Houston Innovators Podcast

Omair Tariq is the founder and CEO of Cart.com, a fast-growing, Houston-founded commerce enablement platform that’s raised over $500 million in funding and reached unicorn status last year. Omair joins the show today to discuss the company’s rapid growth and why Houston is the perfect city for its next phase of business.

Atul Varadhachary is the managing partner of Fannin, a Houston organization that’s commercializing early stage life science innovations by optimizing capital efficiency for these promising health tech treatments and medical devices. Life science innovation takes a significant amount of time and money to accelerate, and Atul shares how the Fannin model approaches these challenges while also contributing to developing Houston’s life science innovation ecosystem.

Lori-Lee Elliott is the co-founder and CEO of Dauntless XR, a software company that provides extended reality solutions for aviation, aerospace, and other industries. Lori-Lee originally founded her company in 2018 to work on industrial solutions within the energy industry. Last year, she rebranded the business and pivoted to new industries, and she shares on the show today about how she navigated this process and her tips for working on government contracts.

Denise Hamilton is the founder and CEO of WatchHerWork and author of Indivisible: How to Forge Our Differences into a Stronger Future. She joins the show today to discuss the book, which comes out February 6, and how she hopes it inspires current and future leaders to move beyond how they think of diversity and inclusion and to move toward a better, more indivisible world. Denise also shares how integral Houston’s diversity has been on her career and creating this book.

Sunny Zhang is the founder of TrueLeap, an edtech platform, and founding partner of Born Global Ventures, an early-stage startup studio focused on immigrant founders. Sunny joins the show today to talk about all the various hats she wears within Houston innovation, as well as to re-introduce Houston Women in VC, a monthly meet up for female investors.

On this episode, host Natalie Harms is looking back at some of her favorite episodes of 2023 — featuring guests from across the Houston innovation landscape.

Moji Karimi is the CEO and co-founder of Cemvita, a biotech company with a few different climate tech applications for the energy industry. Cemvita has had a lot of wins in 2023, and Moji joins the show to discuss those, plus what his plans are for further commercialization of gold hydrogen, sustainable aviation fuel, and more. He also shares some of his observations from COP28 and advice for founders looking to grow their corporate partnerships in 2024.

Samra Nawaz is the CEO and Co-founder of WellWorth, a financial modeling and analysis software platform for upstream oil and gas finance teams. Samra recently won the Ion’s annual startup showcase and she joins the show today to share how she plans to use the momentum to grow her bootstrapped company in the new year.

Natara Branch is the CEO of Houston Exponential, which has a goal of connecting and promoting Houston’s growing innovation ecosystem. Natara joins me today to discuss what 2023 meant for the community of startups and innovators here in Houston, as well as to give us the inside scoop on the newly revamped H-Town Roundup next spring.

Peter Rodriguez is the dean of the Rice University Jones School of Business, which has had a lot of news to celebrate this month. The school was ranked the number one for graduate entrepreneurship programs for the fifth consecutive year. Dean Rodriguez also shares more about two impactful initiatives the school has announced this month in energy business and beyond.

Andrew Chang is the managing director of United Airlines Ventures, the investment arm of United that’s focused on deploying capital to new technologies from sustainable aviation fuel to digital technologies across the air travel spectrum. Chang, who’s based here in Houston, explains some of the challenges to innovating in the massive, global industry that is aviation — as well as tackling the airline’s goals to become more sustainable. He also shares what he’s looking for from startup founders and the role United plays to its portfolio companies as a whole.

Carolyn Rodz and Elizabeth Gore are the co-founders of Hello Alice, a tech platform designed to help small business owners navigate their path of entrepreneurship. Now serving 1.4 million small businesses across all 50 states, Hello Alice has reached a new milestone — one they’d likely rather live without. The company, which has helped facilitate equitable grant finding to thousands of founders of color and women, is being sued for racial discrimination. Elizabeth and Carolyn join the show today to share why they believe the lawsuit is frivolous — and how they’ve taken the reins of the messaging of this lawsuit to shine a spotlight on female founders and founders of color.

Wogbe Ofori is the founder and chief strategist of WRX Companies. Wogbe has helped coordinate the last few podcast interviews regarding space innovation here in Houston. Now, today on the show, we continue our discussion on Houston’s role in the developing space economy, but also dive deeper into what’s happening within Houston innovation as a whole, what value mentors bring to startups, and how innovation on all of the country’s coasts have evolved — but especially here in the Bayou City.

