Rice lands $19 million grant to build AI-driven quantum materials lab

Quantum Boost

The new lab is one of 20 projects selected for the NSF's Programmable Cloud Laboratories Test Bed initiative. Photo via Unsplash

Rice University has received a $19.9 million award from the National Science Foundation to increase the production of quantum and electronic materials by using a combination of artificial intelligence, cloud-based labs and robotics.

The four-year project will create a remote and automated research platform that aims to accelerate discovery and the testing process, according to Rice. The aptly titled project, "Revolutionizing AI-Driven Autonomous Experimentation for Next-Generation Semiconductor Synthesis” (READINESS), will be led by Rice materials scientist Jun Lou, who serves as principal investigator. SUNY Polytechnic Institute and the University of Texas at Austin will collaborate with Rice on the project.

At first, READINESS will focus on two-dimensional materials, oxide semiconductors and diamond thin films that can support emerging technologies, like quantum devices.

READINESS is one of 20 projects selected for the NSF's Programmable Cloud Laboratories Test Bed initiative, which aims to provide more U.S. researchers with access to automated scientific tools.

Additionally, the project aligns with the Department of Energy’s Genesis Mission, which recently selected four projects from Houston universities and companies, including two from Rice. The national initiative aims to unite government, industry, academia and philanthropy to lead to breakthroughs in energy, scientific discovery and national security.

READINESS will offer more advanced lab systems remotely via a cloud interface to assist startups, other research groups, and companies that don’t have the resources, staffing or equipment to produce quantum materials and advanced electronics. READINESS will also allow researchers to simulate experiments via virtual experiments or digital twins before they conduct the physical experiment.

Rice says this will be particularly useful in quantum materials research, which is often met with barriers— like the adjustments of chemical composition, gas flow, pressure, and temperature—that can change the properties of a material.

“This project will give researchers access to capabilities that have traditionally been available only in a handful of laboratories,” David Sholl, executive vice president for research at Rice, said in a news release. “By lowering those barriers, READINESS can accelerate discovery and expand who can participate in cutting-edge materials research.”

Additionally, the project’s AI aspect will offer recommendations for new tests, recognize safety limits and analyze results to assist researchers.

“Responsible AI should complement researchers’ capabilities rather than replace their judgment,” Luay Nakhleh, Dean of Rice’s George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing, added in the release. “READINESS embodies this principle by combining automated systems with transparency, safeguards and human oversight at critical decision points.”

READINESS’ lab will be based out of Rice’s Ralph S. O’Connor Building for Engineering and Science. Partner sites will also contribute equipment, expertise and workforce development programs, according to Rice.

Ultimately, READINESS aims to elevate the speed, reliability and reproducibility of experiments, and to promote access to automated scientific tools for U.S. researchers.

“Our goal is to create a laboratory that researchers from across the country can use to produce advanced electronic and quantum materials on demand,” Lou added in the release. “By integrating robotics, AI and digital twins, we aim to learn from every experiment and shorten the pathway from scientific discovery to practical technology.”

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Here's who won big at the annual Rice Business Plan Competition. Photo courtesy Rice Alliance

Rice Business Plan Competition awards $1.4M to 2026 student teams

winner, winners

Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct the total amount of investment and cash prizes awarded at the RBPC and with additional information from Rice.

Another team from the Great Lakes State took home top honors and investments at this year's Rice Business Plan Competition.

BRCĒ, a material-tech startup from Michigan State University, took home the top-place finish and the largest investment total at the annual Houston event. It has developed Lattice-Grip technology to create utility-based polymers that can replace traditional fabric. The materials are stronger, fire-resistant and more stable than traditional textiles, according to the company. Last year, the University of Michigan's Intero Biosystems won first-place finish and the largest investment total of $902,000.

In total, the RBPC doled out more than $1.4 million in investment and cash prizes, according to Rice. Over the three-day event, held April 9-11, the 42 competing startups presented their business plans to 300 angel, venture capital and corporate investors. Seven finalists were selected.

Three Texas teams, including one from Houston, were named among the finalists. Here's who won big this year, with their investment totals and some of their awards listed below.

BRCĒ, Michigan State University — $611,500

The recent Shark Tank alum finished in first place for its utility-based polymers technology.

