Editor’s Note:Let’s review the most read news stories of the week about innovation in Houston.. Articles on trending tech and startups in Houston from InnovationMap and its daily newsletter This included a new cohort for a TMC accelerator, a win for a Houston fintech company, a NASA-backed space program at UH, and more.
16 digital health and medical device companies selected for UK TMC accelerator
The Texas Medical Center has named its second cohort for its UK-focused health tech accelerator. Photo via TMC
For the second time, a UK-backed accelerator hosted by Texas Medical Center Innovation has nominated 16 companies for its new cohort.
In partnership with Innovate UK, TMC this week announced the appointment of the new companies in the cohort. The companies are divided into two categories – digital health and medical devices – and cover a wide range of specialties, from AI diagnostics and monitoring to non-surgical management and more.
The accelerator launched last year with its inaugural cohort with the mission of helping companies achieve U.S. expansion through the TMC. Continue reading.
Houston College Gets $5 Million NASA Grant to Launch New Aerospace Research Center
The five-year NASA grant will be used to create the NASA MIRO Inflatable Deployable Environments and Adaptive Space Systems Center at UH. Photo via UH.edu
The University of Houston is one of seven minority-serving institutions awarded a nearly $5 million grant this month to support aerospace research focused on extending human presence on the moon and Mars.
The five-year, $4,996,136 grant is funded by the NASA Office of STEM Engagement Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP) Institutional Research Opportunity (MIRO) program. It will be used to establish the NASA MIRO Inflatable Deployable Environments and Adaptive Space Systems (IDEAS2) Center at UH, according to a university release.
“The vision of the IDEAS2 Center is to become a premier national innovation hub that drives cutting-edge NASA-centric research and advances 21st-century aerospace education,” Karolos Grigoriadis, Moores Professor of Mechanical Engineering and director of Aerospace Engineering at UH, said in a statement. Continue reading.
Judge dismisses case of former Trump officials suing Houston fintech platform
This is a victory for Hello Alice. Photo courtesy of Cayce Clifford/Hello Alice
A Houston fintech company is celebrating the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by former Trump administration officials.
Last year, America First Legal sued Houston-based Hello Alice and its partner, Progressive Insurance, alleging that their program of providing 10 $25,000 grants to Black-owned small businesses constituted racial discrimination. The AFL was founded by former Trump administration adviser Stephen Miller and has a handful of former White House officials on its board.
The case was dismissed by a federal judge in Ohio, who said that “plaintiffs fail to allege any actual injury that would support their standing to seek retrospective or prospective relief,” according to a press release from Hello Alice. Continue reading.
Houston investors back new platform for retail traders to follow financial influencers
CashPool is a new mobile platform that offers everyday investors the opportunity to leverage investment strategies and trades made by trusted and influential stock traders. Photo via joinmypool.co
As anyone who witnessed the impact of the Gamestop meme stock on the country knows, influential investors can provide a boost to the financial sector. And a company receiving new funding from a Houston firm is betting on exactly that.
CashPool is a new mobile platform that offers everyday investors the opportunity to leverage the investment strategies and trades made by trusted and influential stock traders who have built a massive following on social media platforms. By allowing retail traders to join the various “pools” of social media influencers on its platform, CashPool is set to change the way the masses acquire wealth.
It’s the type of algorithmic trading aimed at a new generation of investors that’s catching the attention of early-stage venture capital funds like Houston-based Ten X Labs, a pre-seed angel fund that recently invested in CashPool to help the trading platform continue its mission of transforming the investing landscape. Continue reading.
Innovative Bolivar Peninsula Coastal Project Receives Federal Funding
Known as Ike Dike, the proposed project received federal funding from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Photo courtesy
The Galveston Coastal Barrier Project recently received $500,000 in federal funding to support construction of its flood mitigation plans in the area previously devastated by Hurricane Ike in 2008.
Known as the Ike Dike, the proposed project involves the implementation of the Galveston Bay Storm Dike System, which includes eight gulf and bay defense projects. The Bolivar Roads Gate System, a two-mile-long closure structure located between Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula, is included in the plans and would protect against storm volumes entering the bay.
The funding comes from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and will be used for the preconstruction engineering and design phase of the G-28 Ecosystem Restoration Project, the first segment of the Bolivar Peninsula and West Bay Intracoastal Waterway Shoreline and Island Protection Project. Continue reading.