2023 startup gift guide: Shop local from these Houston innovators

Support Houston startups by shopping local this holiday season. Photo via Getty Images

It's giving season, and you need not look any further than Houston's startup and innovation community for some gift ideas.

This year's Houston startup gift guide includes experiences, sustainable shopping, and more.

Need some more ideas? Browse last year's roundup of Houston startup-created gift ideas, and check out the 2021, 2020 and 2019 startup gift guides as well for even more options.

For someone outdoorsy: An easy-to-book fishing trip

Mallard Bay, which won big at the Rice Business Plan Competition, expanded in Houston this year. Photo via Getty Images

After seeing success in last year's Rice Business Plan Competition, Mallard Bay, a marketplace for booking guided fishing and hunting trips, announced this year that it's moving half of its employees to Houston, InnovationMap reported. The company hopes the move will help it tap into the large corporate and convention entertainment market in Texas. You can book a trip for your family or shop gear on the startup's website.

For a wine lover: A quick cooling tool

The Cold Cork delivers 20-second beverage chilling. Photo via Facebook/Cold Cork

Perfect for someone who loves to entertain, The idea Cold Cork came from the brains of two Houstonians who love a chilled wine at the end of a long day. However, it often happens that while you're ready for wine, but the wine's not ready for you. The device, priced at $64.95, chills liquids 20 degrees in 20 seconds.

For the new mom in your life: A game-changing breastmilk service

Milkify secured a deal on Shark Tank. Photo courtesy of Milkify

As seen on Shark Tank, Houston-based Milkify provides a unique service to breastfeeding moms. The company freeze dries breast milk so that families can have the convenience of formula with the nutrition of breast milk. The startup, which won at this year's Houston Innovation Awards, secured an investment on the show and even got the nod of approval from Gwyneth Paltrow. Milkify has plans to scale, as the husband-and-wife team shared on the Houston Innovators Podcast.

For someone who loves a sweat sesh: Smell-free athletic wear

Houston-based Accel Lifestyle's innovative line of athleisure has made it into Talbots. Photo courtesy of Accel Lifestyle

For years, Houston athletic clothing brand Accel Lifestyle has been providing its customers with sporty outfits that are designed to not hold onto any stink resulting from bacteria from sweat. As of this summer, the brand is in Talbots, so you can shop in store, as well as online.

For the trendsetter: Sustainable fashion

A Houston innovator found second-hand shopping time consuming. So, she designed a better experience. Image courtesy of Trendy Seconds

Shop for one (or all) of your loved ones sustainably with Trendy Seconds, a website created by Houstonian Maria Burgos. There's likely something for everyone on your Christmas list — and no purchase can possibly considered naughty — at least when considering your carbon footprint.

For a party animal: Brews for every occasion

Bring these to your next holiday party. Photo by Emily Jaschke/InnovationMap

Two Houston companies formalized their partnership this year. Bayou City Hemp Company announced that it has purchased 8th Wonder Brewery, Distillery, and Cannabis. The acquisition deepens a relationship that dates back to 2021, when 8th Wonder and Bayou City Hemp partnered to create Wonder Water, a non-alcoholic beverage available with either CBD or Delta-8 that became the top-selling to-go product at 8th Wonder. Now, the combined company creates adult beverages by offering a full lineup of beer, spirits, and cannabis-infused drinks.

For a mother-daughter duo: A tool to enhance their relationship

Houston startup addresses mother-daughter dynamic with first app of its kindA Houston-founded company is targeting mothers and daughters with their teletherapy app. Photo courtesy of Passport Journeys

Passport Journeys, an app with a membership that helps cultivate mother-daughter relationships, can help you on your new year's resolution to heal your relationship with your mom or daughter. The intake process is $280 with monthly fees after and includes a slew of support for relationship building.

