3 Houston innovators to know this week

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This week's innovators to know in Houston includes Ayse McCracken of Ignite Healthcare Network, Philipp Sitter of VIPinsiders, and Diane Yoo of Medingenii. Photos courtesy

Editor's note: In today's Monday roundup of Houston innovators, I'm introducing you to three innovators — from health care investing to marketing technology — all making headlines in Houston this week.

Ayse McCracken, founder and board chair of Ignite Healthcare Network

Ayse McCracken joins the Houston Innovators Podcast to discuss women in health care and Ignite Madness. Photo courtesy of Ignite

When the pandemic hit and shut down businesses across the world, Ayse McCracken knew immediately what group of people were likely going to be the most affected: Women in health care. It just so happens that her nonprofit organization, Ignite Healthcare Network, exists to serve this same group of people, so she got to work on creating online events that were intentional and meaningful.

"With COVID, it has only escalated the importance of our work, so we've elevated our voices through our webinar series," McCracken says on this week's Houston Innovators Podcast.

This week, Ignite's virtual startup competition concludes with the finals. She shares more about the program and Ignite's mission on the episode. Click here to read more and stream the episode.

Philipp Sitter, founder of VIPinsiders

Restaurateur Philipp Sitter launched VIPinsiders last year. Photo courtesy of VIPinsiders

Restaurants have undoubtedly suffered due to loss of business during the shutdown, but they face an uphill battle back to normalcy, and restaurateur Philipp Sitter knew his tech tool could help. He created VIPinsiders as a marketing tool to reach customers in a data-driven way.

"The restaurant gets to know me [the customer], it understands how often I visit, it also gets to reward my visitation," explains Sitter. "Most importantly, it reminds me to come back when I haven't visited in a while."

Data recorded by VIPinsiders shows that 48 percent of users visit restaurants with the platform "more often" in the first 90 days. Click here to read more.

Diane Yoo, managing partner at Medingenii

Diane Yoo, who was hospitalized due to COVID-19 earlier this year, created a VC fund that's investing in health tech solutions for the disease. Photo courtesy of Medingenii

Just a few weeks after being hospitalized from COVID-19, Diane Yoo was investing in a medical device startup that could have made a world of difference to her recovery. After closing its initial fund, Medingenii invested in several Houston health startups including Vitls, a wearable device that can track and send vitals remotely.

"The pandemic has really validated some of the business models we're invested in," she tells InnovationMap.

Now, fueled by her first round of success and eager to advance other life-changing technologies, Yoo is looking toward a second fund. Click here to read more.

A Houston restaurateur and tech founder is giving the food and restaurant business a new marketing opportunity with VIPinsiders. Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

Houston entrepreneur's mobile platform brings gains to small restaurant chains

tapping into tech

Food is the way to a Houstonian's heart. With critically-acclaimed cuisine and an abundance of diversity, Houston is the South's culinary pride. COVID-19 has now stirred uncertainty in a once definitive piece of the city's culture, and restaurateurs are looking for solutions. For Philipp Sitter, CEO of VIPinsiders, artificial intelligence is a step in the right direction.

Sitter holds many titles: CEO of KB Restaurant Group, President of EggHaus and King's Bierhaus — and now, tech founder. In 2019 he launched VIPinsiders, "a rewards program that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to understand the customer on an individual journey," he explains.

"I was born into the restaurant industry," says Sitter, as he remarks on immigrating from Vienna as a child and opening the first King's Biergarten in Pearland in 2011. As a fifth-generation restaurateur, he is familiar with "the love and pain of the industry." When he took on the challenge of marketing his family's "obscure German restaurant behind a car wash in Pearland," he became "obsessed" with the trade.

Philipp Sitter launched VIPinsiders last year. Photo courtesy of VIPinsiders

After building excitement around EggHaus, the Instagrammable haven that's attracted both breakfast lovers and influencers, Sitter wanted to find a way to build the same buzz at his other restaurants using technology.

