE is also engineered to work with the company's air-breathing detonation ramjet, the VDR2, which helps enable aircraft to take off from a runway and transition to speeds exceeding Mach 6. Venus plans for full-scale propulsion testing and vehicle integration of this system. Venus’ ultimate goal is to develop a Mach 4 reusable passenger aircraft, known as the Stargazer M4.

"This milestone proves our engine works outside the lab, under real flight conditions," Andrew Duggleby, Venus co-founder and chief technology officer, said in the release. "Rotating detonation has been a long-sought gain in performance. Venus' RDRE solved the last but critical steps to harness the theoretical benefits of pressure gain combustion. We've built an engine that not only runs, but runs reliably and efficiently—and that's what makes it scalable. This is the foundation we need that, combined with a ramjet, completes the system from take-off to sustained hypersonic flight."

The hypersonic market is projected to surpass $12 billion by 2030, according to Venus.

"This is the moment we've been working toward for five years," Sassie Duggleby, CEO and co-founder of Venus Aerospace, added in the release. "We've proven that this technology works—not just in simulations or the lab, but in the air. With this milestone, we're one step closer to making high-speed flight accessible, affordable, and sustainable."