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From a new hard tech grant opportunity to apply for to health tech innovation expansion, here's your latest roundup of Houston startup and innovation news you may have missed. Photo via Getty Images

Houston startup expands nationally, teams win DOE prize, and more local innovation news

short stories

As Houston ramps up for fall, the city's innovation news has followed suit, and there might be some headlines you may have missed.

In this roundup of short stories within Houston startups and tech, Houston angel investors dole out prize money, the DOE grants Houston innovators some cash, a digital health company expands, and more.

2 Houston teams win DOE geothermal manufacturing prize

Both of the teams that won this competition hailed from Houston. Image via energy.gov

This week, the U.S. Department of Energy announced that two Houston-based companies have won the American-Made Geothermal Manufacturing Prize — a $4.65 million competition to incentivize innovators to use 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, to address the challenges associated with operating sensitive equipment in harsh geothermal environments, per a press release. The competition challenged participants with quickly developing, testing, and revising prototypes using additive manufacturing to support the advancement of geothermal tools and technologies.

“This DOE competition harnesses breakthroughs in additive manufacturing to help overcome barriers to widespread deployment of geothermal energy,” says Alejandro Moreno, deputy assistant secretary for renewable power, in the release. “The rapid prototype development supported by this prize is spurring advancements in the geothermal industry to help power the nation from the heat beneath our feet.”

The competition launched in January 2020, and the finalists presented their innovations at the annual Geothermal Rising conference in Reno, Nevada. The winning teams each were awarded $500,000 in cash and up to $200,000 to test their innovations in the field. The two Houston-based winning teams were:

  • Team Downhole Emerging Technologies: "This team developed an alternative to traditional packer systems," the release states. "The all-metal, retrievable packer system is designed specifically for high temperatures, extreme pressures, and corrosion experienced in geothermal wells. The Downhole Emerging Technologies’ partnership resulted in the production of the largest Inconel additively manufactured component by Proto Labs, Inc. and the development of DET’s tool, the Diamond ETIP (Extreme Temperature Isolation Packer).”
  • Team Ultra-High Temperature Logging Tool: "This team developed a technology that uses a labyrinthian heat sink to reduce thermal emissivity and increase the exposure time of temperature sensitive electronic components," according to the release. "Oak Ridge National Laboratory used a powder bed laser fusion technique to manufacture the heat sink design, with the aim that the technology would solve limitations around maximum temperature rating and lifetime of electronics in logging and measurement tools. The team also worked closely with Sandia National Laboratories to test the logging prototype in a high-temperature setting."

Koda Health expands across the country

Koda Health has gone nationwide. Image via kodahealthcare.com

Houston-based Koda Health has announced via LinkedIn that it has expanded into a handful of new states recently: Florida, Oregon, North Carolina, Virginia, California, and Maryland. These six expansions have all been announced over the past month following the announcement in July that the company is going nationwide.

"Every state has different regulations and requirements for their advancecare planning documents. So, the folks at Nixon Gwilt Law and Koda Health have been hard at work making our platform compliant in every single state," the company announced in a post. "It's hard work, but we're committed to helping patients stay in control of their health care journey, regardless of where they call home."

Koda Health was born out of the TMC's Biodesign Fellowship and launched by Tatiana Fofanova, Dr. Desh Mohan, and Katelin Cherry in March of 2020. The platform uses AI to help patients create advanced medical care directives and documents, such as a living will, through its proprietary machine learning approach.

In February, Koda closed over $3 million in seed funding in order to grow its staff and support expansion. Now, including Texas, Koda is in seven states across the country.

Houston angels dole out cash to RBPC winner

Hoth Intelligence — a digital health startup — is cashing in on its RBPC prizes. Photo via Getty Images

The Houston Angel Network announced its investment of over $160,000 in Hoth Intelligence, the winner of HAN’s prize at the 2022 Rice Business Plan Competition.

“Following the HAN award announcement at the RBPC banquet, we learned that the Houston Chapter of The Indus investor Entrepreneurs (TiE) was also interested in Hoth as an investment for its members," says HAN Chairman Richard Hunter in a news release.

