Houston organizations announce 10 most promising life science startups

future of health care

Houston's medical innovation community congregated to discuss breakthrough innovations in health care. Photo via Getty Images

What startups are creating the future of health care? A Houston conference this week gathered to discuss.

The 10th annual Texas Life Science Forum hosted by BioHouston and the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship engaged thought leadership within the life science community with panels, discussions, and more. Additionally, 49 companies pitched their solutions across medical device, therapeutics, pharmaceuticals, and more to the crowd.

Austin-based Dynamic Light won the Michael E. DeBakey Memorial Life Science Award, established by BioHouston in honor of the groundbreaking Houston cardiovascular surgeon. The software company integrates with microscope or robotic systems to provide better visuals to surgeons and health care providers and reduce medical errors, radiation and costs. The award was presented by Ann Tanabe, CEO of BioHouston.

The event also named the 10 most promising life science companies selected by investors and presented by the Greater Houston Partnership. This year's selection included the following companies, in alphabetical order.

Ares Immunotherapy

Photo via Getty Images

Based in Cartersville, Georgia, Ares Immunotherapy uses a unique subset of T-cells for the treatment of solid tumors. According to the company, it is is preparing for a first in man trial in mesothelioma in 2023.

Corveus Medical

Photo courtesy of TMC

Houston-based Corveus Medical, which was formerly known as Caridian Medical, is a part of TMC's Biodesign program. The company was founded by Ishan Kamat, COO, and Tyler Melton, CEO.

"We are developing a novel, catheter-based device that performs a targeted sympathetic nerve ablation to treat heart failure," according to the company. "Our solution leverages the body’s natural mechanisms to bring fluid levels back to normal, giving physicians an effective treatment option, reducing costs for hospitals, and improving quality of life for the patient."

Drusolv Therapeutics

Photo via Pexels

Drusolv Therapeutics, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was founded out of Harvard University and been validated in a proof-of-concept clinical trial. The company's product, a novel reformulation of atorvastatin, is targeting age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, a serious eye disease. According to the company, it's a $4 billion a year, unmet need.

EMPIRI

Photo via jlabs.jnjinnovation.com

Houston-based EMPIRI is an early-stage biotechnology company currently focusing on precision oncology and utilizing automation for personal diagnosis. The company works out of JLABS @ TMC.

"Our proprietary 3D tissue culture method, E-slices, enables personalized drug response measurements from intact patient tissues," per the company. "E-slice has been clinically validated to accurately predict individual cancer patient responses to chemotherapies, targeted therapies, a immunotherapies."

Lapovations

Photo via Getty Images

Based in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Lapovations is working on technologies that improve laparoscopy.

"Our flagship product AbGrab is a single-use device that uses suction to lift the abdominal wall prior to closed insertion entry," according to the company. "Manually lifting can be difficult and unreliable, especially with obese patients or for clinicians with small hands."

Maxwell Biosciences

Photo by Chokniti Khongchum from Pexels

Austin-based Maxwell Biosciences is creating anti-infectives that inactivate a broad spectrum of viruses. The company's product, CLAROMERS, has seen success in its preclinical animal studies, as well as lab-grown human tissues. Maxwell is fueled by over $30 million in non-dilutive and government funding (e.g. DARPA, NIH, NIAID).

NeuraStasis

Image via neurastasis.com

Doctors have to respond quickly when treating ischemic stroke patients, and Houston-based NeuraStasis is working on a way to give them more time. Each minute a patient is waiting, irreparable damage is being done. The company's noninvasive solution uses electrical neurostimulation to preserve brain functionality. NeuraStasis is based in JLABS @ TMC.

Vena Medical

Image via venamed.ca

Canada medical device company Vena Medical is working on the "world's smallest camera" that is able to record inside veins and arteries to help physicians treat stroke.

Vivifi Medical

Photo courtesy of TMC

Houston-based Vivifi Medical, a Texas Medical Center Innovation company, is working to improve the quality of life of patients with Male Infertility and benign prostatic hyperplasia — 12 million men in the United States alone — by ending recurrency via suture-less laparoscopic technology.

XN Health

Image via xn-health.com

XN Health, based in Houston, has developed a novel approach to phrenic nerve stimulation to treat progression of ventilator induced diaphragm disfunction to help wean patients off the ventilator faster. The technology should speed up patient liberation times, shortening ICU stay, improve healthcare outcomes, and reduce health care costs.

From Your Site Articles
Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

Houston space tech companies land $25 million from Texas commission

Out Of This World

Two Houston aerospace companies have collectively received $25 million in grants from the Texas Space Commission.

Starlab Space picked up a $15 million grant, and Intuitive Machines gained a $10 million grant, according to a Space Commission news release.

Starlab Space says the money will help it develop the Systems Integration Lab in Webster, which will feature two components — the main lab and a software verification facility. The integration lab will aid creation of Starlab’s commercial space station.

“To ensure the success of our future space missions, we are starting with state-of-the-art testing facilities that will include the closest approximation to the flight environment as possible and allow us to verify requirements and validate the design of the Starlab space station,” Starlab CEO Tim Kopra said in a news release.

Starlab’s grant comes on top of a $217.5 million award from NASA to help eventually transition activity from the soon-to-be-retired International Space Station to new commercial destinations.

Intuitive Machines is a space exploration, infrastructure and services company. Among its projects are a lunar lander designed to land on the moon and a lunar rover designed for astronauts to travel on the moon’s surface.

The grants come from the Space Commission’s Space Exploration and Aeronautics Research Fund, which recently awarded $47.7 million to Texas companies.

