Houston Innovators Podcast

Sujatha Kumar is the founder and CEO of Dsider, a Houston-based software startup that’s using data to help energy companies decarbonize their operations. Sujatha shares the potential impact of software on the energy transition and the goals she has for her early stage business.

Eric Rubenstein is founding managing partner of New Climate Ventures, A Houston-based venture capital firm focused on investing in sustainable businesses and energy transition companies. Eric shares details on the fund and some of his portfolio companies he’s most excited about as well as Houston’s role within climate tech, as well as Houston's "multifaceted role" in the energy transition.

Alessio Lorusso is the founder and CEO of Roboze, an Italian 3D printing company that opened its American headquarters in Houston. Alessio joins the show today to discuss how he’s looking to hire following a multimillion dollar fundraise and how the pandemic and the instability in the global supply chain has had an accelerating effect on Roboze. He also shares how he believes Houston has a huge potential to be a major global 3D printing hub.

Miguel Calatayud is CEO of iwi, a Houston-based food and nutritional supplement company that has created a sustainable suite of products from innovative algae farming in the deserts of Texas and New Mexico. Iwi recently raised funding supported by Houston-based GP Capital Partners and is ready to roll out a new game changing supplement and take its products worldwide.

Veronica Wu, founder of First Bight Ventures, has decades of tech and investor experience and recently made the move from Silicon Valley to Houston too launch her new VC firm and to focus specifically on early stage startups within the synthetic biology space. Veronica shares why now is the time for synbio investing and why Houston, with its health and energy sectors, is the place to do it.

Winston Wright is the Houston General Manager for Alto, a Dallas-based ridesharing company that’s taking on Uber and Lyft. Houston was the second market for the company, which recently raised $45 million in venture capital and is now available in Miami, LA, and DC. Winston joins me today to discuss how he envisions expanding the brand across Houston and what’s in store for Alto, including a 100% electric fleet by 2023.

Joey Sanchez is senior director of ecosystems at The Ion Houston. Joey has recently joined the Ion, which is a 300,000-square foot space in Midtown dedicated to connecting entrepreneurs, corporations, and academic communities in the name of innovation. A lifelong Houstonian, Joey joins the show today to share a bit about what to expect from the ion this year and why he’s incredibly optimistic about the city’s tech and innovation ecosystem.

Katie Mehnert is the CEO and founder of ALLY Energy, a Houston tech startup focused on advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion within the energy industry. Between the great resignation, the pandemic and climate change, the energy sector is in a perfect storm of sorts. Today on the show, Katie explains how ALLY Energy is poised to prepare the workforce for the future amidst these challenges.

On this episode of the podcast, host Natalie Harms is looking back on some of her favorite podcast episodes of 2021 — featuring guests from startup founders, venture capital investors, health care leaders, startup development organization professionals, and so much more.

Enrique Gomez is an entrepreneur in residence at the Texas Medical Center Innovation Institute’s Accelerator for cancer therapeutics. Enrique, whose career spans the continent, has worked for decades in later stage biopharmaceuticals. Now, at TMC he’s focused on finding early-stage cancer therapeutic companies and innovators that represent the future of health care. On the show, Enrique and I discuss the challenges the industry faces and how Houston is emerging as a hub for oncology innovation.

Dr. Toby Hamilton is the founder of Hamilton health box, a Houston startup that’s bringing affordable preventative health care directly to patients. Dr. Hamilton joins the show to discuss the company’s unique approach as well as the future of health innovation in Houston.

Samantha Ettus is the founder of Park Place Payments, a fintech startup backed by Houston-based Curate Capital. launched in 2018, The California-Based company chose Houston as an early test market to find and train account executives who can support local businesses with a payment processing service that’s providing the best customer service. Samantha joins the show today to discuss the role Houston has played in her company’s growth and what’s next for park place.

Phillip Yates is the founder of Equiliberty, a Houston-based tech enabled startup focused on supporting diverse entrepreneurs. Phillip joins the show to discuss his company and the inaugural Black Entrepreneurship Week, which is taking place in Houston starting this Saturday, November 27th. Phillip and I will also talk about the recently announced Diversity Fund Houston, a $3 million dollar initiative to invest in diverse tech founders in Houston.

Summer Reeves, director of the Houston Fjord studio — a new addition to Accenture’s offices in Houston, works on bringing design into innovation for corporate clients across industries — and she joins the show today to discuss what all that means, as well as why she’s excited for Houston’s growing design and innovation ecosystem.

Aaron Knape, CEO and Co-founder of Houston-based Seatz — a mobile app and management platform that allows for in-seat food and alcohol delivery at sports arenas — joins the show today to discuss how the company survived the challenges of the pandemic and is expanding to a new vertical with a new partnership at a Houston hospital.

Gina Luna is a partner at GP Capital Partners, a new $275 million dollar fund that has launched under the umbrella of Genesis Park, a Houston-based private equity firm. Gina is also the founding chair of Houston Exponential, a nonprofit that serves to be the convening factor of Houston innovation. Gina and I will discuss the new fund as well as her extensive work on boards of nonprofits, startups, and more.