The organizations collaborated on due diligence and negotiation of the investment terms. Hunter led HAN's due diligence and Jeff Tomlinson led the effort on behalf of TiE.

The company, which was established at University of Pittsburgh, has developed an artificial intelligence platform for health care providers. The company's RBPC prize initially totaled $386,700 in investment awards from a handful of entities.

Per HAN's news release, Houston investment firms Prosalus Capital Partners joined in with a $300,000 investment and PiFei VC contributed an additional $100,000.”

“Several companies at the 2022 RPBC, including Hoth Intelligence, ranked very high in the TiE judging," says TiE Houston Chapter President Ram Shenoy. "We therefore decided to pursue due diligence and were very pleased to have worked with HAN to expeditiously complete the deal. To date, it has attracted TiE investors from chapters in Atlanta, Silicon Valley, and Southern California who have committed over $154,000 in investment.”

Sustainable biz tapped for prestigious program

This Houston entrepreneur is getting ready to pitch. Image courtesy

Houston-based Trendy Seconds was chosen as part of the SOCAP Global Entrepreneur 2022 Cohort — a prestigious event in the social entrepreneurship world that grants scholarships to entrepreneurs from all over the globe.

Trendy Seconds is an online marketplace where women can find pre-owned clothing or shop for new clothing from sustainable brands. The company shares items from more than 50 brands that can be searched by category, style, size, price, condition, and positive impact. To ensure the clothing is high quality, shoppers will find only gently-used or new items featured on Trendy Seconds.

Through the program, Founder Maria Burgos will pitch live in San Francisco on October 20.

Deadline approaches for Activate Anywhere

Calling all scientists on a mission. Image via Getty Images

A global accelerator billed as "for scientists on a mission" has opened its latest round of registration. Activate Anywhere is a remote-based program for hard tech innovators that takes no equity, requires no fees, and provides significant financial support, including a living stipend of up to $110,000 a year, $100,000 in R&D funding, $100,000 additional flexible capital, health care coverage, travel allowance, and more.

Applications September 15, but registration to apply is free and open now. The deadline to apply is October 31 and finalists will be announced in February.

To be eligible for the program, you must:

  • have a bachelor’s degree and at least four years post-baccalaureate scientific research, engineering, or technology development experience.
  • be the leader of a technical project or company that is relevant to our target industries and is based in the physical or biological sciences, or related engineering disciplines.
  • be leading the commercial development of a hardware-based technology innovation for the first time i.e. not a repeat hard-tech founder. You may apply as a solo applicant or with one co-applicant.
  • not have raised more than $2 million in debt or equity funding from non-governmental sources for the proposed project at the time of the application deadline.
  • be able to work in the U.S. for the duration of the fellowship, and have access to a qualified host laboratory.

This week's roundup of Houston innovators includes John "JR" Reale of the TMC, Maria Burgos of Trendy Seconds, and Christopher Howard of Softeq. Courtesy photos

3 Houston innovators to know this week

who's who

Editor's note: In this week's roundup of Houston innovators to know, I'm introducing you to three local innovators across industries — from venture funding to startup acceleration — recently making headlines in Houston innovation.


John "JR" Reale, executive in residence at Texas Medical Center Innovation and managing director of Integr8d Capital

John "JR" Reale joined the Houston Innovators Podcast for a special two-part series. Photo courtesy of TMC

John "JR" Reale has seen the evolution of Houston's innovation ecosystem from day one. Recently, he joined InnovationMap for a two-part series on the Houston Innovators Podcast to discuss the city's evolution as a tech and startup hub as well as what he's up to nowadays — leading venture activity at the Texas Medical Center Innovation and within his own firm.

"One of the most important moments for Houston was when we got kicked in the teeth with the Amazon HQ2 bid," he says on the show. "Amazon came back with the shortlist of the 20 cities in North America — and Houston isn't on it. I remember being excited. It was arguably the most innovative company in the world saying 'no thank you.'"

