Editor's note: This week, Houston's innovation ecosystem had news aplenty, and the stories that resonated the most with readers included the city's tech specialties, a new virtual coworking platform, notes from a discussion on raising venture capital investment as a woman, and more.
3 Houston innovators to know this week
This week's Houston innovators to know includes Lenny Saizan of Urban Capital Network, Katie Eick of Rollin' Vets, and Tony Loyd of AECOM. Courtesy photos
This year has made for some pivotal moments for various Houston companies across industries. For some, the pandemic has meant reevaluating their business plans or increased a need for their product or service. For others, social unrest has called for systemic change. Technology emerges for these needs. This week's Houston innovators are addressing these needs with their innovative efforts. Continue reading.
Exclusive: Houston entrepreneurial hub launches 'future-proofed' online platform
The Cannon launched Cannon Connect — an online platform that takes its community of entrepreneurs, investors, and more online — amid the pandemic and plans for growth. Photo courtesy of The Cannon
When the team at The Cannon — a Houston coworking company with three locations across town — was planning an online platform that would connect members across their properties in January, they didn't see a global pandemic enroute to upend how Houstonians work. It did, however, make the need for an online platform all the more relevant.
Now, Cannon Connect has launched to its members — and it comes equipped with virtual networking, job hunting, resources, and more. The whole goal of the platform is to democratize the programming, resources, and culture The Cannon has created.
"Our recognition was that we have a lot of value we can deliver," says Jon Lambert, CEO of The Cannon. "We want to provide the value that we have to entrepreneurs anywhere and everywhere — we don't want to preclude entrepreneurs, investors, advisers, and service providers from being part of what The Cannon is trying to build just because you're not close to one of our facilities." Continue reading.
2 female Houston entrepreneurs discuss challenges women face during fundraising
Kim Raath, CEO of Topl, and Leslie Goldman, general partner at The Artemis Fund, identified three challenges that female entrepreneurs face while going through the fundraising process. Photos courtesy
It's estimated that women make up only around 10 percent of decision makers in venture capital firms in the United States, and women-led companies only receive of a fraction of venture capital invested. And, stats aside, female entrepreneurs continue to face obstacles in the process that their male counterparts don't always share.
Kim Raath — co-founder and CEO of Topl, a Houston-based blockchain startup — and Leslie Goldman — general partner and co-founder of The Artemis Fund — discussed some of these obstacles at a virtual fireside chat for Dallas Startup Week. Here are the three challenges women face during fundraising, as Raath and Goldman discussed. Continue reading.
Houston-based startup makes a splash with cloud technology for E&P in oil sector
This energy tech startup is using tech to change the game within the exploration and production industry. Photo via Getty Images
A Houston area environmental and energy tech company offers a new pay-as-you-go SaaS application that uses chemistry, physics, artificial intelligence, and cloud technology to build simulation platforms for major exploration and production companies.
AquaNRG Consulting's new technology has already been used by major independent E&P companies, helping to increase energy production and optimization. With new products like aiRock™, it uses cloud-based technology to simulate the physical and chemical processes in natural and human-made porous media driven by data.
The company, founded in 2017 by Babak Shafei, a Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Sciences, uses data chemistry-physics in a new scientific methodology that uses data-driven methods including machine learning to complement and enhance theoretical modeling on reactive transport modeling (RTM) principles. Continue reading.
Greater Houston Partnership researcher identifies the city's top tech specialties
Josh Pherigo at GHP used data to look into what tech specialties are thriving in Houston — and what niches have shown promising growth. Photo via LinkedIn
When you look at Houston's venture capital investment patterns, what do they tell you? To Josh Pherigo, research director of data analytics at the Greater Houston Partnership, it paints a picture of what tech and startup niches are thriving.
Based on PitchBook data, Pherigo put together an analysis of what industries within Houston are attracting the most investments. The study came out of the fact that Houston's hold on oil and gas is going to shift as the industry goes through the energy transition. Since O&G is such a crucial part of Houston's economy, the city will have to see a rise in new industries to remain competitive with its economy.
"The idea was to look at the innovation ecosystem and see what the technologies are that are doing well here at at attracting VC funding," Pherigo says on the Houston Innovators Podcast. "And by seeing how well certain technologies are doing, we'll be able to see if these are some areas that have some natural competitive advantages in Houston's economy that we can then use to spur growth in the next few decades — and even just out of the recession we're in right now." Continue reading and stream the episode.