Going mobile

From Starbucks Rewards' gold stars to Chick-Fil-A One, reward programs have been tested and utilized by the Goliaths of the restaurant industry for years.

When looking at the cost of building a mobile app like Starbucks, he determined it to be impossible.

"We're talking about millions that go into developing technology. What restaurant is going to be able to afford something like that?" he asked.

The plan soon crystallized: Sitter decided to create a mobile platform that uses AI to personalize unique offers and experiences for customers while taking the responsibility from the shoulders of restaurant owners with smaller, multi-unit concepts. By developing and scaling the mobile platform by providing its services to other businesses, "then it would all of the sudden become affordable for everybody," he realized.

Deciding to create a mobile platform was the easy part.

"I wasn't born with the emotion of fear in business," shares Sitter, who has dabbled in obscure endeavors from washing cars to flipping classic cars on eBay.

After formulating the VIPinsiders concept, he hired a team of developers to "use the psychology of everything I've learned in marketing and put it into a technology platform," he explains.

The user experience

Each client gets a tailor-made approach, ensuring the rewards and loyalty features are made to fit the restaurant. The VIPinsiders staff builds custom mobile platforms for its small and medium-sized restaurant chain clients that utilize the restaurant's branding, menus and events for $299 per month.

"We got through a discovery call in which our team will actually build the rewards journey for them and show it to the business owner for approval," explains Sitter, "We don't want to give the owners and managers a homework assignment."

Once the platform is approved, Sitter's team trains restaurant owners. In-house copywriters and designers then develop print material for the restaurant to cross-promote the rewards program.

According to VIPinsiders' internal data, 95 percent of users find the app "easy to use." Using QR technology, customers can sign up by scanning a QR code rather than downloading an app.

"The restaurant gets to know me [the customer], it understands how often I visit, it also gets to reward my visitation," explains Sitter. Rather than a one-size-fits-all reward program, the platform is meant to showcase different menu items and offerings.

"Most importantly, it reminds me to come back when I haven't visited in a while."

Data recorded by VIPinsiders shows that 48 percent of users visit restaurants with the platform "more often" in the first 90 days.

Text message marketing

When stay-at-home orders first took effect in Harris County, many business owners could not update their business hours or post new content on the Google My Business platform due to the site's halted review process during COVID-19.

The issue left business owners with one less form of contact, creating a vulnerability in customer communication. Social media marketing doesn't quite come to the rescue either, with Facebook's algorithm showing an average of 5.5 percent of a brand's following will see its post.

To Sitter, text messaging is "the next frontier."

Due to COVID-19, VIPinsiders recently ran a promotion to provide free platform use and unlimited text capabilities for a limited time to restaurants. "We've gotten a lot of incredible emails and feedback saying thank you for letting us use this and helping us [get] back our business," says Sitter.

"It's time for all of us to take our power back, to own our customer [data] and be able to talk with them directly and not have to pay the middleman [like social media companies] and really have the relationship that customer opted in for," says Sitter.

As one of the first mobile platforms approved by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, restaurant clients can extend happy hour offerings and provide customers with free alcoholic beverages.

At King's Bierhaus, Sitter was able to deploy an alcohol-to-go offer via text message that resulted in $40,000 of bottled King's Whiskey sold.

"I was able to sell that because I was able to text my customers directly," Sitter says.

Clients outside of Sitter's own properties also see growth. Ninety-three percent of restaurants using the VIPinsiders platform reported an increase in sales.

"I would absolutely recommend other operators to sign up for VIPinsiders because it has increased our sales, our guests love it, and the support we get from them makes it effortless," explains Usman Dhanani, President of Operations for Cyclone Anaya's Tex-Mex Kitchen, in a VIPinsiders testimonial video.

El Toro, a Mexican restaurant chain with six Texas locations, generated an estimated additional $735,000 in sales with a total of more than 35,000 additional customer visits, according to VIPinsiders data.