Flash forward, and Houston's a different ecosystem — still with a ways to go. Click here to stream part one and part two of the series.

Maria Burgos, founder of Trendy Seconds

A Houston innovator found second-hand shopping time consuming. So, she designed a better experience. Image courtesy of Trendy Seconds

After donating her items to a local church, Maria Burgos sought to be more sustainable and decided to try secondhand shopping.

“The good news was that I had so many options, new with tags, great conditions…the bad news was that it was so much that I ended up being frustrated because I didn't find what I liked,” she tells InnovationMap. “I had to spend hours of my time scrolling thousands of items, dozens of filters, multiple platforms."

She asked herself why there wasn’t a website where she could find items in one place. “That was the genesis of Trendy Seconds,” she shares. Click here to read more.

Christopher Howard, founder and CEO of Softeq

Chris Howard, CEO and founder of SofteqA Houston software company has announced its new venture fund. Photo courtesy of Softeq

Houston-based Softeq Development Corp. announced its third group of early-stage startups to join the Softeq Venture Studio, which is geared at helping its resident startups quickly develop their technology and build their businesses. With 14 startups, the summer 2022 cohort is the largest yet and brings the total portfolio to 27 companies. Additionally, the $40 million Softeq Venture Fund welcomed Royal Eagle Capital Partners, a Houston-based investment firm, as a limited partner with its $3 million commitment.

“We are thrilled to see how much the Softeq Venture Studio has grown since 2021,” says Christopher A. Howard, founder and CEO of Softeq, in a news release. “We’re also pleased to welcome Royal Eagle Capital Partners as an investment partner in our Venture Fund, which allowed us to achieve more than 50 percent of our funding goal in just five months. We look forward to building on this partnership and growing Softeq in North America, Latin America, and beyond.”

Softeq is also celebrating a recent expansion into Latin America and staffing the new regional office with 30 engineers. The company has plans to grow to 150 employees in the region over the next year. Click here to read more.

A Houston innovator found second-hand shopping time consuming. So, she designed a better experience. Image courtesy of Trendy Seconds

Houston startup seeks to simplify sustainable fashion

design innovation

When the coronavirus pandemic started in 2020, people found themselves at home with a surplus of free time. Puzzles covered dining room tables, remnants of new hobbies were strewn across dens, TikTok dances were rehearsed, and television was binged. Maria Burgos found herself watching Netflix’s “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo,” which inspired her to clean out her closet. In practicing Kondo’s dogma of parting with items that don’t “spark joy,” Burgos uncovered a bigger issue to purge: America’s unsustainable fashion industry.

With piles of clothing ready for a new home, Burgos searched for reliable organizations to donate her possessions. Her research led her to learn more about the negative impact the fashion industry has on the environment.

According to Slate, almost 24 billion pounds of clothes and shoes are thrown out each year — more than double what we tossed two decades ago. Americans consume more than 20 billion garments each year, and each garment can be expected to be worn around seven times, according to The Wall Street Journal. We’re buying more clothing than ever when clothing is at its lowest cost.

A $17.99 linen crop top from H&M may seem like a steal, but the low price tag poses a much greater cost for the environment. Low-quality garments have a bleak chance of finding a secondhand home, and 80 percent of donated clothing won’t ever be seen see a charity shop rack. While some used clothing gets recycled as insulation, others end up in containers that overwhelm charities abroad or sit in landfills.

After donating her items to a local church, Burgos sought to be more sustainable and decided to try secondhand shopping.

“The good news was that I had so many options, new with tags, great conditions…the bad news was that it was so much that I ended up being frustrated because I didn't find what I liked,” she says. “I had to spend hours of my time scrolling thousands of items, dozens of filters, multiple platforms."

She asked herself why there wasn’t a website where she could find items in one place. “That was the genesis of Trendy Seconds,” she shares.

