Houston Innovators Podcast

In this episode, listeners get a chance to revisit an episode from 2023 with Josh Teekell, founder and CE of SmartAC.com. A lot has happened with SmartAC.com since Josh joined the show, and the most recent milestone the company has reached is an additional funding round closed last month with support from Houston-based Mercury. SmartAC.com's expanded platform enables contractors in the HVAC and plumbing industries monitor, manage, and optimize their maintenance memberships through advanced sensors, AI-driven diagnostics, and proactive alerts. Josh will be using the fresh funding to continue growth for the company. Original episode aired in May 2023. Link to read about SmartAC’s latest raise: https://houston.innovationmap.com/smartac-mercury-follow-on-round-2670691230.html

In this episode, listeners get a chance to revisit an episode from last year with Tim Latimer. 2024 was an incredible year for Tim and his company Fervo Energy, which raised a cumulative $600M in multiple rounds of investment, financing, and federal support. Fervo wrapped up the year announcing $255 million dollars of fresh funding to continue its growth in the new year. When Tim joined the show, it was right in the middle of this successful year, and he shared on the show how Fervo’s momentum is leading to 100x growth with its latest geothermal project, Project Cape, which is fully permitted up to 2 gigawatts and will begin generating electricity in 2026. Original episode aired in May 2024. Link to read about Fervo’s latest raise: https://houston.innovationmap.com/fervo-energy-capricorn-geothermal-raise-2670498267.html

Samantha Lewis, partner Mercury, joins the show today for a record fourth time to discuss some of the venture capital trends in Houston and beyond — from fintech exits to GenAI and blockchain. We also take a moment to reflect on Houston’s innovation ecosystem and its progress over the past several years.

Phillip Yates is the CEO of Equiliberty and chairman of Impact Hub Houston. Phillip, who also is a practicing lawyer, shares a bit on his background and how he evolved his career in law into an entrepreneur in the tech and startup space to create his fintech platform, which is expected to launch in early 2025. Phillip and I also discuss the Houston innovation ecosystem and what it meant to him to accept the award of Ecosystem Builder at the 2024 Houston Innovation Awards.

This week, Meagan Pitcher, CEO and co-founder of Bairitone Health, shares her journey into health tech entrepreneurship and the bright future for her company.

Vibhu Sharma is the CEO of InnoVent Renewables LLC, a Houston company that has the potential to revolutionize the automotive industry and make a huge impact on sustainability. InnoVent has created a proprietary technology that converts waste tires, into valuable fuels, steel and chemicals. Vibhu joins the show to share how he’s quickly turned this company from concept to near commercial operations in just around two years. Plus he shares what the future holds for his unique company.

On this episode, host Natalie Harms is looking back at some of her favorite episodes of 2024 — featuring guests from across the Houston innovation landscape.

Anwar Sadek is the CEO and founder at CORROLYTICS, a tech company that has designed a way to better detect microbial corrosion. Anwar joins the show today to discuss his entrepreneurial journey, how he’s bootstrapped his company, and relocated to Houston to make the most of the energy and tech communities here.

In this episode, listeners get a chance to revisit an episode from last year with Ayse McCracken, the founder of Ignite Healthcare Network, an organization that accelerates female-founded businesses within health care. In November, Ignite hosted its annual Fire Pitch Competition, the main event for its accelerator that supports and connects female health tech founders with the Texas Medical Center’s vast network of experts and health care organizations. At the event, the founders pitched their health tech solutions across lung health, renal therapy, breastfeeding tech, and more. This year’s first place winner was Sarah Lee, CEO and co-founder of Relavo, a New York-based company that's making home dialysis more effective, safer, and more affordable.Link to read about the 2024 Fire Pitch Competition winners: https://houston.innovationmap.com/ignite-health-relavo-fire-pitch-2670292174.html

Reginald DesRoches was named president of Rice University in 2021. He joins the show to discuss the unprecedented growth the university has had under his first two and a half years of leadership — from growing the student body and faculty to establishing research institutions and initiatives to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems.

