Data Gumbo closes $6M round, Alice partners with accelerator, and more Houston innovation news

Short stories

Blockchain-as-a-service company closes $6 million Series A round. Courtesy of Data Gumbo

Houston's innovation ecosystem has been busy, and the ongoing 50th anniversary of the Offshore Technology Conference has claimed a lot of attention in town lately. While I'm sure you've seen the big news pieces, like the Texas Medical Center's new details about TMC3 or WeWork's third Houston location, you may have missed some of these short stories.

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Data Gumbo closes a $6 million Series A round

Data Gumbo's executive team will use the round of funding to grow its operations. Courtesy of Data Gumbo

Data Gumbo Corp., a Houston-based blockchain-as-a-service company, completed a $6M Series A equity funding round. Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures — the venture subsidiary of Saudi Aramco — and Equinor Technology Ventures —the venture subsidiary of Equinor — co-led the round.

The new capital will be used to grow the company's commercial blockchain network, as well as Data Gumbo's technical, sales and marketing teams at their Houston headquarters and office in Stavanger, Norway. This Series A round brings Data Gumbo's total funding to $9.3 million.

"We enabled the first application of blockchain technology in the offshore drilling industry and will continue to break new ground with applications of BaaS to improve the bottom line of companies of all sizes. Blockchain will have a major impact on the oil and gas industry - and all global industries - and we will lead the charge in its broad adoption for sweeping operational improvements," says Andrew Bruce, CEO of Data Gumbo, in a release. "The partnership with Equinor and Saudi Aramco, and their associated supply chains and partnerships, will provide the momentum for the Data Gumbo BaaS network to gain critical mass." Learn more about Bruce and Data Gumbo here.

Alice and Founder Institute team up

Houston's new Founder Institute chapter has teamed up with Alice. Image courtesy Founder Institute

Pre-seed accelerator, the Founder Institute and Houston-based AI startup resource platform, Alice, announced a partnership to present the "Alice Fellowship" within the Founder Institute Program to help aspiring female founders build impactful and enduring startup companies.

The fellowship allows for female entrepreneurs in the Alice community to apply to the Houston FI program for free, waiving the $50 fee. The best applicants will then be selected to receive the fellowship for free as well. Interested female founders can apply https://fi.co/join/Alice before the application deadline of May 19.

Report shows how Houston fares as a startup city

Houston didn't rank among the best cities for startups — but it didn't make the worst either. Photo by Tim Leviston/Getty Images

Houston performed averagely on a new study from SimpleTexting. The report ranked cities based on their startups' performance — valuation of startups, startup jobs available, number of investors in the region, etc. Here's how Houston ranked. (Note: only the top and bottom 10 cities were ranked, and Houston doesn't appear on any of the top or bottom 10 lists.)

  • Average startup valuation: $4 million (This seems to be about the middle of the pack compared to other cities.)
  • Investor to startup ratio: 2.9 (Houston outranks Austin, which has a 1.5 ratio, in this category but seems to be closer to the bottom than the top.)
  • Startups per 100,000 people: 27.1 (Houston ranks pretty low on the spectrum for this. The 10th worst city is Rochester, New York, which has 17.8.)
  • Startup jobs per 100,000 people: 1.8 (Houston again falls closer to the bottom than the top with this number. The 10th worst city is Tuscon, Arizona, which has 0.88.)

While using different metrics, WalletHub found that Houston is a strong city to start a business. Read that story here.

Clean energy company awarded at EarthX

Trevor Best, CEO of Syzygy Plasmonics, walked away from EarthX $100,000 richer. Photo via LinkedIn

Houston-based Syzygy Plasmonics won $100,000 as one Texas' top CleanTech startup companies at the 2019 EarthX CleanTech Investment Challenge in Dallas. Syzygy is a chemicals startup out of Rice University, and one of their technologies focuses on hydrogen as a fuel option and alternative to gasoline.