Maria Burgos founded Trendy Seconds to streamline second-hand shopping. Photo courtesy

Burgos has always been drawn to entrepreneurial aspirations. The Venezuela native started her first company, a film magazine, while in college. She studied dentistry and graduated with an offer to become a professor at her university, which she turned down to explore her passion for marketing further. After moving to Spain to obtain an MBA, she gained experience working for large corporations like 3M and GlaxoSmithKline.

Living in countries around the world and dipping her toes into different industries, Burgos gained a unique resume. When she came to the United States, she was eager to get her work permit. She obtained a real estate license and even began working at a startup before having her second child.

“I don't ever have the profile that is right to do what I'm doing at the moment, professionally. That has been something that I considered years ago as a disadvantage, [but] that has been my advantage because I come with a fresh pair of eyes,” she explains. “I solve problems differently, and I throw ideas out there that maybe other people don't,” she continues.

When she thought of Trendy Seconds, Burgos was trying to solve the issues she faced while striving to be a conscious consumer.

“I know that there are many other women like myself that are trying to make better choices, but right now, it's too hard,” she says.

She applied and graduated from the Founders Institute and won a Frost Bank grant to join Impact Hub Houston’s accelerator program.

“The accelerator opened up a lot of doors for me, and I went through all of them,” she shares.

Burgos launched Trendy Seconds, as an online marketplace where women can find pre-owned clothing or shop for new clothing from sustainable brands. The company shares items from more than 50 brands that can be searched by category, style, size, price, condition, and positive impact. To ensure the clothing is high quality, shoppers will find only gently-used or new items featured on Trendy Seconds.

Shoppers can have a much more cultivated experience on Trendy Seconds. Image courtesy

“We work with a fashion stylist to curate the product assortment because one thing that happens is analysis paralysis. When you have too many choices, you don't take action,” says Burgos.

Trendy Seconds creates wardrobe capsules that include an assortment of versatile styles that can be mixed and matched together. Visitors can search for various styles like beachwear, spring/summer, maternity, and special occasion attire.

Burgos has aligned with online secondhand marketplaces as well as sustainable clothing websites, where shoppers are redirected once they find items to purchase. She uses the United Nations’ sustainability goals to vet vendors and determine which brands to include on the website. Some featured eco-conscious brands include Christy Dawn, Eileen Fisher, Soul Flower, and Allbirds.

“Our ultimate goal is to make responsible consumption super easy,” Burgos explains.

Trendy Seconds is currently fundraising and Burgos is looking to bring in investors as she expands the company.

In the future, Burgos wants Trendy Seconds to evolve past the online marketplace and become a resource for circular fashion.

“How we envision this is that we will give the opportunity to consumers to come to the site and not just buy clothes, but actually purchase products and services that can help them increase the life of the clothes that they already have,” she shares.

“I believe that the best way to create a really good, like, motivated consumer audience is by letting them know how can they how can they help,” says Burgos.

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10 Houston billionaires land on Forbes' 2026 list of richest Americans

America's Richest

The richest billionaires in America have a collective worth of $8 trillion in 2026, a staggering $1.4 trillion increase since last year, says Forbes. American billionaires are so wealthy that it now takes an unprecedented $4.4 billion net worth to be considered one of the richest people in the country. And one local billionaire has regained the title as Houston's wealthiest resident.

Oil tycoon Jeffery Hildebrand, 67, now reigns as the No. 1 richest Houstonian, the 9th richest Texan, and the 88th richest person in America for 2026.

The annual Forbes 400 list is a definitive ranking of the wealthiest Americans, using interviews, financial data, and documentation provided by billionaires and their companies. In all, 43 billionaires across Texas made it on the 2026 list, and 10 are based in Houston.

Hildebrand's net worth has surged $4.7 billion since last year, bringing his current net worth to $14.7 billion. He cofounded Hilcorp, one of the largest privately owned oil and natural gas producers in the U.S., in 1990 and served as its CEO until 2018. He still serves as the chairman of the company.

