Houston Innovators Podcast

Lance Black leads the Texas Medical Center's startup accelerator program, TMCx, and he joins the show to explain how COVID-19 has affected the program — as well as to offer his advice to startups during this time. Lance also explains why this crisis is an important time for telehealth and remote care.

Former startup founder Brittany Barreto discusses her passion for making Houston a hub for femtech innovation as well as expert info for founders on pitch decks and how to get involved with Capital Factory.

Fresh off a $5.5 million raise, Hitched Inc. is growing full speed ahead. Co-Founders Adam Gilles and Lance Richardson join the show to discuss what makes their technology so different and where they are headed in 2020.

Reda Hicks has been to Austin's annual SXSW interactive festival and felt underrepresented as a female founder. Now, she's changing the game with Texas Female Founders Day on March 13.

Harvin Moore, president of HX, joins the show to discuss the upcoming Houston Tech Rodeo. The week full of innovation-focused events takes place March 2 to 6, and Harvin shares his must-attend events and the story of how the week came to be.

Fresh off a $15 million series B raise, Alex Robart, a Houston-based entrepreneur, joins the podcast to discuss the future of artificial intelligence in the energy industry, his plans for growth, and how he works with his twin brother on investing and at Ambyint.

Gabriella Rowe has been busy — to say the least. The former CEO of Station Houston has transitioned into her role as executive director of The Ion, a 270,000-square-foot innovation hub being developed by Rice Management Company, following Station's merger with Austin-based Capital Factory. Gaby discusses the merger and how it's bringing Station back to its roots, as well as how she plans to position The Ion to be a diverse and inclusive environment and key component of Houston's innovation ecosystem.

The Texas startup scene should be familiar with Marc Nathan's name — whether it's from his time at the Houston Technology Center, his work with startup lawyers in Austin, or his statewide innovation newsletter. On this episode, Marc shares his observations about Houston's evolving innovation ecosystem, gives his tips about SXSW, and more.

Getting involved with cryptocurrency might seem riskier than traditional investment platforms simply because it's a new and, to a lot of people, confusing. Spencer Randall, co-founder and principal of Houston-based CryptoEQ turned his passion for cryptocurrency into a business. Now, that business exists to guide cryptocurrency users and investors through this emerging world that's changing with new technologies.

John Berger, CEO and founder of Sunnova, discusses how he scaled his residential solar energy startup all the way to IPO last year.

The Translational Research Institute for Space Health, or TRISH, is a NASA-backed, Houston-based organization that focuses on research within space health. TRISH's director, Dorit Donoviel, who is also an associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine's Center for Space Health, joins the podcast to discuss the future of space exploration and the challenges in the industry.

As managing director of the HX Venture Fund, Sandy Guitar Wallis oversees the portfolio for the fund of funds. With her 20-year career in venture capital, Wallis shares her expertise on the podcast — discussing everything from why the IPO process has slowed to what startups need to know about venture capital.

With any maritime shipment, thousands of emails are exchanged between all the various companies involved in the shipping process. That, to Matthew Costello, is extremely inefficient. Costello co-founded Voyager, a software-as-a-service company based in Houston that allows for email-less communication that uses data analysis to enhance and streamline maritime shipping. Costello discusses his plans for the company in the new year and what it was like fundraising across the world.

Roberta Schwartz is cultivating new avenues of innovation within health care at Houston Methodist — from wearable technology and virtual reality to a human resources chatbot and a patient messaging platform. Schwartz discusses these new technologies — as well as a new tech hub the hospital system is working on to demonstrate the future of health care — in this episode.

The Texas Medical Center just celebrated five years of helping to drive health tech and innovation, but the TMC Innovation Institute isn't resting on its laurels. Emily Reiser joins the podcast to discuss her career, changes to the TMCx accelerator, new programs, her favorite health tech startups, and more.

When Andrew Bruce was laid off during the energy downturn, he took that as a sign to start a company of his own — a blockchain-as-a-service startup within oil and gas. That company, Data Gumbo, has gone on to raise $9.3 million in venture capital, expand into the construction industry, and save its clients millions within its contracts operations. And, Andrew has big plans for where he's headed next with his business.

Ody De La Paz describes himself as a serial entrepreneur, and he turned his class project into a growing startup. Sensytec uses smart technology in cement, which can help prevent catastrophic events and save companies millions. Ody joins the show to discuss his experience with pitch competitions and accelerator programs and shares where his company is headed within the construction industry.

Brad Rossacci gets out of bed every day to explore the unexpected and simplify how humanity lives, works, and plays. As creative director of Accenture's Houston Innovation Hub, Brad combines science and technology with design to innovate. Brad comes on the podcast to discuss his winding career path and the Houston Digital Fight Club.

Grace Rodriguez has had a winding career that's led her in and out of entrepreneurship in Houston. She discusses Impact Hub and the role it plays in Houston, as well as about upcoming programming the organization has, which includes The Houston Innovation Week November 18-24.

For this week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast, we're mixing things up. InnovationMap Editor Natalie Harms reports live from The Cannon Houston's grand opening on Thursday, Oct. 24, to interview several entrepreneurs about their companies, which include Sapmok, DrySee, Bayardo Safety LLC, Statistical Vision, sEATz, Skippermyboat, Win-Win, Co-Counsel Potentia, MiTyket, and Four Tower LLC.

The energy industry is at an inflection point. With various challenges being hurdled at oil and gas companies, energy execs are looking for ways to innovate and evolve. That's what Patrick Lewis has seen when he co-founded BBL Ventures, a Houston-based venture group that's reverse engineer the innovation process within energy companies. Lewis joins the Houston Innovators Podcast to discuss his 25-year career in innovation, how he's seen the city transform, and what keeps him up at night.

Rakesh Agrawal knows the ins and outs of Houston innovation. As the founder of SnapStream and an active investor, he's been on both sides of the table. In this episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast, Agrawal sheds some light on the Houston innovation ecosystem and breaks some news coming out of SnapStream.

A key factor in growing an innovation ecosystem is having the funds to fuel startup growth. Samantha Lewis, director for The GOOSE Society of Texas — a local group of investors — and an entrepreneur herself, shares why Houston's major investment players need to help move the needle and how startups can get in front of these deep pockets.

In the first episode of the new Houston Innovators Podcast, InnovationMap editor Natalie Harms sits down with Jon Nordby, managing director of MassChallenge Texas’ Houston program. Jon discusses the new accelerator’s impact on Houston, as well as why he’s pretty glad he didn’t decide to move to Austin. Catch more innovation news from Houston at InnovationMap.com.