In this week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast, InnovationMap Editor Natalie Harms gives a preview of the 2023 Houston Innovation Awards taking place on November 8 at Silver Street Studios. The program will honor over 50 startups, companies, and individuals within the Houston innovation ecosystem, as well as the growth and development of the community as a whole. Tune in to learn more about the ongoing editorial series on InnovationMap.com, as well as some of the new awards this year and behind the scenes details on the judging process. Click here to secure your spot to the annual awards: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2023-houston-innovation-awards-tickets-705537600957?aff=editorial

Nick Skytland is the Chief Technologist at NASA Johnson Space Center. He joins the show today to talk about space innovation. In today’s conversation, we’re diving deeper into the evolution the space industry has had from NASA’s perspective, as well as the future of space exploration, development, and travel. Nick also weighs in on the important role Houston — including its innovators and entrepreneurs — will have on the future of space.

Tim Crain is the co-founder and CTO at Intuitive Machines, a Houston space tech business that’s evolved from a think tank to a scaling space exploration, infrastructure, and services company in the 10 years of its existence. Tim shares the IM story on the show today, as well as how he has observed the evolution of the space industry and why he believes it’s only the beginning for Houston as the Space City.

Kelsey Hultberg is executive vice president of corporate communications and sustainability of Sunnova Energy International, a Houston-based solar energy company that’s grown from startup, to scale, to IPO, and Kelsey’s career has grown right alongside of it. On the podcast today, she shares how critical communications is for energy companies big and small — as well as why Sunnova is so passionate about Houston and its role in the energy transition.

CS Freeland is the co-founder of the Texas Venture Alliance, a Texas-sized venture capital network and nonprofit group for investors. She joins the show today to discuss her goals in starting the organization as well as to share details about the Texas Venture Crawl, a statewide happy hour on Oct. 6 that’s hoping to connect founders, investors, and more.

Berkley Luck and Pedro Silva are the co-founders of of Milkify, a Houston-based startup that’s providing a breast milk freeze-drying service for customers across the country. Earlier this year, the company pitched its unique service on Shark Tank and secured investment from two sharks on the show. Now, a few months down the road, the company has raised additional funding, grown its customer base, and established a bigger picture growth strategy, all while maintaining its high-quality, science-based service to its customers.

Patrick Sullivan is the president and CEO of Oceanit, a Hawaii-based company that’s had an increasing presence in Houston as it works with energy companies to use science-backed technologies to solve their biggest problems. Patrick joins the show to discuss his company’s wide range of innovations, and why he’s built out an innovative Hydrogen-focused lab here in Houston.

Ayse McCracken is the founder of Ignite Healthcare Network, an organization that accelerates female-founded businesses within health care. Ayse is a powerful connector who started Ignite to better connect women in the health care industry. Now, she’s accelerated around a hundred startups and female founders with an ongoing cohort that concludes with a pitch event on Nov. 9. She shares more about how she’s grown ignite and how she’s next evolving the platform to better address female founders’ biggest challenges.

Michelle Stansbury is vice president of innovation and IT applications at Houston Methodist. She joins the show today to discuss the newly opened Houston Methodist Tech Hub in the Ion, which unveiled last week to better connect with Houston innovators in and outside of health care innovation. She also shares more about some of the many other innovation efforts coming out of Houston Methodist.

Sahir Ali is the founder and general partner of Modi Ventures, a new investment firm focused on the intersection of data and AI and health tech innovation. Sahir joins the show today to discuss how his firm operates a bit different from traditional VC entities, as well as how he raised an oversubscribed $32 million initial fund in less than a month.

Allie Danziger is the founder of Ampersand Professionals, a young professionals upskilling platform, that was recently acquired by Ascent Funding. With the acquisition, Allie joins Ascent as senior vice president and general manager of student success. On the show today, she pulls back the curtain on the acquisition process and how the combined business will help grow the platform to better help students find success within the ever-evolving landscape of the workforce.

Tim Boire is the president and CEO of VenoStent, a medical device startup that’s designing a unique material for hemodialysis patients. The company just closed its series A at $16 million dollars and is gearing up for a 200-patient clinical trial. Tim shares how he’s grown his company since moving it to Houston in 2018 to tap into the local innovation ecosystem. He also outlines where VenoStent is headed, with its expected product launch in 2026.