Hildebrand skyrocketed past several other Houston billionaires to claim the top spot citywide: Kinder Morgan chairman Richard Kinder, Toyota mega-dealer Dan Friedkin, and hospitality honcho Tilman Fertitta.

Kinder, 81, was dubbed Houston's richest billionaire in the 2025 Forbes 400 list, whose net worth has increased from $11.1 billion to $12.9 billion in just one year. He is the 11th richest Texan and the 100th richest person in America.

Friedkin, 61, is the third-richest Houstonian and the 102nd richest American with an estimated net worth of $12.9 billion, up from $9.7 billion last year. He most notably owns Gulf States Toyota, which sold $14.5 billion worth of Toyotas in 2025, per Forbes.

The Friedkin family is also in talks to launch a new NHL team in Texas, with Houston and Austin being eyed as potential home bases, CultureMap reports. Bringing a professional hockey team to Houston would be a major boon for the city, which has been without one since the Houston Aeros folded in 2013.

Fertitta, 69, has a net worth of $12.3 billion and is the fourth richest Houstonian and the 110th richest American. Fertitta owns hospitality corporation Fertitta Entertainment and the NBA team Houston Rockets. He most recently purchased the WNBA's Connecticut Sun and plans to relocate them to Houston under the Houston Comets name in 2027. He also keeps himself busy as President Trump's ambassador to Italy.

There's also one new Houston-based billionaire making his debut on the Forbes 400: Houston Texans owner and CEO Cal McNair.

McNair, 64, took over as the principal owner of the NFL team after his late mother, Janice McNair, transferred her principal stake to him in 2024. Janice, who cofounded the Texans with her late husband Bob McNair, passed away in July 2026. She previously had an estimated net worth of $7.3 billion.

Cal McNair ranks as the 218th richest person in America with an estimated net worth of $7.7 billion.

Here's how the rest of Houston's billionaires fared on this year's list:

  • Houston pipeline heir Randa Duncan Williams ranks 124th with an estimated net worth of $11.7 billion. Fellow pipeline heirs Dannine Avara and Milane Frantz tie for 128th nationally. Each has an estimated net worth of $11.6 billion. Scott Duncan ties for No. 137 with an $11.3 billion estimated net worth.
  • Energy exploration chief exec George Bishop of The Woodlands ranks No. 380 with an estimated net worth of $4.5 billion. Last year: $4.7 billion.

Texas' richest billionaires
Walmart heiress Alice Walton, 76, who currently leads as the richest woman globally, is also the richest woman in America, the third-wealthiest person in Texas, and the richest Fort Worth resident for 2026.

Walton's net worth has grown by $12 billion since last year, bringing her current net worth to $118 billion. She is the only daughter of late Walmart cofounder Sam Walton, though she focuses her attention on other endeavors like the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine in Bentonville, Arkansas. Forbes still lists her residence as Fort Worth. Walton is one of only 62 women billionaires on the Forbes 400 list, making up just 16 percent of the total list.

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This article first appeared on CultureMap.com.

3 Houston children's hospitals ranked best in the nation by U.S. News

Hospital Honor Roll

Houston has many renowned hospitals providing exceptional care, and now three local medical centers have earned national acclaim for their top-notch healthcare for children and adolescents.

Texas Children's Hospital, Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital, and Children's Cancer Hospital-MD Anderson Cancer Center are the three local pediatric care centers named in U.S. News and World Report's 2026-2027 Best Children's Hospitals.

Each year, U.S. News surveys over 100 children's hospitals and thousands of pediatric specialists to determine it's Best Children's Hospitals rankings. The winning hospitals excel at various factors such as "clinical outcomes, compliance with established best practices, and level and quality of hospital resources directly related to patient care."

Out of the 90 total children's hospitals selected across 34 states and Washington, D.C., only six were based in Texas.

