Houston 'sneakerheads' raise $8.9M to further develop digital marketplace

fresh funding

Tradeblock's three co-founders have known each other since childhood. Photo via tradeblock.us

A Houston-based company is kicking it with some fresh funding with plans to expand development of its marketplace platform.

Unique sneaker trading platform, Tradeblock, has raised $8.9 million in funding from investment partners Courtside VC, Trinity Ventures, and Concrete Rose Capital. Per the news release, the company expects additional funding of around $4.5 million to its seed round.

Tradeblock — founded in 2020 by self-proclaimed "sneakerheads" and childhood friends Mbiyimoh Ghogomu, Tony Malveaux, and Darren Smith — will use the fresh funding to expand and improve its digital marketplace for shoes.

"Tradeblock is revolutionizing the way forward for the new emergent asset class of footwear," says Tradeblock angel investor Jason Mayden, former Nike and Jordan footwear designer and president of Fear of God Athletics. "The founding team's understanding of the nuances of culture and tech gives them an unfair advantage in the industry and the team’s desire to lead with inclusion, representation, and authenticity also provides them with unique and meaningful organic engagement."

Over the past two years, Tradeblock has grown to have over a million shoes listed online. The team has also grown, and Tradeblock's workforce is over 80 percent people of color.

“Black and brown communities have always been the backbone of the sneaker industry and sneaker culture,” says Ghogomu, who also serves as CEO. “Showing those folks that they can be the owners and operators of this industry as opposed to just consumers is both a point of pride and a deeply rooted responsibility for everybody at Tradeblock.”

Authentication is a priority for the company, and the fresh funding will go toward further development of this type of technology within the platform.

"The market for fake sneakers is itself a billion-dollar market. If you're trying to acquire a shoe that's worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars, you need to be absolutely certain that what you're getting is the real thing," Ghogomu previously told InnovationMap.

Tradeblock — launched in Houston by three childhood friends — coordinates sales of sneakers for collectors across the country. Image via tradeblock.us

Houston-based 'sneakerheads' kick off new app to revolutionize the biz

STEPPING UP

Mbiyimoh Ghogomu remembers the moment he fell in love with his first pair of sneakers in the eighth grade. Growing up, he says "frugality was a virtue" in his household. "I was not rocking heat on feet for most of my childhood," he explains. On a mission for new basketball shoes, he found a brand new pair of Adidas T-Mac IIs, and his entry into sneaker culture was sealed.

Like Ghogomu, his childhood friends Tony Malveaux and Darren Smith each had their own awakening into the sartorial fascination of sneakers. The self-proclaimed sneakerheads founded Tradeblock in 2020, a new sneaker trading platform that provides collectors with a secure way to collect and trade shoes. After a successful beta, the Houston-based startup has recently launched a new mobile app available for iOS and Android users.

Malveaux, co-founder and director of authentication, started growing his sneaker collection during his job at Footlocker and currently owns nearly 40 pairs.

"My first paycheck came the same day that the Foamposites dropped in the electrolime colorway and let's just say my check wasn't too much bigger than the retail price," says Malveaux.

The former retail employee was using the ESPN Trade Machine in 2009, a website that lets you play the role of a team manager by creating different trade scenarios for players, when the idea for Tradeblock came to him. Malveaux shared his idea with best friend Smith, co-founder and COO, and the two held it in their back pocket for a decade.

"An entrepreneur to his very core, D was slanging Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh cards all the way back in elementary school," says Ghogomu of Smith. "After spending a few years in the dark cubicles of corporate America following his college graduation, he realized that he would never be truly happy or fulfilled unless he was building his own thing," he says.

Smith eventually escaped those dark cubicles and approached Malveaux about making Tradeblock a reality. The two started an Instagram and began a cross-country trip, visiting every sneaker event they could to research the needs of the marketplace. To cover the cost of travel, they sold off the majority of the impressive sneaker collection they'd built over the years and sometimes slept in their car to avoid extra expenses.

That year, the two also brought in their high school friend Ghogomu as a co-founder and CEO.

Tradeblock's three co-founders have known each other since childhood. Photo via tradeblock.us

Tradeblock started with the three founders playing the middleman in trades through Instagram direct messages, and it soon grew into a fully functional web platform.

Kicks as currency

Sneaker collecting is no small expense, due in part to the enormous resale market. According to GQ, the coveted 2020 Dior x Air Jordan 1 sneakers retailed at $2,000 but skyrocketed to $10,103 at resale value. Even moderately priced items like the $140 Nike SB Dunk High "Reverse Skunk," a 4/20-themed release with a limited 420 pairs available, have a resale price of $4,500.

