Houston is a fantastic place to build a startup, but most of the early-stage entrepreneurs we speak to are not aware of the many local resources that are available to help them.
We leave applications for the annually held Houston Founder Institute open and connect to applicants as public-facing events ramp up a few months before the next program begins. We are excited to share the latest version of our community-made Houston Startup Ecosystem Canvas (currently in Draft v4 below)! It was developed by the Houston Founder Institute, Founder Institute Texas Executive Director, Martin Martinez, local leaders James Phelan, Mery Ramirez, and Natasha Gorodetsky, several active mentors and community members, as well as Founder Institute Houston alumni.
This is an OPEN DRAFT, and while several have spent many hours on this research, more input is always needed. Please leave your comments on this collaborative Google document to help us complete the list. There are definitely omissions on this current version.
Are you working to build or grow a startup company in Houston? Then apply to the Houston Founder Institute today!
Startup Stages
There is no one right way to build a technology company, but for the sake of simplicity we have outlined a basic, common, sequential framework.
1. Idea Stage
This is where new entrepreneurs get inspired, learn best practices, develop skills, validate ideas, and begin to build their team and product.
A. Inspire
- Startup Media: Centralized local information, listings, and news. (i.e. startup blogs/ publications/ lists/ FB groups/ newsletters)
- Chron.com
- Houston Business Journal
- Houston Startups FaceBook
- Impact Hub Houston Blog
- InHouston Tech
- Startup Digest Houston
- Texas Squared
- InnovationMap Houston
- Houston Exponential News
- Houston Tech News (Twitter)
- Houstonia Science & Technology
- Click2Houston Tech
- Houston Press Tech
- FOX26 Tech
- HOU Tech News
- The Ion News
- BuiltIn Houston Jobs & News
- HTX Sports Tech News
- Texas Monthly Technology
- Houston Public Media
- MediaTech Houston News
- Houston Public Media - Innovation Fund
- Mayor's Office of Innovation
- Inspirational Events:Open, inclusive, beginner startup events (i.e. Startup Weekend, idea fairs, and inspirational meetups)
- 3 Day Startup
- Bayou Startup Showcase
- Girl Develop It Houston
- Houston Open Innovation Conference
- Houston Startup Happy Hour
- Houston Tech Rodeo
- Lesbians Who Tech Houston
- Startup Week Houston
- Startup Weekend Houston
- Tech for the Culture
- TMCx Demo Day
- Women Who Code Houston
- Eventbrite Houston Startups
- The Houston Innovation Summit (THIS)
- Houston Tech Events
- Techspo Houston
- Allevents Houston
- Houston Exponential Events Calendar
- CodeLaunch Houston
- Meetup Houston
- ION District
- Rocket Network
B. Educate
- Best Practices: Beginner knowledge-sharing events. (i.e. beginner events that serve to educate more than inspire, like 1 Million Cups, Startup Grind, Startup Founder 101, etc).
- Training & Feedback: Skill & Idea development. (Ex. bootcamps and comprehensive training programs, like Founder Institute, General Assembly, Lean Startup Machine, code camps, etc)
- Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning for Robotics
- Big Data, Analytics, and Artificial Intelligence Texas
- Byte Academy
- Design Thinking Houston
- DigitalCrafts | Learn to Code in Houston
- Docker Houston
- Founder Institute
- Greater Houston Power BI Users Group
- Houston Android Developers
- Houston Blockchain for Energy, Oil & Gas Meetup
- Houston Community College
- Houston Cyber Security for Control Systems
- Houston Data Visualization Meetup
- Houston Growth Startups
- Houston JavaScript
- Houston Lean Startup Circle
- Houston MongoDB User Group (MUG)
- Houston React Developers
- Houston Social Entrepreneurship
- Houston Startup Business Circle
- Houston Startup: Idea to IPO
- Houston Unity Group
- Impact Hub Houston Meetup
- IxDA - Houston Chapter - IxD, Product Design, UI/UX, Apps
- Lean Startup Machine