Other recipients were:

  • Cedar Park-based Firefly Aerospace, which received $8.2 million
  • Brownsville-based Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), which received $7.5 million
  • Van Horn-based Blue Origin, which received $7 million

Gwen Griffin, chair of the commission, says the grants “will support Texas companies as we grow commercial, military, and civil aerospace activity across the state.”

State lawmakers established the commission in 2023, along with the Texas Aerospace Research & Space Economy Consortium, to bolster the state’s space industry.

Houston experts: Can AI bridge the gap between tech ambitions and market realities?

guest column

Despite successful IPOs from the likes of Ibotta, Reddit and OneStream, 2024 hasn’t provided the influx of capital-raising opportunities that many late-stage tech startups and venture capitalists (VCs) have been waiting for. Since highs last seen in 2021—when 90 tech companies went public—the IPO market has been effectively frozen, with just five tech IPOs between January and September 2024.

As a result, limited partners have not been able to replenish investments and redeploy capital. This shifting investment landscape has VCs and tech leaders feeling stuck in a holding pattern. Tech leaders are hesitant to enter the public markets because valuations are down 30 percent to 40 percent from 2021, which is also making late-stage fundraising more challenging. After all, longer IPO timelines mean fewer exit opportunities for VCs and reduced capital from institutional investors who are turning toward shorter-term investments with more liquid exit options.

Of course, there’s always an exception. And in the case of a slowed IPO market, a select slice of tech companies—AI-related companies—are far outperforming others. While not every tech startup has AI software or infrastructure as their core offering, most can benefit from using AI to revise their playbook and become more attractive to investors.

Unlocking Growth Potential with AI

While overall tech startup investment has slowed, the AI sector burns bright. This presents an opportunity for companies that strategically leverage AI, not just as a buzzword but as a tool for genuine growth and differentiation. Imagine a future where AI-powered insights unlock unprecedented efficiency, customer engagement and a paradigm shift in value creation. This isn’t just about weathering the current storm of reduced access to capital; it’s about emerging stronger, ready to lead the next wave of tech innovation.

Here's how to navigate the AI frontier and unlock its potential:

  1. Understand that data is the foundation of AI success. AI is powerful, but it’s not magic. It thrives on high-quality, interconnected data. Before diving into AI initiatives, companies must assess their data health. Is it structured in a way that AI can understand? Does it go beyond raw numbers to capture context and meaning—like customer sentiment alongside sales figures? Rethinking data infrastructure is often the crucial first step.
  1. Focus on amplifying strengths, not reinventing the wheel. The allure of AI can tempt companies into pursuing radical reinvention. However, a more effective strategy is to leverage AI to enhance existing strengths and address core customer needs. Why do customers choose your company? How can AI supercharge your value proposition? Consider Reddit’s strategic approach: They didn’t overhaul their platform before their 2024 IPO. Instead, they showcased the value of their vast online communities as fertile ground for AI development, leading to a remarkable first-day stock surge of 48 percent.

  2. Use AI as a customer-centric force multiplier. Companies with a deep understanding of their customer base are primed for AI success. By integrating AI into the very core of their product or service—the reason customers choose them—they can create a decisive competitive advantage based on delivering tangible customer value.

From Incremental Gains to Transformative Growth

This practical, customer-centric approach has the potential to help companies generate immediate growth while laying the foundation for future reinvention. By leveraging AI to optimize operations, deepen customer relationships, and redefine industry paradigms, late-state tech startups can not only survive but thrive in a dynamic market. The future belongs to those who embrace AI not as a destination but as a continuous journey of innovation and growth.

------

Hong Ogle is the president of Bank of America Houston. Rodrigo Ortiz Gomez is a market executive in Bank of America’s Transformative Technology Banking Group as well as the national software banking lead for the Global Commercial Bank.

Houston joint venture secures $5.2M for AI-powered methane tracking tech

Fresh Funds

Houston-based Envana Software Solutions has received more than $5.2 million in federal and non-federal funding to support the development of technology for the oil and gas sector to monitor and reduce methane emissions.

Thanks to the work backed by the new funding, Envana says its suite of emissions management software will become the industry's first technology to allow an oil and gas company to obtain a full inventory of greenhouse gases.

The funding comes from a more than $4.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and more than $1 million in non-federal funding.

“Methane is many times more potent than carbon dioxide and is responsible for approximately one-third of the warming from greenhouse gases occurring today,” Brad Crabtree, assistant secretary at DOE, said in 2024.

With the funding, Envana will expand artificial intelligence (AI) and physics-based models to help detect and track methane emissions at oil and gas facilities.

“We’re excited to strengthen our position as a leader in emissions and carbon management by integrating critical scientific and operational capabilities. These advancements will empower operators to achieve their methane mitigation targets, fulfill their sustainability objectives, and uphold their ESG commitments with greater efficiency and impact,” says Nagaraj Srinivasan, co-lead director of Envana.

In conjunction with this newly funded project, Envana will team up with universities and industry associations in Texas to:

  • Advance work on the mitigation of methane emissions
  • Set up internship programs
  • Boost workforce development
  • Promote environmental causes

Envana, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup, provides emissions management technology to forecast, track, measure and report industrial data for greenhouse gas emissions.

Founded in 2023, Envana is a joint venture between Houston-based Halliburton, a provider of products and services for the energy industry, and New York City-based Siguler Guff, a private equity firm. Siguler Gulf maintains an office in Houston.

“Envana provides breakthrough SaaS emissions management solutions and is the latest example of how innovation adds to sustainability in the oil and gas industry,” Rami Yassine, a senior vice president at Halliburton, said when the joint venture was announced.

---

This story originally appeared on our sister site, EnergyCapitalHTX.com

View All Listings