TMCx company raises $5.14 million Series A

Philadelphia-based RoundTrip, which is in TMCx's current cohort, closed a hefty Series A round. Photo via roundtriphealth.com

An estimated 3.6 million patients miss or postpone their medical appointments annually, which leads to bigger medical issues that could have been prevented or treated earlier. Philadelphia-based RoundTrip created a platform where patients can book transportation to and from appointments. The startup, which is currently completing TMCx's digital health accelerator program, recently closed its Series A round of $5.14 million led by Motley Fool Ventures.

Houston energy professional publishes female-focused book

The new novel tells the stories of the women within the offshore oil and gas industries. Courtesy of Rebecca Ponton

Rebecca Ponton has published her series of 23 short biographies of women in the offshore oil and gas industry called, Breaking the GAS Ceiling: Women in the Offshore Oil & Gas Industry. Ponton timed the publication ahead of the 2019 Offshore Technology Conference. The book is available on Amazon.

The book features a number of Texas women, including:

  • Marni Zabarsky (MADCON Corp.)
  • Mieko Mahi (freelance petroleum photographer)
  • Alyssa Michalke (previously of TAMKO)
  • Jerry Tardivo Alcoser (works in Chevron's Bakersfield office, but has a home in Houston)
  • Melody Meyer, Katie Mehnert, and Ally Cedeno, who wrote endorsements for the book, live and work in Houston.

Houston O&G consulting company named Great Place to Work

oil and gas

EAG Services received a national recognition for its work environment and employee happiness. Getty Images

Great Place to Work and FORTUNE selected Houston-based EAG Services as one of the 2019 Best Workplaces in Consulting and Professional Services in the small to mid-sized company category. The rankings were based on employees' feedback. EAG Services took the Number 17 spot on the list.

"EAG Services is proud to be recognized by our people for creating one of the best workplaces in the consulting and professional services industry. Our ongoing commitment to keeping culture our priority as well as playing an ever-critical role in hiring has proven to be successful in attracting and building an empowering place to work," says Elizabeth Gerbal, CEO and Founder of EAG Services, in a release.

At WIN's inaugural event, attendees were asked to respond to questions about gender biases. Getty Images

Mentorship and communication identified as key aspects of ending gender inequalities in the energy industry

Fighting biases

Last week, female engineers and entrepreneurs from across the state gathered for the inaugural Society for Petroleum Engineers Gulf Coast Section' Women-in-Energy Congress.

Attendees were able to hear from speakers, like Susan Dio, chairman and president of BP America, who delivered the keynote address, as well as opt into breakout sessions and discussions, like "The New Age of Startups."

Throughout the day, the attendees were asked to respond to questions regarding their experience as women in a male-dominated field. The results show that mentorship and communication are both keys to ending gender biases in the workplace, while things like politics and lack of female mentors hold back results.

When asked about how men could be allies in the workplace to women, over 48 percent of respondents said male coworkers could do a better job of checking their unconscious bias in themselves and in others.

More than 47 percent responded that the biggest positive impact for their careers has been a boss, mentor, or sponsor, and almost 70 percent of those polls said that direct managers or people in the C-suite had the greatest impact of eliminating gender biases in the workplace.

For women seeking support in their careers, it was clear from the event that the solution is looking to other women who may have been in similar situations. Almost 100 percent of respondents said they have considered or pursued a career change in the past — half of those wanted a career change to expand their skill set and over a third felt like they have growth opportunities in their current role.

Texas ranks as the top state for female entrepreneurs, so there is potential for success within larger companies. According to the speakers and conversations at WIN's event, there's a lot both women and men can do to end gender biases for future business operations.

Courtesy of WIN

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Rice University lands $14M state grant to open Center for Space Technologies

on a mission

Rice University’s Space Institute soon will be home to the newly created Center for Space Technologies.