- Learn to Code | Thinkful Houston
- Lumenbrite
- Machine Learning Club of Houston
- MediaTech Institute
- Nucamp
- Rice University Data Analytics and Cybersecurity Boot Camps
- Startup - French American Chamber of Commerce Houston
- Tech Talent South
- The Petro-Analytics Group Meetup
- University of Houston
- Greater Houston Partnership
C. Validate
- Team Formation: Resources for teaming up. (i.e. events or other resources that facilitate early-stage recruitment and cofounder matching)
- Big Data Developers in Houston
- CoFoundersLab
- Entrepreneur Explosion
- Female Hustlers - Boss Babes & Ambitious Dreamers
- Founder2be
- FounderDating
- Hexagon UX Houston - Women in User Experience Design
- Houston Design Union
- Houston Entrepreneurs and Internet Marketers
- Houston React Native Meetup
- Houston Startup Network
- Houston Unfiltered
- Houston VR
- Houston Young Professionals
- NetSquared Houston (#Net2Houston)
- Product Managers in Tech
- Sesh Coworking Meetup - Female Career Go-Getters and Girl Bosses
- Social Entrepreneur's Network
- Software Developers/Engineers/Professionals Networking
- Startup Co-Founder Matching: Find the Right Partner in Houston
- StartupBlink Houston
- Web Innovations- Houston
- Women in Cybersecurity - Cyberjutsu - Houston
- Women Entrepreneur Success
- Young Indie Game Developers Meetup
- Houston Digital Jobs (Facebook)
- AngelList Houston
- YCombinator Houston Jobs
- Ion Community Opportunities
- HTX Talent
- Build First Product: Hackathons & resources to build. (i.e. hackathons and other builder-focused events and resources)
- 2019 Computational Law & Blockchain Festival
- CodeDay Houston
- CodeRED
- Creatorspace
- EmberJS Houston
- Global Legal Hackathon Houston
- HackHouston 2019
- HackRice 8.5
- Hackster Hardware Meetup - Houston
- Health 2.0 Houston
- HelloWare Academy Wednesday Coding Night With Pizza
- Houston Game Devs Show and Tell
- Houston Hackathon
- Houston IGDA Game Developers
- Houston Legal Hackers
- Houston Makes
- Houston Raspberry Pi Users Group
- Houston Recreational Computer Programming Group
- Maker Faire
- Open Project Night
- Pumps and Pipes Hackathon
- Sketch City
- TXRX Labs
2. Launch Stage
In this stage, entrepreneurs establish and formalize the company, develop the product, get feedback from customers, and prepare for the next step.
A. Start
- Establish: Law firms & banks for startups
- Allegiance Bank
- Bank of America
- Bank of Texas
- BB&T Bank
- BBVA Compass
- Boyar Miller Law
- Cenkus Law
- Central Bank
- Chase Bank
- Comerica Bank
- Duane Morris LLP
- East West Bank
- Egan Nelson
- Ferguson Braswell Fraser Kubasta PC
- Hancock Whitney Bank
- IBC
- Independent Bank
- Jackson Walker
- Lloyd Mousilli
- Lone Star Bank
- Mudd Law
- Norton Rose Fulbright Law Firm
- Origin Bank
- Orrick
- Polsinelli Law Firm
- Regions Bank
- Silicon Valley Bank
- Strahan Cain
- Unity National Bank
- Wells Fargo Bank
- Workspace: Co-working and flexible workspaces (note: “official” office space goes in 3.1.a. Infrastructure)
B. Develop
- Formalize: Accounting, development and HR for early-stage startups.
- Prepare for Seed: Incubators and advanced mentorship. (i.e. advanced knowledge sharing, later stage events and resources for startup TEAMS)
C. Launch
- Seed Accelerators: Seed funding mentor programs (Techstars-style programs that provide funding)
- Pitch & Demo: Show local startups for investment (i.e. demo days for companies seeking seed investment)
- Bioventures Final Pitch Day
- DigitalCrafts Demo Day
- Founder Hotseat: Pitch Your Startup to Houston Startup Experts
- Houston Startup Demo Day
- Houston Startup Demo Day: Transportation and Mobility Innovation Edition
- IGNITE By WorkLodge for Start Ups
- Open Pitch Practice
- Present Your Idea
- TMCx Demo Day
- What's Your Pitch: Innovations Meet the Market
3. Growth Stage
Here, a startup proves their utility, receives recognition, and scales up. This usually requires funding, angels, VCs, and ways to connect them to startups.
