Fintech
TMC names UK cohort, lawsuit against Houston fintech co. is rejected and more trending innovation news
Editor’s Note:We round up the most read Houston innovation news of the week. Trending articles on Houston tech and startups from InnovationMap and its folks daily newsletter they included a new team 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
Texas Medical Center has named its second cohort for its UK-focused healthcare technology accelerator. Photo via TMC
For the second time, a UK-backed accelerator hosted by Texas Medical Center Innovation has named 16 companies to its new cohort.
In partnership with Innovate UK, TMC named the new group companies in an announcement this week. 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 expand into the United States through the TMC. Keep reading.
Houston college gets $5 million NASA grant to launch new aerospace research center
The five-year NASA grant will go toward creating the NASA MIRO inflatable Deployable Environments and Adaptive Space Systems Center at UH. Photo via UH.edu
The University of Houston was one of seven minority-serving institutions to receive a nearly $5 million grant this month to support aerospace research focused on extending human presence on the Moon and Mars.
The grant of $4,996,136 over five years is funded by the Institutional Research Opportunity (MIRO) program of NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP). According to a statement from the university, the project will go towards establishing the NASA MIRO Center for Inflatable Environments and Adaptive Space Systems (IDEAS2) at UH.
“The vision of the IDEAS2 Center is to become a major national innovation center that advances cutting-edge NASA-focused research and advances 21st century aerospace education,” Karolos Grigoriadis, Moores professor of mechanical engineering and director of the aerospace engineering sector at UH, he said in a statement. Keep reading.
Judge dismisses case of former Trump officials who sued Houston fintech platform
It’s a win for Hello Alice. Photo courtesy of Cayce Clifford/Hi Alice
A Houston fintech company is celebrating the dismissal of a lawsuit brought by former Trump administration officials.
Last year, America First Legal sued Houston-based Hello Alice and its partner, Progressive Insurance, alleging that their program to award 10 $25,000 grants to black-owned small businesses constitutes discrimination racial. The AFL was founded by former Trump administration adviser Stephen Miller and includes a handful of other 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 factual harm that would support their position to seek retroactive or prospective relief,” according to a press release from Hello Alice. Keep reading.
Houston investors are backing a new platform for retail traders who want to follow financial influencers
CashPool is a new mobile platform that offers everyday investors the opportunity to gain influence from investment strategies and trades made by trusted and influential stock traders. Photo via joinmypool.co
As anyone who has witnessed the impact Gamestop meme stocks have had on the country already knows, influential investors can boost the financial sector. And a company with new funding from a Houston firm is betting on exactly that.
CashPool is a new mobile platform that offers everyday investors the opportunity to gain influence from investment strategies and trades made by trusted and influential stock traders who have built substantial followings on social media platforms. By offering retail traders the ability to join the various “pools” of social media influencers on its platform, CashPool is poised to change the way the masses acquire wealth.
This is the type of algorithmic trading aimed at a new generation of investors that is attracting 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 trading platform to continue its mission of transforming the investment landscape. Keep reading.
Innovative Coastal Project on Bolivar Peninsula receives federal funding
Known as Ike Dike, the proposed project received federal funding from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Photo courtesy
Galveston’s Coastal Barrier Project recently received $500,000 in federal funding to support construction of its flood mitigation plans for the area previously devastated by Hurricane Ike in 2008.
Known as Ike Dike, the proposed project includes the implementation of the Galveston Bay Storm Surge Barrier System, including eight Gulf and Bay defense projects. The Bolivar Roads Gate System, a two-mile-long gate structure located between Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula, is included in the plans and would protect against storm surge volumes entering the bay.
The financial support comes from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and will go toward the preconstruction engineering and design phase of the G-28 Ecosystem Restoration Project, the first segment of the Bolivar Peninsula and Intracoastal Coastline West Bay Gulf Waterway and Island Protection. Keep reading.