Houston Innovators Podcast

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-e...

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 wo...

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...

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 hon...

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...

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 dev...

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...

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 inn...

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 comp...