High demand and exclusivity have created a barrier to access. Some opportunists have even purchased online bots to scour websites for sneaker releases so they can make bulk purchases and resell the rest at premium costs.

"Besides the fact that nobody had taken on trading, which was already a known behavior in the sneaker community, we saw the exorbitant prices that sneakers were starting to sell at in the resell market," says Ghogomu. "We realized that a ton of true blue sneakerheads, people who were in the game for the love of kicks more than anything, were basically getting priced out of every shoe they wanted," he explains.

By providing a platform for sneaker collectors to trade shoes in their collection, the founders "could provide another outlet for them to acquire the shoes they wanted without having to spend next month's rent check," says Ghogomu.

The app allows you to explore other user collections, follow collectors to keep track of their newly added shoes, and create your own closet featuring your collection. "I think the biggest social aspect of our app today is the fact that sneakerheads can actually curate a unique profile and persona for themselves on Tradeblock, and then they can explore other sneakerheads' collections," says Ghogomu.

When wanting to pursue a trade, Tradeblock allows you to manage your offers from an inbox, review trade status, and review your trade history. Users can also negotiate monetary payment if a trade isn't quite equal with shoes alone.

Once a trade takes place, authentication is a priority.

"The market for fake sneakers is itself a billion-dollar market. If you're trying to acquire a shoe that's worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars, you need to be absolutely certain that what you're getting is the real thing," says Ghogomu.

To ensure customers are getting authentic sneakers, Tradeblock has a "two-factor authentication" where every shoe goes through a physical and digital inspection.

More than a throwback

Sneaker collecting dates back to the late 1970s, coinciding with the surge in popularity of the National Basketball League and the hip hop movement of New York City.

The first-ever Air Jordans were created in 1984 and worn exclusively by former NBA star Michael Jordan, and released to the public in 1985. Just last year, Jordan's original pair sold for a record $560,000 in a Sotheby's auction, according to Reuters.

Music heavily influenced a profusion of sneakerheads. Run-DMC released the popular song "My Adidas" in 1986, which stayed on top of the Billboard music charts for 16 weeks. The trend carried into the aughts, with the rapper Nelly debuting his 2000 hit "Air Force Ones."

The shoe style has even succeeded in permeating internet culture, with a slew of memes and influencers arriving to meet the moment.

"Damn Daniel," a viral video from 2016, has solidified its place in the ever-evolving online vault of cultural moments. The video which shows then-high schooler Daniel Lara's shoe collection led him to become one of TIME's "30 Most Influential People on the Internet" that year.

Sneakerheads have since found a community using online communication platforms like Instagram, Discord, and Facebook.

"We also noticed that sneakerheads were spending a ton of time on social media platforms showing off their kicks, exploring other people's collections, and just generally looking to connect with people who shared their passion for shoes," explains Ghogomu. "We thought that if we could capture that social energy in a platform that also facilitated trading, we could create something truly revolutionary for the culture," he says.

The most popular sneaker reviewers on YouTube have grown communities of hundreds of thousands of followers, earning a living off their connoisseurship. "Shoe-tubers are an integral part of the sneaker culture today. In many ways, they're like the sherpas of the sneaker world," says Ghogomu.

The growing social authority of sneakerheads has also helped fuel Tradeblock's launch. The company has seen success in driving awareness by creating an online community and building relationships with influential YouTubers.

Existing online sellers from eBay to Poshmark have provided a way for users to sell and buy items, but the process is transactional. Understanding the passionate community of collectors, Ghogomu says they wanted to "build not just a product, but a company and brand that genuinely put the people first and harkened back to the days when being a sneakerhead was just as much about the community as it was about the kicks in your closet."

Growing a community

Tradeblock currently has more than 23,000 collectors in its database, a number that is steadily increasing by the day. "What has really blown me away is just how supportive people have been from [the] jump," says Ghogomu.

The app currently has thousands of shoes in its database, including rare releases like the Nike Dunk Lobster collection and the Art Basel Jordan 1.

"We've even got a few pairs of the original Jordan 1s in the Chicago colorway from 1985… but you'll have to come correct if you want to trade for those," jokes Ghogomu.

Through the roadblocks that come with building a startup, Tradeblock users have been loyal.

"I genuinely couldn't count the number of times we've heard people say things like, 'I want to see y'all win,' but we never get tired of it," he continues.