$200,000 Goose Capital Investment Grand Prize
$100,000 The OWL Investment Prize
$100,000 Houston Angel Network Investment Prize
$75,000 The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) Texas Angels Investment Prize
$50,000 nCourage Investment Network’s Courageous Women Entrepreneur Investment Prize
$25,000 New Climate Ventures Sustainable Investment Prize
$20,000 Aramco Innovator Cash Prize
$1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prize
$500 Mercury Fund Elevator Pitch Competition Prize – Consumer Hard Tech

Legion Platforms, Arizona State University — $535,500

The startup won second place for its multiplayer gaming platform that can be accessed with slow internet speeds.

$100,000 Anderson Family Fund & Finger Interests Second Place Investment Prize
$200,000 Goose Capital Investment Prize
$100,000 The OWL Investment Prize
$25,000 Pearland EDC Spirit of Entrepreneurship Cash Prize
$500 Mercury Fund Elevator Pitch Competition Prize – Consumer

Imagine Devices, University of Texas at Austin — $111,000

The pediatric medical device company won third place for its multifunction neonatal feeding tube, known as Trinity Tube

$50,000 Anderson Family Fund & Finger Interests Third Place Investment Prize
$25,000 Pearland EDC Spirit of Entrepreneurship Cash Prize
$25,000 The Eagle Investors Investment Prize
$1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prize

Altaris MedTech, University of Arkansas – $16,000

The startup won fourth place for its pain-free strep test.

$5,000 Norton Rose Fulbright Fourth Place Prize
$1,000 Mercury Fund Elevator Pitch Competition Prize — Overall Winner

Routora, University of Notre Dame & University of Texas at Austin – $15,500

The team won fifth place for its route optimization app that works to reduce fuel costs, travel time and carbon emissions

$5,000 Chevron Fifth Place Prize
$500 Mercury Fund Elevator Pitch Competition Prizes — Digital

DialySafe, Rice University — $15,500

The startup won sixth place for its technology that aims to make at-home peritoneal dialysis simpler and safer.

$5,000 ExxonMobil Sixth Place Prize
$500 Mercury Fund Elevator Pitch Competition Prizes — Life Science

Arrow Analytics, Texas A&M University – $16,000

The startup won seventh place for its AI-powered sizing system for carry-on baggage.

$5,000 Shell Ventures Seventh Place Prize
$1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prizes

Other significant prizes included:

BiliRoo, University of Michigan – $26,000

$25,000 Southwest National Pediatric Device Consortium Pediatric Device Cash Prize
$1,000 Anbarci Family Company Showcase Prizes

BeamFeed, City University of New York – $25,000

$25,000 Amentum and WRX Companies Rising Stars Space Technology and Commercial Aerospace Cash Prize

Grapheon, University of Pittsburgh — $20,000

$20,000 Aramco Innovator Cash Prize

A total of $75,000 in in-kind legal services was awarded to all finalists. The grand prize winner, BRCĒ, also received a chief financial officer consulting prize worth $40,000. Each competing startup received at least $950 in prizes for placement in the competition.

“The Rice Business Plan Competition has grown into far more than a competition—it’s a proving ground for founders and a catalyst for real company formation, as well as a catalyst for building the Houston entrepreneurial ecosystem,” Brad Burke, associate vice president of Rice Innovation and executive director of Rice Alliance, said in a news release. This year's event was Burke’s final RBPC after nearly 25 years of leadership.

Last year, the Rice Business Plan Competition facilitated over $2 million in investment and cash prizes. According to Rice, more than 910 startups have raised more than $6.9 billion in capital through the competition over the last 25 years.

See a full list of this year's winners and stream rounds from the competition here.

UH Professor Zhifeng Ren is one of 50 Houston-area researchers named to Clarivate’s Highly Cited Researchers list for their broad and lasting impact. Photo courtesy UH.

These 50+ Houston scientists rank among world’s most cited

science stars

Fifty-one scientists and professors from Houston-area universities and institutions were named among the most cited in the world for their research in medicine, materials sciences and an array of other fields.

The Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers considers researchers who have authored multiple "Highly Cited Papers" that rank in the top 1percent by citations for their fields in the Web of Science Core Collection. The final list is then determined by other quantitative and qualitative measures by Clarivate's judges to recognize "researchers whose exceptional and community-wide contributions shape the future of science, technology and academia globally."

This year, 6,868 individual researchers from 60 different countries were named to the list. About 38 percent of the researchers are based in the U.S., with China following in second place at about 20 percent.

