Global sponsors

Novel Capital

Novel Capital provides non-dilutive growth capital to early-stage B2B tech startups. Leverage your predictable revenue for on-demand access of up to $5M in funding. Whether you need to round out or bridge equity rounds, accelerate sales & marketing, hire to support implementations, or smooth our seasonal/cyclical cashflow, Novel can help.

AMEX

Our Corporate Program for Startups* provides you with powerful backing and working capital, plus all the benefits, business tools, and guidance that comes with American Express. From idea to IPO and beyond, we’re with you for the long haul.

Dell Technologies

Partnering with Dell from the start will allow you to save money in the short and long-term. Dell can provide any product you need, from one computer to an entire enterprise solution, allowing you to get all your hardware and software needs without having to switch from company to company.

DuploCloud, Inc.

DuploCloud’s no-code/low-code software platform is your DevSecOps expert, speeding time-to-market by translating high-level application specifications into detailed and fully managed cloud configurations. With pre-programmed knowledge of over 500 cloud services, the platform automatically provisions your application utilizing AWS best practices around security, availability and compliance standards.

Local sponsors

Breakthrough Radio

Breakthrough radio delivers weekly knowledgeable expertise and real-life examples for how to master the inner and outer game of business. Breakthrough Radio connects entrepreneurs globally, nationally, regionally and locally.

Houston Professional + Young Professionals

The Houston Professional + Houston Young Professionals mission is to foster business development by building relationships for career progression via educational events and power networking mixers.

Polish Investment & Trade Agency

PAIH - Well-educated Polish economists, engineers, IT specialists and scientists are highly sought-after and appreciated employees who find employment in IT companies, R&D centres, and scientific institutes

Ion Houston

The Ion is a nucleus for innovation in Houston, fostering a community and culture where entrepreneurs and corporations come together to solve some of the world’s greatest problems. This 270,000-square foot structure is designed to bring Houston’s entrepreneurial, corporate and academic communities together into collaborative spaces and programs.

Business Angel Minority Association

baMa -Business Angel Minority Association- is a national initiative to create a more inclusive startup ecosystem through early-stage investments by Minority led startups.

Plasyn

Plasyn is a viable business tool that functions for our customers to improve their business. At it's center, our service provides revenue to Hosts who then provide access for Guests at market rates into their unique workplaces

Partners

Capital Factory

Working at Capital Factory is about being part of a community. We meet the best entrepreneurs in Texas and introduce them to their first investors, employees, mentors, and customers.

The Baker's Man

Home About Menu Contact Find Us Order Online ​THE BAKER'S MAN We are a tiny local bakery shelling out handcrafted mini bundt cakes. We bake out of a commercial kitchen and bring the freshly made cakes directly to our customers. Catch us at a local farmers market near you. Follow us on Facebook to see where we will be!

Thirdborn Ginger Beer

After an extensive search for a ginger beer to love, we found that most are far too sweet and lacked the spice we longed for (as in, upwards of 50g of sugar too sweet, YIKES). So, we created our own perfect ginger beer using only natural ingredients and a traditional brewing process. Our beverages are spicy and just a tad sweet.

Alcove

A laptop case that unfolds into a mobile workstation.

Xocolla

XOCOLLA (pronounced: ZO-CO-LA) is a craft chocolate maker based out of Sugar Land, Texas (Part of the greater Houston Metropolitan area). Xocolla handcraft world-class single origin chocolate made in small batches from bean to bar. We have worked hard with small farmers and reputable brokers to bring to our consumers the best ingredients.

Rice University

Set in the heart of Houston, Texas, the nation’s fourth-largest city, Rice is a comprehensive research university that fosters diversity and an intellectual environment that produces the next generation of leaders and advances tomorrow’s thinking.

Grant Source

We can simply help any business or non-profit get acess to grants and resources to secure therm. It is a modern platform in a mobile app that even a kid could use!

Patient Fire

At Patent Fire we break away from the conventional model of filing patents. We handle your innovation as state of the art technology project. We have moved patent filing to an efficient workflow task based process

MassChallenge Texas

MassChallenge Texas is the second domestic and sixth international location in MassChallenge’s global network. The region launched in 2018 in Austin, Texas and accelerated 84 companies from 5 continents, 11 countries, and 5 major Texas cities. In 2019, the program expanded to Houston, attracting more startups from around the world to the Lone Star State.

Alice

Meet Alice, the business advisor who knows just what you need to grow your company

SXSW

From March 9-17, the SXSW Conference provides an opportunity for global professionals at every level to participate, learn, and network.

Lone Star Veterans Association

Building the community of veterans means creating opportunities for veterans to come together, to connect, to share stories, to feel a part of a whole, and to help one another. We've Been There, and we'll be there for you too.

B3ond

B3OND surveys efficiently establish a baseline of current gaps or potential issues across a range of risk areas, including sexual harassment.