On Feb. 17, the Texas Space Commission approved a nearly $14.2 million grant for the Rice project. The Center for Space Technologies will target:

  • Research and development
  • Technology transfer and innovation
  • Statewide partnerships
  • Workforce development training
  • Space-focused education programs

The goal of the new center “is to fulfill an articulated need for research, workforce development, and industry collaboration,” said Kemah communications and marketing executive Gwen Griffin, chair of the commission.

State Rep. Greg Bonnen, a Friendswood Republican, authored the bill that set up the Texas Space Commission.

Since being authorized in 2023, the commission has funded 24 projects, with Rice and Houston-area companies accounting for nearly $75 million in grants to back space-related initiatives.

The grant to Rice brings the TSC's total investment to $150 million, fully committing the entire state appropriation from the Texas Legislature in 2023.

Other local companies that have received grants over the years include Aegis Aerospace, Axiom Space, Intuitive Machines, Starlab Space and Venus Aerospace.

The commission also awarded $7 million to Blue Origin earlier this month. See a list of the 24 awards here.

Waymo self-driving robotaxis have officially launched in Houston

Waymo has arrived

Waymo will begin dispatching its robotaxis in four more cities in Texas and Florida, expanding the territory covered by its fleet of self-driving cars to 10 major U.S. metropolitan markets.

The move into Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando, Florida, announced Tuesday, February 24, widens Waymo's early lead in autonomous driving while rival services from Tesla and the Amazon-owned Zoox are still testing their vehicles in only a few U.S. cities.

In contrast, Waymo's robotaxis already provide more than 400,000 weekly trips in the six metropolitan areas where they have been transporting passengers: Phoenix, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, and Austin, Texas.

Waymo operates its ride-hailing service through its own app in all the U.S. cities except Atlanta and Austin, where its robotaxis can only be summoned through Uber's ride-hailing service.

The expansion into four more markets marks a significant step toward Waymo's goal to surpass 1 million weekly paid trips by the end of 2026. Without identifying where its robotaxis will be available next, Waymo is targeting a list of eight other cities that include Las Vegas, Washington, Detroit and Boston while signaling its first overseas availability is likely to be London.

To help pay for more robotaxis, Waymo recently raised $16 billion as part of the financial infusion that puts the value of the company at $126 billion. The valuation fueled speculation that Waymo may eventually be spun off from its corporate parent Alphabet, where it began as a secret project within Google in 2009.

Although Waymo is opening up in four more cities, its robotaxis initially will only be made available to a limited number of people with its ride-hailing app in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Orlando before the service will be available to all comers in those markets.

Tech giant Apple doubles down on Houston with new production facility

coming soon

Tech giant Apple announced that it will double the size of its Houston manufacturing footprint as it brings production of its Mac mini to the U.S. for the first time.

The company plans to begin production of its compact desktop computer at a new factory at Apple’s Houston manufacturing site later this year. The move is expected to create thousands of jobs in the Houston area, according to Apple.

Last year, the Cupertino, California-based company announced it would open a 250,000-square-foot factory to produce servers for its data centers in the Houston area. The facility was originally slated to open in 2026, but Apple reports it began production ahead of schedule in 2025.

The addition of the Mac mini operations at the site will bring the footprint to about 500,000 square feet, the Houston Chronicle reports. The New York Times previously reported that Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn would be involved in the Houston factory.

Apple also announced plans to open a 20,000-square-foot Advanced Manufacturing Center in Houston later this year. The project is currently under construction and will "provide hands-on training in advanced manufacturing techniques to students, supplier employees, and American businesses of all sizes," according to the announcement. Apple opened a similar Apple Manufacturing Academy in Detroit last year.

Apple doubles down on Houston with new production facility, training center Photo courtesy Apple.

“Apple is deeply committed to the future of American manufacturing, and we’re proud to significantly expand our footprint in Houston with the production of Mac mini starting later this year,” Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, said in the news release. “We began shipping advanced AI servers from Houston ahead of schedule, and we’re excited to accelerate that work even further.”

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

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