However, the Chinese Academy of Sciences brought in the most entries, with 258 researchers recognized. Harvard University with 170 researchers and Stanford University with 141 rounded out the top 3.

Looking more locally, the University of Texas at Austin landed among the top 50 institutions for the first time this year, tying for 46th place with the Mayo Clinic and University of Minnesota Twin Cities, each with 27 researchers recognized.

Houston once again had a strong showing on the list, with MD Anderson leading the pack. Below is a list of the Houston-area highly cited researchers and their fields.

UT MD Anderson Cancer Center

Ajani Jaffer (Cross-Field)
James P. Allison (Cross-Field)
Maria E. Cabanillas (Cross-Field)
Boyi Gan (Molecular Biology and Genetics)
Maura L. Gillison (Cross-Field)
David Hong (Cross-Field)
Scott E. Kopetz (Clinical Medicine)
Pranavi Koppula (Cross-Field)
Guang Lei (Cross-Field)
Sattva S. Neelapu (Cross-Field)
Padmanee Sharma (Molecular Biology and Genetics)
Vivek Subbiah (Clinical Medicine)
Jennifer A. Wargo (Molecular Biology and Genetics)
William G. Wierda (Clinical Medicine)
Ignacio I. Wistuba (Clinical Medicine)
Yilei Zhang (Cross-Field)
Li Zhuang (Cross-Field)

Rice University

Pulickel M. Ajayan (Materials Science)
Pedro J. J. Alvarez (Environment and Ecology)
Neva C. Durand (Cross-Field)
Menachem Elimelech (Chemistry and Environment and Ecology)
Zhiwei Fang (Cross-Field)
Naomi J. Halas (Cross-Field)
Jun Lou (Materials Science)
Aditya D. Mohite (Cross-Field)
Peter Nordlander (Cross-Field)
Andreas S. Tolias (Cross-Field)
James M. Tour (Cross-Field)
Robert Vajtai (Cross-Field)
Haotian Wang (Chemistry and Materials Science)
Zhen-Yu Wu (Cross-Field)

Baylor College of Medicine

Nadim J. Ajami (Cross-Field)
Biykem Bozkurt (Clinical Medicine)
Hashem B. El-Serag (Clinical Medicine)
Matthew J. Ellis (Cross-Field)
Richard A. Gibbs (Cross-Field)
Peter H. Jones (Pharmacology and Toxicology)
Sanjay J. Mathew (Cross-Field)
Joseph F. Petrosino (Cross-Field)
Fritz J. Sedlazeck (Biology and Biochemistry)
James Versalovic (Cross-Field)

University of Houston

Zhifeng Ren (Cross-Field)
Yan Yao (Cross-Field)
Yufeng Zhao (Cross-Field)
UT Health Science Center Houston
Hongfang Liu (Cross-Field)
Louise D. McCullough (Cross-Field)
Claudio Soto (Cross-Field)

UTMB Galveston

Erez Lieberman Aiden (Cross-Field)
Pei-Yong Shi (Cross-Field)

Houston Methodist

Eamonn M. M. Quigley (Cross-Field)

Researchers from Rice University and the University of Texas have teamed up for semiconductor microsystem innovation. Photo via Getty Images

Houston semiconductor researchers join DARPA-funded Texas team

teaming up

A team led by the University of Texas at Austin and partnered with Rice University was awarded $840 million to develop “the next generation of high-performing semiconductor microsystems" for the U.S. Department of Defense.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) selected UT’s Texas Institute for Electronics (TIE) semiconductor consortium to establish a national open access R&D and prototyping fabrication facility.

The facility hopes to enable the DOD to create higher performance, lower power, lightweight, and compact defense systems. The technology could apply to radar, satellite imaging, unmanned aerial vehicles, or other systems, and ultimately will assist with national security and global military leadership. As a member of DARPA’s Next Generation Microelectronics Manufacturing (NGMM) team, Rice’s contributions are key.

Executive vice president for research Ramamoorthy Ramesh and the Rice researchers will focus on technologies for improving computing efficiency. In a Rice press release, Ramesh notes the need to enhance “energy-efficient computing” which highlights Rice’s qualifications to contribute to the solution.