"When you're trying to build something unlike anything else that exists in the world, it's easy to let doubt creep in. Any entrepreneur who says they've never asked themselves the question, 'Is this really possible or are we insane?' is lying to you," says Ghogomu. "I think that as people of color, those internal barriers are even higher because we have so few examples to look to in terms of seeing people who look like us building massively successful businesses," he continues.

As the company grows, the co-founders hope to strengthen the bonds of the sneaker community — a common factor that has strengthened their own friendship.

"When most people think about sneaker culture, they think about the shoes. When we think about sneaker culture, we think about the people," says Ghogomu.

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Houston founders launch edtech startup, pilot to pinpoint why students are struggling

learning gaps

Early detection. It sounds simple enough: identify a problem before it has the chance to become a bigger one.

But in practice, early detection is much more difficult to navigate, especially in education, when it comes to identifying the reasons behind a student's academic struggles.

That’s why co-founders Alapati “Al” Ware and Estela Montanez launched Progress Report, a Houston-built K-12 learning-intelligence platform designed to go beyond identifying that a student is struggling.

The platform recently began its pilot program with 35 educators and more than 200 students in Texas and Arizona.

“It’s a micro-learning school that works with children with disabilities, primarily dyslexia and nonverbal students,” Ware tells InnovationMap.

The platform is also being used by homeschool parents, home teachers and Houston educators, including those at SWPS College & Career Preparatory Academy, a Houston charter school.

Ware says Progress Report was designed to fill a gap he and Montanez saw in existing edtech. Some platforms cater almost entirely to students, leaving teachers with little insight into if and how a child is learning. Others focus heavily on district data, where “the student is just a number,” leaving teachers to navigate disconnected tools.

“Our goal was [to] focus purely on the teacher because the teacher is the backbone,” Ware says.

Progress Report traces student performance to learning gaps and prerequisite skills, helping educators understand not only where a student is struggling, but what may be causing it.

The platform then helps teachers build individualized instruction for general education students, students with special education and Individualized Education Program (IEP) needs, and Spanish-speaking learners—all within one educator-controlled system.

The goal is to reduce the guesswork and hours of manual work educators can spend developing individualized lesson plans.

Progress Report helps idenitify learning gaps and common roadblocks for each student. Image courtesy Progress Report

For Ware and Montanez, the mission is also personal.

The concept dates back to around 2023, when the co-founders first had to navigate and address their children’s educational needs.

Ware, Progress Report’s CEO and CTO with a background in edtech, built the platform end-to-end after watching his daughter, who had an IEP related to speech, struggle to get the support she needed.

Montanez, the company’s COO, brought another perspective. Her son is on the autism spectrum. She now leads Progress Report’s operations, partnerships and pilot execution while helping carry its focus on bilingual families from Puerto Rico to Houston.

Together, they began researching ways to personalize their children’s learning and help them progress academically. Montanez’s son went on to become an AP student and high school athlete, while Ware’s daughter began reading more than two grade levels above her grade, they tell InnovationMap.

But Progress Report isn’t designed simply to give a struggling student more work.

Take a student who appears to have difficulty with math.

The problem may not actually be math, the founders share. The student could understand the calculations but struggle to comprehend complex words used in a math problem.

Progress Report is designed to trace those performance patterns back to learning gaps, prerequisite skills or other instructional barriers. From there, it can recommend a next instructional step while leaving the educator in control.

The same concept applies to accommodations.

The system can read IEPs, 504 Plans, Present Levels of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (PLAAFPs), evaluations and other special education records. Approved IEP goals can then be mapped into the student’s learning graph, while accommodations can carry over into lesson planning and question delivery.

The founders say that approach separates Progress Report from simply adding another artificial intelligence chatbot to a classroom. And still, they believe teachers have to remain at the center.

Teachers, in fact, helped build Progress Report.

The founders began meeting with Houston-area educators months before the pilot. Their feedback helped shape the platform before testing began.

“We’ve been building alongside these educators,” Ware says.

Parents are another piece.

Progress Report can give parents access to their child’s learning record so they can see learning gaps as they develop. Teachers can also see information on work being completed at home when the parent and educator are working together.

After the pilot wraps, Ware and Montanez plan to introduce a $29.99 monthly subscription for homeschool parents, teachers and other educators. They say the price was intentionally kept relatively low to help make the tools more accessible.

They are also exploring ways to work with organizations that could help families who can’t afford the platform.

Moving forward, the goal is considerably bigger.