"The biggest brands in the world and celebrities lead a charge into marketing initiatives," says Sitter, "A company like ours will bring that to small businesses and make it affordable for them so they can compete at the highest level."

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8+ can't-miss Houston business and innovation events for November

where to be

Editor's note: Houston’s innovation calendar is packed this November, with opportunities to connect across climatetech, health care and entrepreneurship. From Greentown Labs’ flagship summit and veteran-led showcases to discussions on medical innovation and startup growth, here's what not to miss and how to register. Please note: this article may be updated to include additional event listings.

Nov. 4 – Greentown Climatetech Summit

Greentown Labs' Climatetech Summit Houston will bring together philanthropists, executives and innovators in the energy transition space. Expect to hear from John Arnold, co-founder and co-chair of Arnold Ventures, and Greentown CEO Georgina Campbell Flatter, who will participate in the day-long event’s keynote fireside chat, along with remarks from Houston Mayor John Whitmire, a course led by TEX-E Executive Director Sandy Guitar and more. Ten Greentown Labs startups will present pitches, and attendees will also be able to meet founders and Greentown members during the afternoon startup showcase.

This event is Tuesday, Nov. 4, from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. at Greentown Labs. A networking reception follows from 5-7:30 p.m. at Axelrad Houston. Learn more here.

Nov. 11 – Veterans & Visionaries

Houston Veteran Network will celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit of veterans at its Veterans & Visionaries event. Veteran business owners will have the opportunity to showcase their businesses, connect with investors and participate in speed networking.

This event is Tuesday, Nov. 11, from 2-7 p.m. at the Ion. Find more information here.

Nov. 12 – Energy Drone and Robotics Forum

The Energy Drone + Robotics Coalition will offer a chance for industry leaders, operators and engineers to connect. Attendees will explore real-world uses, hear lessons from successful deployments, and gain practical insights and tools for scaling through various workshops, keynote addresses, Q&As and more.

This event is Wednesday, Nov. 12, from 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. at the Ion. A Bots & Brews / Industrial AI Connect Reception will be held at Second Daught from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Find more information here.

Nov. 12 – TMC Envision 2025: Showcasing Healthcare Innovation

Celebrate 10 years of TMC Innovation at Envision, which shines a light on how TMC’s health tech companies are shaping the future. The event will feature talks from TMC’s Devin Dunn, Jason Sakamoto and Tom Luby that will focus on hospital innovation, health care policies, Texas-specific funding and regulatory dynamics and more.

This event is Wednesday, Nov. 12, from 3:30-6:30 p.m. at TMC Innovation Factory. Find more information here.

Nov. 13 — 2025 Houston Innovation Awards

Join InnovationMap at Greentown Labs on Nov. 13 for the fifth annual Houston Innovation Awards. Our annual celebration of all things Houston innovation offers an exclusive opportunity to network with leaders in the innovation ecosystem and culminates in the awards ceremony, where this year's winners across 10 prestigious categories will be unveiled. Individual tickets and corporate 10-packs with reserved seating are still available.

This event is Thursday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. at Greentown Labs. Get your tickets here.

Nov. 13 – Houston Methodist Leadership Speaker series

Head to the Houston Methodist Tech Hub at Ion to hear the latest installment of the Houston Methodist Leadership Speaker Series. The month’s event will feature Dr. Shlomit Schaal, executive vice president and chief physician executive at Houston Methodist. She is also the president and CEO of the Houston Methodist Physician Organization. Schaal will focus on physician group innovation.

This event is Thursday, Nov. 13, from 4:45-6 p.m. at the Ion. Find more information here.

Nov. 18 – Rice Customer-based Strategy Symposium

Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business will present this recurring forum for exchanging innovative ideas on customer-centered strategy planning and execution. The symposium features peer-reviewed research from leading academics with industry trends and insights from executives. Hear from Jones School Dean Peter Rodriguez, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, Laura Lopez, SVP of marketing, communications and public relations at Houston Methodist; Farid Virani, CEO of Prime Communications; and several Rice MBA graduates and executives.