A. Recognition
- Investor Networking: Connect professional investors with founders. (i.e. events or groups that facilitate connections with professional investors)
- Major Media: Mainstream local business press. (i.e. major local or regional publications that frequently champion local businesses)
B. Funding
- Angels / Micro-VCs: Seed-stage investors
- Amitav Misra
- Aziz Gilani
- Bedros Bedrosian
- Blair Garrou
- Brad Wilson
- Cannon Ventures
- Carlos Hamilton
- Christopher A Howard
- Damon Spiegel
- David Baumgartner
- David Steakley
- HALO Fund
- Houston Angel Network
- Jai Mehta
- Jason Hill
- Jason Hodges
- John Filla
- John Leggett
- Jonas V Butkus
- Josh Adler
- Karun Sreerama
- Keith Kreuer
- Kirk Coburn
- Mike Bridges
- Purav Patel
- Rakesh Agrawal
- Rice Ventures
- Richard Yoo
- Robert Anderson
- Roy Touchy
- Sudz Khawaja
- TiE Houston
- Traveon Rogers
- Vivek Dixit
- Warren Pinkerton
- Venture Capitalists: Series A and beyond
- American Prudential Capital
- Blue Bear Capital
- BroadVail Capital Partners
- Chevron Technology Ventures
- Cottonwood Venture Partners
- Denham Capital
- Donovan Ventures
- EnCap Investments
- Energy Innovation Capital
- EnergyFunders
- EnerVest
- First Reserve
- Houston Health Ventures
- Houston Ventures
- KKR
- Live Oak Capital
- Main Street Capital
- Mercury Fund
- Murphree Venture Partners
- Rock Hill Capital
- Small Ventures USA
- TA Capital
- Texas HALO Fund
- TMC Venture Fund
- Vesalius Ventures
- Yellowstone Capital Partners
C. Growth
- Infrastructure: Office space, HR, local business insurance. (i.e. office space/ HR/ insurance providers for capital-rich companies to grow and scale)
- 42Floors
- CityFeet
- G&A Partners
- Hirsch Insurance Agency
- Hiscox
- Houston Business Insurance
- HumanBridge HR Consulting
- Insperity
- Instant Offices
- Kingspoint Insurance Agency
- Korn Ferry
- Lee Hecht Harrison
- LoopNet
- Maize Consulting
- Noveri Insurance Agency
- Regus
- SquareFoot
- TechSpace
- Harris County Public Library
- Expansion: Growth accelerators/consultants. (i.e. programs and business consultants for capital-rich companies to grow and scale)
- Accenture NetZero Accelerator
- Alvarez & Marsal
- Aon
- Arthur D Little
- A.T. Kearney
- Avanade
- Bain & Company
- Berkeley Research Group
- Booz Allen Hamilton
- Boston Consulting Group
- Bridgepoint Consulting
- Buck
- Capgemini
- CGI
- Darby Consulting
- Deloitte
- Enaxis Consulting
- Ernst & Young
- FTI Consulting
- Grant Thornton
- Hatch
- Hill+Knowlton Strategies
- Infosys
- KPMG
- McKinsey & Company
- Mercer
- Milliman
- Navigant
- North Highland
- Oliver Wyman
- PKF Texas
- Protiviti
- PwC
- Publicis Sapient
- Sogeti
- Tata Consultancy Services
- Willis Towers Watson
- Wipro
4. Success Stories
Successful homegrown companies that have raised significant institutional funding, employ a large workforce, or have achieved liquidity.
- Alert Logic
- Bellicum Pharmaceuticals
- BMC Software
- BrainCheck
- Chai One
- Cheers
- CS Disco
- Decisio Health
- GoCo
- Harvest
- HighRadius
- MacroFab
- Mainline.GG
- Meshify
- Molecule
- NanoRacks
- OncoResponse
- Opvizor
- OrthoAccel
- P97
- Procyrion
- Pulmotect
- Rebellion Photonics
- Saranas
- Simplilearn
- SoftNAS
- Solugen
- Sunnova
- The Right Place
Supporters
To facilitate the steps, every ecosystem needs strong supporters.
1. Evangelists
Successful local founders who lead the ecosystem & frequently mentor newbies.
- Amanda Shih
- Alexis J Taylor
- Blair Garrou
- Bobby Jacobs
- Brian Patrick
- Brittany Barreto, Ph.D
- Gabriella Rowe
- Grace Rodriguez
- Hesam Panahi
- Hira Qarni
- James Phelan
- Jeff Reichman
- John Reale
- Jon Nordby
- Ken Jones
- Keith Kruer
- Kim Roxie
- Kirk Coburn
- Lawson Gow
- Madalyn Sklar
- Martin Martinez
- Michele Price
- Neal Murthy
- Natasha Gorodetsky
- Neeraj Tandon
- Patrick Schneidau
- Paul Hill
- Roberto Moctezuma
- Sandra Louvier
- Sarah M Worthy
- Tabbie Saenz
- Tony Mayer
2. Government
Public organizations that facilitate local economic development
- Central Houston
- City of Houston Innovation
- City of Houston Office of Business Opportunity
- French American Chamber of Commerce Houston
- Greater Houston Partnership
- Greater Houston Women's Chamber of Commerce
- Harris County Economic Development
- Houston Exponential
- Houston Office of Economic Development
- Houston Metro Chamber of Commerce
- Houston Women’s Business Center
- MidTown Redevelopment District
- SCORE Houston
- The Houston Intercontinental Chamber of Commerce
3. Talent
Major local business or tech universities and employers that attract and retain local talent.
- Local Universities (universities with prominent technical or business programs)
- Local Employers (Major technical employers, like Microsoft or Google or large local companies, with large local offices)
Learn more about the Startup Ecosystem Canvas here, and leave us your thoughts on the Houston Canvas on this collaborative Google document (This is just a DRAFT, and more input is needed!)