Benjys in the Village

American Restaurant · New American Restaurant · Bar

Local Foods

Local Foods is a culinary expression of all things local, reflecting the soul of our community. We work with our local farmers, growers and purveyors to source products with integrity and flavor, which results in honest, straightforward food.

GotSpot

GotSpot is a company that exists to help enterprises & communities grow through an innovative sharing of resources. We've created a platform that connects small enterprises with available, commercial spaces being underutilized during off-peak hours.

Tea & Victory

Board Game Cafe featuring over 600 games, fantastic English-inspired food, tea, coffee, beer, & wine.

Young Hustler Coffee

Young Hustler delivers the best-handpicked coffee from around the world, and motivation messages from up and coming entrepreneurs directly to your door with free shipping. Unlike motivational Apps that offer a daily dose of inspiration. YHC offers genuine motivation by up-coming entrepreneurs. It's like having a mentor with your every step of the way.

Founder Institute

The world's largest pre-seed accelerator.

Cubio Innovation Center

CUBIO is where you can find your business partner, employee, mentor, vendor or investor. CUBIO membership provides more than a professional, all-inclusive, fully furnished office suite. It’s about becoming part of a local community that has a global reach. Our 16,000 square feet of co-working space provides a physical location that gathers entrepreneurs, startups, investors, pharmaceutical and consulting companies, and many more from the US and China to collaborate in Houston’s Medical District.

The Artemis Fund

Capitalizing on the proven value of gender diversity, The Artemis Fund is the first female-focused VC fund in Houston.

Bunker Labs Houston

Bunker Labs – a 501(c)(3) non-profit – is a national network of veteran entrepreneurs dedicated to helping new veteran entrepreneurs start their own business.

The Cannon

A co-working ecosystem for Houston's entrepreneurs, small businesses, freelancers, and creatives.

Trishnna Tea

We started this company with a simple objective of creating good tasting teas at affordable prices. We use the finest organic teas from India which are blended with natural dried fruits and herbs to create amazing flavors without any calories in a cup. We are different from other tea companies since we focus on the origin and source of our ingredients quality and consistency.

Enventure

Through interactive programming, Enventure provides inspiration, hands-on learning, networking, and the tools to support and grow a life science venture.

Goose Society of Texas

The GOOSE Society has a proven track record, diverse expertise and an extensive network that reaches both coasts.

The Houston Angel Network

The Houston Angel Network (HAN) is the oldest angel network in Texas and most active angel network in the USA.

Houston Exponential - HX

HOUSTON SOLVES PROBLEMS THAT MATTER Houston Exponential (HX) is a non-profit organization created to accelerate the growth of Houston’s innovation ecosystem.

Impact Hub Houston

Impact Hub Houston is a locally rooted, globally-connected, nonprofit organization that inspires, connects and empowers people working to solve social problems in our city and around the world.

Let's Launch

Lets Launch is an online community that provides investors with access to investment opportunities in private businesses seeking capital and support

Mercury Fund

Mercury Fund is an early-stage venture capital firm. With over $275 million under management, Mercury focuses on entrepreneurs and technology innovation originating in the U.S. Midcontinent. Our investment themes target SaaS, Cloud, and Data Science/AI platforms that make the industrial ecosystems of Middle America more competitive and efficient

Owl Spark

Established in 2012, OwlSpark was founded to ignite a passion for entrepreneurship within the Rice community. OwlSpark provides hands-on entrepreneurship experiences and a roadmap from innovation to commercialization.

Red Labs

RED Labs is the University of Houston's coworking space, startup accelerator, and technology entrepreneurship program. Supported by the Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship, we work with UH-affiliated founders (faculty, students, and recent alumni of the past 6 months) to turn their startup ideas into reality.

Plug and Play Tech Center

Plug and Play is the ultimate innovation platform, bringing together the best startups and the world’s largest corporations.

Accenture Innovation Hub

Located in the heart of downtown Houston, we’re leading the digital revolution for resources and industrial companies as well as for our city.

NextSeed

A new way to invest in local businesses. Local entrepreneurs and investors are reshaping the face of Main Street. NextSeed offers the opportunity to invest in restaurants, fitness studios, craft breweries and a variety of growing concepts.

SugarBot

Create Ridiculously Sweet Contact Lists On-demand access to brand name data sources, like Dunn & Bradstreet and Google No Contracts. No Trust Issues. You control costs!

Blue Nest Beef

FINALLY, BEEF THAT'S BETTER FOR YOU AND THE WORLD What's outside the box matters. Blue Nest Beef enables people who love birds and the planet to support an idea bigger than themselves while also being nourished by what's inside the box.

Pat Greer's Kitchen

In Houston, TX there lives a woman . . . . who loves playing with food and has a penchant for raw, natural foods. Her name is Patricia Greer and she is a co-founder of Central City Co-op. