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Innovation

Houston is where innovation and industry converge. Ours is a city that chooses to take humankind's boldest challenges head-on, from landing on the moon to developing the first artificial heart. And Houston's innovation ecosystem continues to thrive through programs like TMC Innovation Institute at the Texas Medical Center and spaces like the emerging Innovation District. 

3.8 million square feet

Retail market has absorbed 3.8 million sq. ft. over the past 12 months.

#5

Houston ranks #5 in the U.S. in Fortune 1000 headquarters

Fortune 500
#3

Houston ranks #3 among U.S. metro areas in Fortune 500 headquarters

Innovation Corridor

Houston’s Innovation Corridor is at the center of an extraordinarily powerful social and economic convergence. The four-mile-long Corridor is linked by light-rail, bike lanes, and pedestrian thoroughfares, and offers easy access to key industry and institutional players along with an unparalleled array of amenities. It runs from Downtown on the north end, south through Midtown, the Museum District and the Texas Medical Center. 

 

Innovation District

Rice University is currently developing a new innovation district in Midtown. Housed on a 16-acre site anchored by a former Sears building, the hub will bring the area's entrepreneurial, corporate and academic communities together. The nucleus of the Innovation District is The Ion, a nearly 300,000-square-foot structure that serves as a collaborative space for businesses at all stages of the innovation lifecycle. A number of companies and nonprofits have taken up residence in the development.

Houston Tech and Innovation Conversations at SXSW

A Data-Driven Look at Houston's Innovation Ecosystem

The Partnership's Josh Pherigo takes a data-driven look at the current trends in the startup space and the Houston region's momentum in building a thriving innovation ecosystem.

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The Power of Diversity in Innovation

Jan Odegard of The Ion and Ashley DeWalt of DivInc Houston talk about the power of diversity within innovation.

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Corporate Partnerships Drive Innovation in Life Sciences

Fiona Mack of JLABS at TMC discusses how Houston is quickly emerging as a hub for life sciences innovation.

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The Houston Tech Report

This report outlines the tremendous growth in Houston’s tech ecosystem in recent years as evidenced by the expanding workforce as well as startup and venture capital activity. The report also highlights the region’s unique strengths in the sector. 

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Houston Exponential

Houston Exponential is a dynamic organization that serves, organizes, champions and grows the region’s innovation ecosystem. HX is accelerating the development of Houston’s innovation economy, fostering a robust ecosystem that supports high-growth, high-impact startups. HX works to convene the ecosystem, helping to build an innovation district in Houston and attracting talent to the region and promoting Houston’s image, both locally and nationally, as a vibrant, innovative economy where startups thrive.

Houston's Innovation Partners

Related News

Economic Development

Houston House Spotlights Major Advancements in Tech and Innovation at SXSW

3/18/24
The Greater Houston Partnership returned to Austin to host Houston House at the 2024 South by Southwest conference, highlighting the strides made in technology and innovation within the city. Throughout the one-day program, discussions delved into the essence of collaboration as a driving force behind success in startups and industry advancement within the Houston region. Startups face formidable odds, with up to 90 percent failing within the first few years. However, the consensus among successful Houston startup founders and investors is clear: collaboration is key for scaling effectively. Sunny Zhang, Founder and Chief of True Leap, stressed the importance of cultivating diverse perspectives and networks, emphasizing to “surround yourself with different minded people in every spectrum to maximize your collective intelligence and your network.” Amidst the evolving landscape of remote work and the rapidly changing tech industry, startup CEOs prioritize fostering positive work cultures that revolve around strong team dynamics. This emphasis on collaboration ensures cohesion and resilience as companies navigate the challenges of scaling up effectively. Co-Founder and CEO of Hello Alice Carolyn Rodz shared fostering teamwork through shared responsibilities, even tasks like taking out the trash, binds teams together towards a common goal. Throughout the discussion, panelists consistently underscored the magnitude of activity burgeoning within Houston. From Greentown Labs and the Ion to the Texas Medical Center and Generation Park, Houston’s vast portfolio of thriving industries and innovation hubs have paved the way for opportunity and collaboration across sectors, driving growth and success in the region. “Houston has a cornucopia of opportunities for people looking to switch industries,” said Trevor Best, CEO of Syzygy Plasmonics. “There is a lot of overlap across industries. At Syzygy, we got people who come from the oil industry and aerospace who bring in different skill sets.” Yet, with growth comes the imperative of nurturing talent pipelines. Education leaders emphasized the need for community collaboration in preparing students for evolving industries. “If you look at low-income students in Texas, only 23 percent of students are completing secondary education," said Raj Salhotra, Executive Director of Momentum Education. “Most jobs require experience and education past high school. We have to build a pipeline to get people there.”  Houston House at SXSW 2024 showcased the region’s unwavering dedication to propelling its tech ecosystem forward, spotlighting its collaboration efforts and the groundbreaking advancements driving growth and innovation in the Bayou City. “There is a revolution happening in Houston, said Best. “There are signs pointing to a lot of success in the future. We are on the cusp of something huge.” View Houston House at SXSW Panel Recordings. 
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Digital Technology

