Editor’s note:Let’s roundup the most-read Houston innovation news from the week. Trending Houston tech and startup articles from InnovationMap and its daily newsletter included the a series A raise, promising energy tech companies, and more.
Houston-based Citroniq Chemicals has secured its series A funding. Photo via Getty Images
A fresh $12 million round of funding will enable Houston-based Citroniq Chemicals to propel planning, design, and construction of its first decarbonization plant.
An unidentified multinational energy technology company led the series A round, with participation from Houston-based Lummus Technology Ventures and cooperation from the State of Nebraska. The Citroniq plant, which will produce green polypropylene, will be located in Nebraska.
“Lummus’ latest investment in Citroniq builds on this progress and strengthens our partnership, working together to lower carbon emissions in the plastics industry,” Leon de Bruyn, president and CEO of Lummus Technology, says in a news release. Continue reading.
Over 500 people attended the 21st annual Energy Tech Venture Forum hosted by the Rice Alliance. Photo courtesy of Rice
Investors from around the world again identified the most-promising energy tech startups at the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship’s annual event.
“The recognition that Houston is the epicenter of energy transition is growing. It’s something we are championing as much as possible so that the world can know exactly what we’re doing,” Paul Cherukuri, chief innovation officer at Rice University says at the 21st annual Energy Tech Venture Forum.
The event took place during the inaugural Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week, and nearly 100 startups from 23 states and seven countries pitched investors Wednesday, September 11, and Thursday, September 12. At the conclusion of the event, the investors decided on 10 companies deemed “most promising” from the presentations. Continue reading.
Alamgir Karim was instrumental in the new discovery. Photo Courtesy of University of Houston Office of Media Relations
A flask of Houston’s rain helped answer a long-running question about the origin of cellular life.
The solution is proposed by two University of Houston scientists, William A. Brookshire Department of Chemical Engineering (UH ChBE) former grad student Aman Agrawal (now a postdoctoral researcher at University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering) and Alamgir Karim, UH Dow Chair and Welch Foundation Professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, and director of both the International Polymer & Soft Matter Center and the Materials Engineering Program at UH. They were joined by UChicago PME Dean Emeritus Matthew Tirrell and Nobel Prize-winning biologist Jack Szostak in an article published last week in Scientific Advances.
For two decades, scientists like Szostak have hypothesized that RNA fragments were the first components of life to form in the Earth’s primordial seas 3.8 million years ago. Although DNA is an essential component of cellular life, it can’t fold proteins, making it unlikely to be the initial starting point. Since RNA can fold proteins, it could have been the catalyst for cellular growth and evolution. Continue reading.
You might be seeing more robots in restaurants, thanks to Texas-based RobotLAB. Photo courtesy of RobotLAB
Snazzy sombrero-wearing robots are gliding over to your table, carrying chips, salsa, and drinks, electronic eyes wide open on its interactive screen, ready to serve. The bot, provided by the new Houston franchise branch of RobotLAB Inc., debuted at Johnny Tamales Tex-Mex Cantina in Missouri City last week.
The restaurant’s owner, Anil Patel, arranged for a one-month trial rental of the machine. But so far, he tells InnovationMap that he’s pleased with his “no-brainer” decision to add a small food delivery robot, which he says has huge marketing potential.
“I’m a sucker for technology. You look at it, and I think this is the future,” says Patel, who used to work in the health care industry. Continue reading.
In partnership with a digital consultant company, the Mark Cuban Foundation is looking for high school students interested in AI. Photo via Getty Images
The Mark Cuban Foundation is partnering with digital consultant company Perficient’s Houston office to bring a one-of-its-kind, free artificial intelligence camp to high school students in Houston.
Applications, which are open now online, will close September 30.
“With the proliferation of AI, it’s more important than ever to increase AI education – especially among today’s youth,” Bill Davis, senior vice president at Perficient, says in a news release. Continue reading.