Over the next five years, Ware and Montanez want Progress Report to become what they describe as a “gold standard” in every state. They know getting there will require building relationships with educators, technology leaders, policymakers and school board members.

For now, they’re starting with a few hundred students and a question that sounds simple but can be remarkably difficult to answer: Why is this student struggling?

If Progress Report works the way its founders envision, teachers and parents will have a clearer answer.

Pioneering cohousing development opens in Houston's historic 2nd Ward

Housing in Hou

An experimental, multi-generational building in the East End is now open and accepting residents. Only 10 of the 33 units remain available at East End Commons, the first project from CoHousing Houston.

Located at 115 Lenox, East End Commons was first conceived in 2017 and is designed to combine the security of home ownership with the community aspect of apartment life, essentially a condominium but with added focus on bringing neighbors together.

Units range from 900-2,000 square feet, offering ample private home space, but with a large Common House area and central courtyard for gatherings, working, and interaction. Large front porches encourage people to spend time outside where they can meet their neighbors, as do extensive foot paths for casual meetings.

"At East End Commons, you know your neighbors before you move in — so you have a network of people and spaces that are immediately there for you," said founding resident Kelli Soika. "We designed for larger shared spaces versus larger personal spaces in order to foster the breakdown of the barriers that lead to loneliness."

Combating loneliness and isolation is certainly necessary. A 2025 survey conducted by the American Psychological Association shows that most Americans feel a sense of societal division and lonely. A loss of "third spaces," where people gather outside the home or work, is a prime factor. East End Commons aims to alleviate some of that disconnectedness.

"I wanted to live in a neighborhood that is imbued with a sense of community above the individual, like we have all experienced in Houston during times of disaster recovery," said Lynn Morstead, one of East End Commons‘ founding residents. "In those instances, such as Hurricane Harvey, we surface from our separateness and come together in new and unexpected ways. With East End Commons, the goal is to translate that notion beyond a set period of time and make it a fixture of everyday life. I call it 'disaster-free neighborliness.'"

East End Commons was designed by Kathleen English of English + Associates. Sustainability is part of the project's design, with amenities such as geothermal heating and cooling exchange HVAC, pre-heated water systems, low-energy use air conditioning and heating, and native landscaping.

Prices for units range from $300,000 to the $900,000s, which can be more than double the home price in the rapidly gentrifying East End. HOA fees not only help maintain communal areas, they also cover shared internet, water, and other communal expenses. Similarly, government of the building is handled democratically via a community board that aims to make decisions by building consensus.

For more information, email info@cohousinghouston.com or call 832-900-2919.

MD Anderson president to retire after nine years, interim successor named

retirement plan

An era is ending at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

On Aug. 26, Dr. Peter WT Pisters announced his plans to retire from his role as president of the comprehensive cancer center. He will work on a smooth transition of leadership with interim president Dr. Jeffrey E. Lee throughout September.

“I first arrived at UT MD Anderson 32 years ago with a passion for doing everything I could to advance our mission to end cancer. Serving as the only faculty member to become president, and now marking nine years in the role, I can say with great pride and gratitude that there is no better place than UT MD Anderson to turn hope into healing for patients and families everywhere,” Pisters said in a news release. “With a timeless strategy, a strong leadership team, unprecedented levels of financial health, and a priceless culture anchored in our deeply held Core Values, now is the right time for me to transition to other opportunities. UT MD Anderson has never been stronger, and its future has never been brighter.”

Pisters assumed the presidency in 2017 and helped launch some of the most cutting-edge new clinics in MD Anderson history. One of those was the James P. Allison Institute, named for the Nobel Laureate scientist who discovered a way to suppress immune response on tumors so that immune cells would attack cancer cells instead. As head of his titular clinic, Allison pioneered several new immunotherapies against cancer.

Pisters also oversaw the creation of the Institute for Data Science in Oncology in 2024, an innovative consortium of scientists dedicated to enhancing single-cell imaging to improve precision in cancer treatments. The institute also brought together teams to use data-driven analytics regarding safety, quality and access.

The UT System Board of Regents praised the leadership and work of Pisters in a statement, wishing him well in the next phase of his career.

“The Board of Regents and I are profoundly grateful to Dr. Pisters for his exceptional presidency over the past nine years and for thoughtfully concluding his service when UT MD Anderson is thriving at its best position of peak performance, strength and impact. We wish him our very best with his retirement and in his next chapter,” Kevin P. Eltife, chairman of the UT System Board of Regents, added in the release.

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