Anshumali Shrivastava is the founder and CEO of ThirdAI Corp. and a professor at Rice University. ThirdAI was founded on the mission of democratizing artificial intelligence and meeting data where its housed. Anshu shares how this founding principal has translated to specific AI tools ThirdAi has developed for its customers. He also shares what he’s most excited about when it comes to the future of AI — and how he’s growing his company to support the rising interest in the technology.

Donald Frieden is the president and CEO at P97 Networks, a Houston-based fintech company that’s developing a cloud technology for secure and convenient payments at gas stations and convenience stores. With over $100 million in investment raised, P97 has expanded across industries over its decade in business, and Don shares the new technologies he’s most excited about — like voice and biometric-enabled payments — as well as the potential impact the company is having within the energy transition.

Dr. Joseph Rogers is the president and CEO Texas Heart Institute. For over 60 years, THI has been a leader in cardiovascular health care and innovation. Around two years ago, Dr. Rogers took the helm of the organization and is particularly interested in preventative care. He shares more about THI and some of the innovative work its team is doing — from stem cell research to drug development and more — as well as the future of heart health.

Grant Watkins and Keely McEnery are the co-founders of Earn Your Freedom, a Houston startup that’s gamifying financial education for students. EYF launched Money Quest earlier this year, and is now seeking crowdfunding support with the help of Impact Hub Houston. The funding will go toward continuing to develop the program and support local high school students to help them reach financial literacy before they enter the real world.

My guest for today is Adrianne Stone, founder of Bayou City Startups, an organization that hosts monthly happy hours for Houston founders. Adrianne has had a very diverse career background — from getting her PHD and teaching AP Biology to joining 23andMe in the Bay Area. She shares how passionate about networking she is on the show and her observations on Houston’s growing innovation ecosystem.

Erik Ibarra is the founder and CEO of ORDRS, a digital health platform for optimized lab testing. Erik is a serial entrepreneur and active mentor within the Houston innovation ecosystem, and today on the show, he shares details of his latest venture as co-founder and investor at Magnolia Fund, a new investment opportunity that supports Houston’s east end community.

Jason Ethier is the senior director of membership at Greentown Labs and the co-host of the EnergyTech Startups podcast. Jason’s background in energy innovation has spanned from corporate to startups and from Boston and Houston. He shares some of his thought leadership in the space as well as his passion for Houston’s future as a hub for energy innovation on the show today.

Emily Keeton, a familiar name to Houston’s innovation ecosystem, recently joined New York-based investment firm Loeb.nyc as operating partner and investor. She joins the show today to talk about how she’s seen the ecosystem evolve over the past decade and how she’s tapping into Houston startups now.

Jim Gable is the vice president of innovation at Chevron and president of Chevron Technology Ventures. Jim has held various leadership roles across Chevron for the past 24 years and has recently relocated to Houston to lead CTV, which is based in the Ion. Jim explains some of the unique opportunities within Chevron innovation and also weighs in on the role incumbent energy companies play in the energy transition — in Houston and beyond.

Dr. Emmanuel Urquieta is the chief medical officer for the Translational Research Institute for Space Health, or TRISH, a Houston organization based out of Baylor College of Medicine that’s leading space health research. Emmanuel joins the show to talk about TRISH and its ongoing research including its most recent mission with Axiom Space that was completed last week.

Rob Schapiro is Microsoft’s Energy Acceleration program director and site leader for the company’s Houston office. He has transitioned his career from being a geologist in the oil and gas sector to being a leader within Houston’s innovation ecosystem and energy transition. He joins the show today to discuss that journey as well as his passion for making sure Houston has equitable opportunities for current and future innovators. He also discusses a recent report from Microsoft that identified impact artificial intelligence will have on the future of work.

Ramanan Krishnamoorti is the vice president of energy and innovation at the University of Houston. UH has always been a hub for invention, entrepreneurship, and innovation, but Ramanan’s role is to help better connect the dots — both on campus and within Houston as a whole. He joins the show today to share how he plans on doing that, from growing the awareness of the UH Tech Bridge to supporting the university’s plans to create an industry agnostic innovation hub in the center of campus.

Youngro Lee is the founder and CEO of Brassica Technologies, a fintech company that’s creating a more modern and holistic approach to investing and alternative assets. Youngro has spent over a decade on a mission of democratizing investment, first as founder and CEO of NextSeed up until that company was acquired by Republic. Now, he oversees Republic’s expansion in the Asia market as well as leading his new endeavor. Youngro joins the show today to discuss the details of his new company and the future of fintech.