New microsystem designs will be enabled by 3D heterogeneous integration (3DHI)semi, which is a semiconductor fabrication technology that integrates diverse materials and components into microsystems via precision assembly technologies.

Kepler Computing, is a member of the NGMM team and utilizes ferroelectrics to develop energy-efficient approaches in computer memory and logic, and was co-founded by Ramesh. Other Rice researchers include:

Lane Martin, director of the Rice Advanced Materials Institute
Ashok Veeraraghavan, chair of electrical and computer engineering
Pulickel Ajayan, the Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor of Engineering and founding chair of the materials science and nanoengineering department
Kaiyuan Yang, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering
Guha Balakrishnan, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering

“Given the rapid growth of machine learning AI applications, there is a pressing need to fundamentally rethink current computing methodologies to advance the next generation of microelectronics,” Ramesh says in a news release. ”Rice University boasts world-class researchers with exceptional expertise in computer and electrical engineering poised to bolster this critical federally funded initiative.”

Overall, the project represents a total investment of $1.4 billion. The $840 million award from DARPA is a return on the Texas Legislature’s $552 million investment in TIE. TIE has funded the update of two UT fabrication facilities.

“TIE is tapping into the semiconductor talent available in Texas and nationally to build an outstanding team of semiconductor technologists and executives that can create this national center of excellence in 3DHI microsystems,” S.V. Sreenivasan, TIE founder and chief technology officer and UT professor of mechanical engineering adds.

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This article originally ran on EnergyCapital.

Seven student-founded startups pitched their business plans at an annual NASA event. Photo via NASA.gov

Student startups pitch out-of-this-world tech at Houston competition

space tank

Several groups of students from all over the United States tapped into technology developed by NASA to create business plans. The teams competed in Houston last week for thousands of dollars, and one team went home with the win.

NASA’s Minority University Research and Education Project, or MUREP, hosted its annual "Space Tank" pitch event, MUREP Innovation and Technology Tech Transfer Idea Competition, or MITTIC, last week at Space Center Houston. Seven teams from across the country — including three Texas teams — pitched business plans based on NASA-originated technology.

“Students and faculty members of MITTIC are notably engaging with our agency, but they are helping to fulfill our mission to make the earth a better, safer place creating products and services that will shape the future," says Donna Shafer, associate director at Johnson Space Center.

All seven teams — each led by a minority student — went home with at least $5,000 as a prize for making it to the finals, but one team from the University of Massachusetts at Boston took home first place and a $10,000 prize. The winning team is also invited to join Team Piezo Pace from the University of St. Thomas, Houston, in a visit to NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, for additional look in the innovation and entrepreneurial space.

The judges for the event included: Hope Shimabuku, director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the Texas Region; Megan Ortiz, project manager at NASA; Lawrence Cosby, vice president of IP strategy at JPMorgan Chase & Co; Terik Tidwell, director of inclusive innovation at VentureWell; Jorge Valdes, program advisor on STEM education and intellectual property at the United States Patent and Trademark Office; Walt Ugalde, economic development executive at NASA; and Laura Barron, autonomous systems technology deputy project manager at NASA.

The seven finalist teams — and the technology they are working on — are as follows:

Lone Star College - CyFair’s team Aquarius Solutions, which pitched its water purification product, ClearFlow, based off an ammonia removal system developed at NASA
Fayetteville State University in North Carolina’s ASAPA team pitched their Autonomous Solar Array Assembly drone technology that’s based on NASA’s Print-assisted Photovoltaic Assembly system for automated printing of solar panels.
University of Houston-Clear Lake’s team AstroNOTS has identified a technology to address the safety of wildfire rescue teams. The PyroCap is a emergence fire shelter based on NASA’s Lightweight Flexible Thermal Protection System.
Santa Monica College in California’s team, BREATHE, pitched a noninvasive technology to replace traditional mammograms. The device can analyze breath through a NASA-designed sensor.
University of Massachusetts-Boston’s winning team, LazerSense Solutions, is working on a technology for smoke and gas detection. The PartaSense device can detect everything from carbon monoxide to black mold. It’s based on NASA’s MPASS IP.
Hartnell College in California’s team PanterBotics is working on an zero-emission electric vehicle, the OmniZero, to address climate change. The technology, a modular robotic vehicle, originated at NASA.
University of Texas at Austin’s Longhorn Innovators, who pitched a thinking cap technology to increase and enhance focus. The wearable device is based on NASA technology ZONE, or Zeroing Out Negative Effects, an analysis from EEG sensors.