This event is Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, from 7:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. at the Ion. Learn more here.

Nov. 20 – Houston Startup Speedrun

Wade Pinder, founder of Product Houston, will host the Houston Startup Speedrun. This intensive and fast-paced program is designed to provide early-stage founders and aspiring entrepreneurs with a comprehensive understanding of the “Startup Founder's Journey” and the Houston startup ecosystem. The event is broken up into 10 consecutive 50-minute sessions, including topics such as “Creating a Compelling Business Plan,” “Operations and Scaling” and others.

This event is Thursday, Nov. 20, from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. at the Ion. Find more information here.

Nov. 20 – State of the Texas Medical Center

The Greater Houston Partnership will present the State of the Texas Medical Center. Hear from William F. McKeon, president and CEO of TMC, and GHP president and CEO Steve Kean as they discuss “the tremendous progress happening in health care delivery and life sciences in the world’s largest medical center.”

This event is Thursday, Nov. 20, from 4-6:30 p.m. at Helix Park. Find more information here.

Houston's most promising health tech startups lead innovation news to know

6 finalists compete to be crowned Houston's 2025 Startup of the Year

Cast Your Vote

We're just two weeks away from the 2025 Houston Innovation Awards, and while our expert panel of judges will determine the winners in most categories, one award is up to you.

Voting is now open for our people's choice award: 2025 Startup of the Year. Six exceptional finalists are in the running for the title, and your votes will determine the winner.

From rugged humanoid robots to next-generation sustainable materials, each of these startups is making an impact on the innovation ecosystem in Houston — and beyond.

Read about our Startup of the Year finalists and their missions below, then cast your vote. You can vote once per day through November 12, so make your voice heard.

The winner, along with winners in all other categories, will be revealed live at our event on November 13 at Greentown Labs. Tickets to the 2025 Houston Innovation Awards are available now — get yours today.

Eclipse Energy

Eclipse Energy, previously known as Gold H2, is a climatetech startup converting end-of-life oil fields into low-cost, sustainable hydrogen sources. The company completed its first field trial this summer, which demonstrated subsurface bio-stimulated hydrogen production. Eclipse Energy says Its technology could yield up to 250 billion kilograms of low-carbon hydrogen.

FlowCare

FlowCare is developing a period health platform that integrates smart dispensers, education, and healthcare into one system to make free, high-quality, organic period products more accessible. FlowCare is live at prominent Houston venues, including Discovery Green, Texas Medical Center, The Ion, and, most recently, Space Center Houston, helping make Houston a “period positivity” city.

MyoStep

MyoStep is a next-generation, lightweight, soft exoskeleton developed at University of Houston for children with cerebral palsy. The soft skeleton aims to address motor impairments that impact their ability to participate in physical activities, self-care, and academics, via an affordable, child-friendly solution that empowers mobility and independence.

Persona AI

Persona AI is a humanoid robotics startup that is creating rugged, autonomous robots for skilled, heavy industry work for various "4D" (dull, dirty, dangerous, and declining) jobs. In May, the company announced a memorandum of understanding with HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering, HD Hyundai Robotic, and Vazil Company to create and deploy humanoid robots for complex welding tasks in shipyards. The project will deliver prototype humanoids by the end of 2026.

Rheom Materials

Rheom Materials is a next-generation startup developing biobased materials for a more sustainable future. Its two flagship offerings are Shorai, a sustainable leather alternative that is usable for apparel, accessories, car interiors, and more, and Benree, an alternative to plastic without the carbon footprint.

Solidec

Solidec is a chemical manufacturing company developing autonomous generators that extract molecules from water and air and convert them into pure chemicals and fuels that are free of carbon emissions. The technology eliminates the need for transport, storage, and permitting.

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The Houston Innovation Awards program is sponsored by Houston Community College, Houston Powder Coaters, FLIGHT by Yuengling, and more to be announced soon. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact sales@innovationmap.com.

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3 Houston innovators to know this week

who's who