Jason Bock is the founder and CEO of the Cell Therapy Manufacturing Center, or CTMC, a joint venture between National Resilience and MD Anderson Cancer Center that hopes to serve as an engine for advancing cell therapy therapeutics for cancer patients. Formed just over a year ago, CTMC has expanded its footprint and already worked on a handful of innovative treatments. Jason shares a bit on how this progress has gone so far and why he’s bullish on Houston being a hub for the relatively young field of cell therapy manufacturing.

Josh Teekell is the founder and CEO of SmartAC.com, a software and hardware technology platform that works with contractors to lower energy cost and waste in residential HVAC systems. SmartAC.com has recently secured fresh funding to continue its growth and supercharge sales and deployment of its system. Josh explains on the show how his fundraising experience went as well as how he managed to attract Houston investors.

Thomas Vassiliades is the CEO of BiVACOR, a company that’s developing a medical device that can take over the complete function of a patient's heart. The company, which is headquartered in Houston but has the majority of its operations divided between California, Australia, and even parts of Europe, recently closed $18 million in funding to support its FDA clearance and pathway to clinical trials. Thomas joins the show today to explain the revolutionary technology and unique challenges he’s facing leading the company toward human implantation and eventually commercialization.

Howard Berman is the CEO and co-founder of Coya Therapeutics, a company that’s developed a treatment to prevent the spreading of neurodegenerative diseases like dementia and ALS. The company went public a few months ago, and Howard shares what it’s been like leading the commercialization of a company with so much potential to save lives.

Sarah “Sassie” Duggleby is the co-founder and CEO of Venus Aerospace, an early-stage hardtech company that’s developing hypersonic space places that can enable high speed international travel. Sassie, who was recently named to Inc. magazine’s top 200 female founders list, shares how she co-founded the company with her husband Andrew after an idea they had in 2018. They moved the company from the west coast to houston in 2021 and now are developing a revolutionary way to travel right from the Houston Spaceport.

Paul Cherukuri is the vice president for innovation at Rice University. Paul is the first to hold his position at the brand new office of innovation at Rice. He joins the show today to talk a little bit about the reason Rice has zeroed in on advancing and promoting innovation, and why the university has a goal to collaboratively advance the city’s future in the space.

Lydia Davies is the CEO and founder of the Teamates app, a sports meet up platform that connects people by way of athletic activities. Lydia joins the show to discuss her entrepreneurial journey, which includes everything from international pop star to realtor and now startup founder. She also shares what people can expect from Teammates, which has evolved from focusing on golf to adding more and more sports meetups and events.

Veronica Wu is the founder and managing partner of First Bight Ventures, an investment firm focused on early-stage synthetic biology startups. Veronica joins the show today to discuss some of the milestones she’s accomplished since she started her firm and moved to Houston around a year ago. She also shares her vision of The BioWell, an initiative that hopes to bring together engagement, support, funding, and pilot space for Houston’s biomanufacturing companies.

On Monday at Houston House, a SXSW activation put on by the Greater Houston Partnership, InnovationMap editor and Houston Innovators Podcast host Natalie Harms moderated a panel called “Demystifying the Startup Journey.” Panelists included three Houston founders: Ted Gutierrez, co-founder and CEO of SecurityGate.io, Simone May, co-founder and CTO of Clutch, and Gaurav Khandelwal, founder and CEO of Velostics. The three entrepreneurs discussed their journeys and the challenges they face — from product/market fit and hiring to fundraising and customer acquisition. Listen to the full conversation on this week’s episode. Thank you to SXSW and GHP for the recording

Susan Davenport is the senior vice president and chief economic development officer for the Greater Houston Partnership, which has two activations at major conferences. Currently, the GHP’s Houston Energy Transition Initiative, or HETI, is hosting its HETI House at CERAWeek, and later today, March 8, will feature a startup pitch competition. Next week, on Monday, March 13, the GHP returns its Houston House to SXSW to host a whole day of thought leadership from Houston innovators. Susan shares more about these activations and also speaks to the role the GHP has played for the developing Houston’s innovation ecosystem, as well as what’s next for that relationship.

This week, in honor of Houston Tech Rodeo, let’s check in on the Houston innovation ecosystem — how far it’s come and where it’s going.

Mike Francis and Carrie Horazeck of Nanotech, a Houston-based materials science company, join the show today. Years ago, Mike founded the company around a unique and durable material. He’s grown the technology into fire proofing and energy loss-reducing coatings, but that’s just the beginning. Now with Carrie, the company’s chief commercial officer, leading the way, Nanotech’s flagship product is rolling out on rooftops across the country.