The Center for Houston's Future is a part of a collaboration that has established a hub for hydrogen innovation. Image via Getty Images

Houston organization leads collaboration to advance Gulf Coast clean hydrogen projects

H-town

A handful of organizations have joined forces to create a new hub for the advancement of clean hydrogen projects in Texas, Southwest Louisiana, and the surrounding Gulf Coast region.

The HyVelocity Hub announced last week that it is applying for U.S. Department of Energy Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub funding. GTI Energy, The Center for Houston’s Future, The University of Texas at Austin, Air Liquide, and Chevron are among the founding members of the HyVelocity Hub.

“The name ‘HyVelocity’ conveys the idea that we have a tremendous opportunity to accelerate the creation of a clean hydrogen market at the pace needed to meet aggressive decarbonization goals for communities in our nation and around the globe,” says Paula A. Gant, president and CEO of Illinois GTI Energy, in a news release. “We need hydrogen deployment at scale, and this hub will lay the foundation with complete end-to-end demonstrations of an integrated network, match supply and demand regionally or locally, and leverage existing infrastructure to deliver resilient, reliable, and sustainable clean energy.”

The Gulf Coast is already a leader in hydrogen production, per the release, and the region is home to a diverse array of energy resources, including hydrogen production facilities and pipelines, a large base of industrial energy consumers, and a skilled, technical workforce.

“We are pleased to be partnering with our colleagues at GTI Energy in creating HyVelocity Hub as the implementation platform for the shared vision of a Texas-sized global clean hydrogen ecosystem created by our collaborative stakeholder process," says Brett Perlman, CEO of The Center for Houston’s Future in the release. “The realization of this vision will be achieved faster with clean hydrogen hub funding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”

Earlier this year, the Center for Houston's Future released a report that outlined what it will take for Houston to establish itself as a hub for hydrogen innovation as well as the impact this industry can have on Houston's economy. The HyVelocity Hub will engage environmental and social justice organizations in the Gulf Coast region to grow the local economy and create jobs in disadvantaged communities, according to the release.

“Accelerating clean energy technologies is vital to addressing global climate challenges as well as local air quality, and Port Houston is excited to participate in advancing these efforts with the HyVelocity Hub,” says Rich Byrnes, chief infrastructure officer of Port Houston, in the release. “The Hub will benefit trucking and maritime sectors, and our communities tremendously with cleaner transportation, lower emissions, new jobs, and both social and environmental equity."

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Telsa targets Houston area for new $10 billion manufacturing plant

Project Sun City

Electric vehicle and clean energy company Tesla is considering building a new $10.1 billion solar cell manufacturing facility in Fort Bend County, according to documents filed with the Texas Comptroller’s Office.

If approved, the plant, called Project Sun City, would be located on a 3,050-acre site off FM 762 and FM 1994 in Richmond, Texas. Tesla aims to finish construction in 2028, with the plant being operational by early 2029.

The plant will manufacture photovoltaic (PV) solar cells and modules that can convert sunlight into electricity. PV Magazine reports that the facility is "the largest single manufacturing investment Tesla has proposed on paper."

Advisory and consulting firm Kroll submitted the documents to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and noted if an agreement regarding tax incentives isn't reached, the project will exit Texas.

Tesla has requested credits under the Jobs, Energy, Technology, and Innovation (JETI) Act. The incentive program aims to attract large, capital-intensive economic development projects by lowering the property taxes an entity must pay over 10 years if it meets requirements related to job creation and investment. For example, pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb Co. recently announced that its forthcoming $2.3 billion Houston-area manufacturing site is a qualified project under the JETI program.

Kroll predicts that the facility would create 9,712 new full-time jobs, over 1,100 construction jobs and billions of dollars in future property tax revenue, the documents show. Additionally, it says the project will spur $1.1 billion in local business expenditures and that Texas would increase its GDP by approximately $107 billion as a result of the project activities.

Tesla opened its $200 million Megafactory in Brookshire, Texas, last year. The company is continuing its goal to deploy 100 gigawatts of solar manufacturing in the U.S before the end of 2028. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, 100 gigawatts is equal to about 8 percent of the country's power grid capacity.

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This article originally appeared on EnergyCapitalHTX.com.