Carolyn Rodz is the founder of Hello Alice, a tech-enabled, one-stop-shop platform for small business owners to find capital, networks and business services. She has been a pillar in the Houston innovation ecosystem and she joins the show today to discuss everything from Hello Alice’s latest funding round and their new partnership with the NAACP to how diversity and inclusion among startups in Houston in beyond has changed over the years.

Remington Tonar is the chief commercial officer and co-founder at Cart.com., a fast-growing e-commerce software platform that’s raised about $150 million in venture capital funding and grown to 300 employees in just about a year. Remington joins the show today to discuss what’s driven this growth and what’s next for the company and e-commerce as a whole — as well as the role Houston can play in it.

Abbey Donnell is the founder and CEO of Work and Mother, A third-party lactation room service provider that works with office building landlord to open these full-service pumping rooms. The Houston company is expanding with new offices in town, another one coming soon in Austin, and , thanks to a new partnership with CBRE, a national expansion. Abbey join the show today to discuss the challenges she’s overcome navigating a pandemic, fundraising, and more.

Sarah Groen is the founder of Bell & Bly Travel and a longtime member of the Houston innovation ecosystem. Sarah co-founded Surge, Houston’s first startup accelerator, years ago. Since then, she’s seen Houston’s startup activity blossom as she expanded her entrepreneurial journey into the luxury travel industry. Sarah joins the show today to discuss her innovation career and what she’s up to now — as well as her best pieces of advice for fellow female founders.

James Reinstein, Saranas president and CEO, who has a long career in health tech innovation, joined Saranas at the very beginning of the pandemic last year. In spite of the challenges, he’s led the company through a $12.8 million series B round and into commercialization. He joins the show today to discuss what’s next for Saranas and its Early Bird bleed detection technology.

James Hury, the Deputy Director and Chief Innovation Officer at the Translational research Institute for space health, supports research and technology development in the world of space health. James and I will discuss Trish’s role in space commercialization and the unique research the organization is supporting.

Pamela Singh founded CaseCTRL, a Houston-based health tech startup that uses AI to optimize surgical scheduling. Pamela is no stranger to the Houston innovation ecosystem having participated in gBETA Houston and several pitch competitions, and she shares her journey as a female founder focusing on the slow-to-adapt health care industry, as well as explains what she and CaseCtrl has on the horizon in terms of scaling and growth.

Celebrating the 100th episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast, we look back at the inaugural InnovationMap Awards, which took place on Sept. 8.

For over a decade, Gaurav Khandelwal's company ChaiOne has been tackling industrial B2B software for clients of all sizes, and over the years he's has seen a market opportunity for logistics solutions developing. On the show today, he shares how his new company is optimizing loading and unloading across the logistics landscape — and how Houston has a huge opportunity to be a hub for similar tech-enabled solutions.

While the Texas HALO Fund, an early-stage venture capital firm based in Houston, is industry agnostic when it comes to its portfolio, Managing Director Kyra Doolan joins the show today to discuss how FemTech has really appeared as a focus for her and the fund, mostly due to the incredible opportunities the under-funded industry provides. She also shares some advice for both Femtech founders and women interested in getting involved in the investor landscape.

David Aaronson, a Houston real estate veteran, founded Refuel Electric Vehicle Solutions, or REVS, to address the rising need for electric vehicle charging stations. REVS provides a turn-key solution for multifamily property owners to install the technology needed to support the influx of EVs headed to Houston, Texas, and the rest of the nation. David joins the show to explain how he got into the business and how he’s excited to grow his company alongside the growth of EVs and their necessary infrastructure.

Raj Gummadapu, co-founder and CEO of Techwave, a global IT services and solutions provider, joins the show today to explain how he relocated his company's headquarters to Houston a couple years ago to take advantage of the diverse talent pool and budding tech ecosystem. Techwave is the presenting sponsor on the inaugural InnovationMap Awards on September 8th, and Raj shares why he’s excited to honor Houston’s top innovators and how he plans to grow his company’s presence in Houston right alongside them.

Anyone who’s lost a loved one knows how challenging after-death decision making can be, and Emily Cisek, CEO and co-founder of The Postage, wanted to simplify the process, making it more convenient and more enjoyable. On the show, Emily shares how she’s found success in an industry ripe for disruption and the opportunities and challenges she’s had as a B-to-C business coming of age during a global pandemic.

Will Womble found his way into the startup world in a circuitous fashion. He joins the show to discuss his career and the software development business that is his latest venture. Will, a huge advocate for Houston, also explores how the city has developed as a hub for software.

Robert Kester, president and general manager at Honeywell Rebellion, discusses his 2019 startup acquisition and what he’s focused on these days at Honeywell — from a new temperature monitoring pandemic pivot to the changes in regulations within oil and gas and growing emphasis companies have on making sustainable changes.