innovateHOU: Why Digital Tech Startups Choose Houston

3/13/24
Houston’s tech scene has made many strides in recent years to set a foundation for startups to thrive, from founding to late stage, across industries. With a wealth of incubators coming online and a sharp uptick in venture capital funding, startups now have more landing spots and opportunity for growth in Houston than ever before.   We spoke to three tech startups about their experiences in Houston, including two that launched last year and one that recently relocated to Houston.   Envana Software Solutions Envana, a software-as-a-service company built to organize, model and forecast oil and gas industry emissions, has experienced tremendous growth since its launch in January 2023. The startup is a joint venture by Halliburton and Siguler Guff.  Envana's growth is marked by clients including the world’s second-largest oilfield services provider, national oil companies in APAC and Europe, and leading U.S. service providers. As the company prepares for future goals, Envana says it is looking not only to respond to demands within oil and gas, but to other energy sectors to help corporations manage their emissions.  “There’s no better place in the world for an oil and gas SaaS company to be based than Houston, Texas.  Houston is the ideal birth city for an energy startup.  For Envana –a Halliburton JV with private equity firm Siguler Guff– the city’s features, including access to investment capital, industry experts, and thought leadership in the evolving energy space, make it a prime geography. The number of energy companies based in Houston looking for innovative industry solutions is unparalleled elsewhere in the world.”  - Sally Lechin, Global Marketing, Envana  Allthenticate  Allthenticate describes itself as a cybersecurity startup on a mission to create seamless and efficient security solutions for companies via a smartphone application. The company is primarily focused on security at tech companies, though they intend to expand more of their presence to medtech and energy.   Allthenticate’s story began in 2012 as co-founder Dr. Chad Spensky pursued his PhD, eventually earning a job as a security researcher at MIT working to find gaps in security. Spensky and co-founder Rita Mounir teamed up at a startup competition at UC-Santa Barbara, taking first place and getting traction with early investors. The company was headquartered in Santa Barbara until 2022, when Spensky and his wife relocated to Houston. Allthenticate officially relocated to downtown later that year following a short stint in The Ion and learning of the many advantages the region offers as a hub for headquarters.  Allthenticate is going through another fundraising round following a $3.9 million round in 2022. The team says it remains focused on perfecting the hardware, software and application amid a rapidly changing list of security challenges, including deepfakes.  “As we’re pushing so many world’s firsts in our industry, I think our goal is to become the premier identity and access management company in the world. A lot of giants are trying to catch up, but I think we have an advantage here in what we’re doing and what we’ve built so far. In five years, I believe we will be THE identity management solution.” – Rita Mounir, Co-founder, Allthenticate  Think Diffusion  In 2023, three-time startup founder Phu Ngo produced Think Diffusion, an advanced AI video production platform. Think Diffusion has already established itself with noteworthy names, producing animated content for Toyota, McDonald’s and even a music video for Toni Braxton. Think Diffusion leverages cutting-edge open-source AI technologies to offer a comprehensive and integrated platform for AI art and video generation. Its commitment to open-source has led three universities - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, PVCC-Melbourne, and the National University of Singapore - to adopt Think Diffusion for their innovation labs.  Think Diffusion was started by Ngo, a Vietnamese-born Houstonian whose family found opportunity in the Lone Star State as he was growing up. Following an education at UT-Austin and UC-Santa Barbara, Ngo established himself as a software developer, eventually launching three startups. Think Diffusion spun out of Kinetic Chain Labs following a special request for animated video content, which resulted in an ultra-sophisticated art generator. For Ngo, Houston serves as an ideal place to start a business and call home.  “Houston is home for me, it has great tax advantages and there’s a lot to like. I’m excited by the growing tech hub forming here – I think the startup community at the Ion is a great example of that. On top of that, the food is amazing, the weather is great, and you get a great ROI on your money – it’s amazing here in terms of quality of life.” – Phu Ngo, CEO, Think Diffusion  Currently, Think Diffusion states that it is working on launching new experimental open-source products, expanding into AI-generated text and music, and increasing its focus on the education industry. Looking ahead, the team is ready to embrace the challenges and advantages that the future of AI could bring.  Learn more about Houston’s tech and innovation ecosystem. 
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Related Events

Economic Development

State of Education

The Greater Houston Partnership invites you to the State of Education on May 9 at the Royal Sonesta. The success of our region relies on a thriving public education system providing equitable…

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Additional Resources

See below for additional resources in Innovation. 

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