Tech giant Apple opens Advanced Manufacturing Center at massive Houston facility

up and running

Cupertino, California-based Apple Inc. unveiled its Advanced Manufacturing Center in the Houston area last week, marking the completion of the second of three facilities the tech giant plans to launch in the city by the end of this year.

The 20,000-square-foot training center will welcome small- and medium-sized businesses for free training and educational sessions to "help accelerate smart manufacturing across America," according to a release from Apple. Apple opened a similar Apple Manufacturing Academy in Detroit last year.

The AMC is part of Apple's 500,000-square-foot site in northwest Harris County. It also features a massive manufacturing site for Apple’s advanced AI servers and Mac mini. The facility was originally slated to open in 2026, but Apple began producing its advanced AI servers ahead of schedule in 2025.

The company said it plans to begin manufacturing its Mac mini at the site this year. The move will bring production of the compact desktop computer to the U.S. for the first time.

“In less than nine months, we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into this Houston facility. We stood up a factory, started production, and shipped the first advanced AI servers off the line. Today, we’re thrilled to open our new Advanced Manufacturing Center, a place where businesses, workers, and students can learn the same innovative processes that we use to make Apple’s most groundbreaking products. And we’re pleased to begin Mac mini production later this year,” Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, said in the news release. “We believe in American workers and American ingenuity, and we are moving at an incredible pace because we want to build more than great products. We want to build the future of American manufacturing.”

Apple's Advanced Manufacturing Center. Photos courtesy Apple

Apple's Houston expansion is part of a $600 billion commitment the company made to the U.S. in 2025.

The company originally announced plans in February 2025 to open a 250,000-square-foot Houston factory, but doubled the facility's planned size about a year later. Apple has reported that the factory will employ thousands of workers.

“Houston is grateful to Apple for this significant investment in our city. The Advanced Manufacturing Center will create local jobs and will continue improving the quality of life of Houston residents," Houston Mayor John Whitmire added in the release. "The AMC also recognizes our city as a growing technology hub and solidifies Houston’s leadership in the manufacturing sector of the United States.”

The opening comes on the heels of New Jersey-based pharmaceutical giant Bristol Myers Squibb Co. officially naming Houston home of its new $2.3 billion, state-of-the-art manufacturing site. Read more here.

Nominations for the 2026 Houston Innovation Awards are due by Aug. 27

Calling All Innovators

Calling all Houston innovators: The 2026 Houston Innovation Awards, presented by InnovationMap, return this fall to celebrate the best and brightest in the Houston innovation ecosystem right now.

We're asking you to nominate Houston's top innovators and startups for this year's awards. Nominations are open now through August 27 and can be made on behalf of yourself, your organization, and other influential leaders in the local innovation scene.

The annual awards program recognizes the most innovative individuals and companies in Houston across 10 prestigious categories.

This year's awards will honor the following categories:

Minority-founded Business, honoring an innovative startup founded or co-founded by BIPOC or LGBTQ+ representation.
Female-founded Business, honoring an innovative startup founded or co-founded by a woman.
Energy Transition Business, honoring an innovative startup providing a solution within renewables, climatetech, clean energy, alternative materials, circular economy, and beyond.
Health Tech Business, honoring an innovative startup within the health and medical technology sectors.
Deep Tech Business, honoring an innovative startup providing technology solutions based on substantial scientific or engineering challenges, including those in the AI, robotics, and space sectors.
Startup of the Year (People's Choice), honoring a startup celebrating a recent milestone or success. The winner will be selected by the community via an interactive voting experience.
Scaleup of the Year, honoring an innovative later-stage startup that's recently reached a significant milestone in company growth.
Incubator/Accelerator of the Year, honoring a local incubator or accelerator that is championing and fueling the growth of Houston startups.
Mentor of the Year, honoring an individual who dedicates their time and expertise to guide and support budding entrepreneurs.
Trailblazer, honoring an innovator who's made a lasting impact on the Houston innovation community.

You have three weeks to submit nominees, so don't delay — nominate today at this link or fill out the form below. Qualified nominees will receive a formal application to complete, which will be reviewed by our esteemed panel of judges to determine the finalists and winners.

More announcements about the 2026 Houston Innovation Awards are coming soon, including an introduction to this year's panel of judges. Interested in sponsoring the 2026 Houston Innovation Awards? Please contact sales@innovationmap.com.

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