Ryan Sitton is CEO of Pinnacle, a Houston-area company specializing in industrial data science applications, but he also previously served as Texas Railroad Commissioner and wrote two books on data and leadership. On the show today, he discusses his varied career and how the digital transition and the pandemic have each affected Houston’s key industries.

Despite the challenges of last year, Stephanie says HAN’s membership grew by 30 percent. Meanwhile, The Artemis Fund — a VC group focused on funding female-founded startups — is adding five new companies to its portfolio after a $15 million fund closing earlier this year.

Velentium is a one-stop shop for med device design, development, and manufacturing, its CEO and founder, Dan Purvis, joins the show to discuss all the obstacles his company has overcome throughout the pandemic and how they have recently expanded into the oil and gas sector.

Spencer Randall, principal and co-founder of CryptoEQ, joins me to discuss the ever evolving world of bitcoin and cryptocurrency as well as how CryptoEQ is growing and evolving to keep its users up to date. Spencer and I also chat about lessons learned from his Seed round of funding and how he’s playing the long game with search engine optimization to reach new audiences.

A new Houston software startup support program has emerged to address the needs of early-stage SaaS companies. Kristen Phillips, director of Golden Section Studios, and Brooke Waupsh, founding CEO of Swoovy — the program's inaugural startup in residence — join the show to discuss how they are collaborating on a new B2B volunteer platform.

Serial entrepreneur, Misha Govshteyn leads MacroFab, a Houston startup that’s optimizing the electronics manufacturing process. Over the past year or so, supply chains have been greatly affected by tariffs, the pandemic, and all sorts of challenges. Misha joins the show to discuss how this has provided an opportunity to grow his business after Macrofab recently raised its $15 million series B.

Emily Reiser has played a major role in developing Houston’s health tech innovation ecosystem over the years as well as working hands on with innovators and startup founders through TMC Innovation. She joins the show today to discuss her advice for startups, COVID-19’s effect on health innovation, what Houston needs to further develop as a health tech hub, and more.

Jan Odegard recently got to drop the "interim" in his title and is continuing to lead The Ion as executive director. He joins the show to discuss the latest from the rising innovation hub, which is in its last stages ahead of opening to the public, as well as his career and his passion for making Houston the destination he thinks it deserves to be.

Sameer Soleja, founder and CEO of Molecule, joins the show to share the details on his energy fintech software company's recent $12 million series A. Sameer goes into some common challenges entrepreneurs face and how the energy industry is ripe for software innovation.

Kate Evinger — director of gBETA Houston, an early-stage, zero-equity startup accelerator — is focused on supporting Houston companies. She joins the show today to discuss gBETA’s latest cohort and the large network of opportunities the program’s parent company, gener8tor, has for entrepreneurs everywhere.

Kevin Coker is co-founder and CEO of Proxima Clinical Research, a Houston-based contract research organization focused on supporting life science startups as they grow and scale. Kevin shares how Houston’s health tech industry has evolved over the years, and how Proxima is growing at a breakneck speed to be able to support the region’s activity in oncology therapeutics, digital health, medical devices, and more.

From energy executive to content creator, Houstonian Carrie Colbert's latest venture is venture capital. She's raising a $10 million fund with her new firm Curate Capital to support businesses for women and by women. She joins the show today to share how it's going.

The Texas Heart Institute was looking for a way to support in-house innovation as well as connecting the organization to the latest and greatest health care technology — and so they created a new job. THI's new manager of innovation partnerships, Allison Post, joins the show today to share what THI is focused on and how it's now time for Houston's health care leaders to join forces to advance life science tech.

A native Houstonian, Ashley DeWalt is dedicating his career to two distinctly Houston things: Sports and diversity and inclusion. As managing director of DivInc, Ashley is focused on supporting diverse founders within the ecosystem. And, with 15 years of sports and entertainment experience, he is also seeing the city — with its concentration of athletes and coaches — emerge as a hub for sports innovation.

What does the future of investment look like? That's something Youngro Lee, co-founder and CEO of NextSeed and COO of Republic, thinks about daily – and he shares what he's keeping an eye on in this week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast.

A good sign of a growing innovation ecosystem is definitely when successful entrepreneurs get to a place where they can support rising tech startups — and this is exactly what Chris Howard, CEO of Softeq, is trying to accomplish. The tech founder just launched the Softeq Innovation Lab and is also eyeing a way to financially support startups as well.

Moji Karimi, with his oil and gas experience, never thought he would work with his health care innovating sister, Tara — that is until the two of them teamed up to create a way to mimic photosynthesis to transform carbon emissions into something useful. Now Cemvita Factory is working with heavy industrial clients to go beyond just reducing carbon footprints.

After years of expanding ClassPass, an app-based tech company connecting users to fitness and wellness experiences, around the world, Rachel Moncton was ready to move back to the United States. Her move coincided with the growing company's interest in opening a fourth domestic office — and Houston was just the place. Moncton joins the show to discuss how she is growing her team locally as the company continues to expand its services and technology.