Samina Farid is the managing director of Golden Seeds and co-lead of the national angel investing group’s Houston chapter. Samina joins the show today to discuss her own entrepreneurial journey and how she got into investing with Golden Seeds, which has been growing in Houston for a few years now. She also shares advice for both startups and new angels on getting involved with Golden Seeds.

Dianna Liu is the CEO and founder at ARIX Technologies, a Houston hardtech and software startup that’s created a robot to help industrial companies enhance efficiency and safety when it comes to pipeline corrosion. Dianna joins the show today to share ARIX’s journey over the past several years as well as what the future looks like for her company.

Aileen Allen has recently joined Houston VC firm Mercury as venture partner. A native Houstonian, Aileen has spent the bulk of her career in the tech ecosystems of the Bay Area and Austin as an operator at tech companies, eventually returning to her hometown in 2020. She’s recently evolved her career to become an investor, and she shares some of these learnings on the show today — plus what she’s looking for in her new role at Mercury.

Sarah Hein is the co-founder and CEO of March Biosciences, a cancer-fighting cell therapy company that recently closed a $28.4 million series A round and is getting ready to launch its phase II trial. Sarah joins me today to discuss the past two and a half years of growing March and the role Houston and its biotech ecosystem has played in the company’s growth.

Chris George is the US Co-Lead at Octopus Electric Vehicles, a spinout of the UK-based energy retail provider Octopus Energy, which expanded to the US by way of Houston. Octopus EV provides customized EV leases paired with smart energy technology, and Chris joins the show today to explain the business — including their newest product launching this week — as well as his views on the EV industry as a whole and the momentum happening locally, in Texas, and across the country.

This week, InnovationMap announced the finalists for the 2024 Houston Innovation Awards, and I'd like to take this episode as an opportunity to introduce you to the incredible batch of startups, organizations, and innovators that made the cut for this year's awards. This year's finalists include 35 startups across 8 categories, plus 14 individual finalists across 3 categories. Six Houston organizations were named finalists in the community champion organization category, which honors impactful corporates, nonprofits, academic institutions, and more. Read more about the finalists: https://houston.innovationmap.com/2024-houston-innovation-awards-finalists-2669381682.html Register for the awards: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-houston-innovation-awards-tickets-991320465197?aff=editorial Follow more awards coverage: https://houston.innovationmap.com/houston-innovation-awards/

This week, we are revisiting a conversation I had earlier this year with Scott Gale, who passed away two weeks ago after a years-long battle with cancer. As executive director of Halliburton Labs, he was instrumental in the program’s success across the past four years, and he leaves a legacy of innovation, collaboration, and curiosity, all of which we touched on in our conversation.In the episode, we discussed Halliburton Labs, his career, and the Inaugural Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week, which Scott has a major role in creating. Unfortunately, Scott wasn’t able to attend the week as he had already entered into hospice care.Scott Gale's legacy: Houston energy, innovation leader dies after hard-fought battle with cancerJoin InnovationMap in celebrating Scott at the Houston Innovation Awards: Houston Innovation Awards to honor 2 trailblazers with posthumous recognition

Zimri T. Hinshaw is the CEO and founder of Rheom Materials, a bio-based materials company that’s creating sustainable materials for the fashion, automotive, and other industries. Originally founding his company as Bucha Bio, Zimri recently rebranded his business to reflect its growth and evolution into new products and technologies. He shares a bit more about what he’s been up to and where Rheom is going on the show today.

Ana Amicarella is the CEO of EthosEnergy, a Houston-based energy technology developer and provider that’s helping its customers find the right tech for the energy transition. Ana joins the show today to discuss the recent acquisition of the company, which is transitioning from being owned by a joint venture into being private equity backed. She also shares about her career from immigrating from Venezuela to leading an energy company and promoting diversity and inclusion within her organization.