"For two decades, U.S. News has helped guide families to top-tier pediatric care," said Ben Harder, chief of health analysis and managing editor at U.S. News, in a release. “Finding the right medical team for a rare diagnosis or complex surgery can be overwhelming, and U.S. News’ annual evaluation of the Best Children’s Hospitals provides a clear starting point for parents and referring pediatricians alike."

Texas Children's Hospital reigns as the No. 1 pediatric hospital in the Lone Star State and in the Southwest, and it was the only Texas hospital to be named in U.S. News' national Best Children's Hospitals Honor Roll list for 2026-2027.

Texas Children's also leads as the No. 1 best hospital in the U.S. in two pediatric specialties — Cardiology and Heart Surgery; Diabetes and Endocrinology. It earned top-five acclaim in seven more nationally ranked specialties: Nephrology (No. 2); Pulmonology and Lung Surgery (No. 2); Urology (No. 2); Neurology and Neurosurgery (No. 3); Gastroenterology and GI Surgery (No. 5); Neonatology (No. 5); and Orthopedics (No. 5).

The hospital also ranked as the country's 12th best pediatric cancer hospital, and it's one of the top 50 Best Children's Hospitals for Behavioral Health in the U.S.

Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital is the No. 3 best pediatric hospital in Texas for 2026-2027, and it earned top-50 ranks in seven specialties:

  • No. 12 – Cardiology and Heart Surgery
  • No. 26 – Neonatology
  • No. 28 – Gastroenterology & GI Surgery
  • No. 34 – Neurology and Neurosurgery
  • No. 40 – Orthopedics
  • No. 50 – Nephrology
  • "Top 50" Best Children's Hospitals for Behavioral Health

MD Anderson's Children's Cancer Hospital was unranked in the statewide list of the best pediatric care centers. It ranked as the No. 33 best pediatric cancer hospital in the U.S.

Other high-performing Texas pediatric hospital include Children's Health Dallas, Dell Children's Medical Center in Austin, and Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth.

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This article first appeared on CultureMap.com.

Houston ranks No. 2 for share of AI talent in professional services

AI surge

Houston’s professional and business services sector—think law, accounting, consulting, and engineering firms—grabs one of the industry’s biggest shares of AI talent.

A report from commercial real estate services giant CBRE ranks Houston No. 2 among the top 50 U.S. and Canadian tech markets for the concentration of AI talent in professional and business services.

Houston’s share of AI talent in professional and business services stands at 26 percent, the report shows. Washington, D.C., tops the list at 31 percent. At 25 percent, Dallas-Fort Worth claims the No. 3 spot.

CBRE based the AI ranking on data from the LinkedIn networking platform.

The company’s researchers tallied 11,709 AI-related tech jobs in Houston. Nationwide, data scientists lead AI-related job growth in the U.S., according to the report.

“AI software and hardware developers are currently the most sought-after tech talent by employers,” the report says.

Houston faces AI talent gap

DoubleTrack, a provider of AI and data consulting, reported in June that Houston faces an AI talent gap.

“The places where businesses say they will adopt AI over the next six months, well ahead of where they are today, are mostly the same places already short on talent: Miami, Houston, and Denver among the metros, South Dakota and South Carolina among the states,” DoubleTrack said.

This labor shortage comes amid Houston’s ascent as an AI hub. For instance, a factory being built here by AI chipmaker NVIDIA and electronics manufacturer Foxconn will produce AI supercomputers and infrastructure systems.

Houston’s place in the sphere of tech talent

Overall, Houston ranks No. 32 in the CBRE report among the top 50 U.S. and Canadian markets for tech talent. The San Francisco Bay Area claims the top spot, with Austin at No. 5 and DFW at No. 8.

CBRE relied on 13 metrics to rank tech talent markets, including concentration of tech talent, tech talent pipeline, and research-and-development investments.

Here are other Houston details from the report:

  • In 2025, Houston’s tech talent workforce numbered 104,080, up 7.3 percent over the past three years.
  • Houston’s average wage for tech talent within the tech industry was $120,216 in 2025, up 13.3 percent over the past three years.
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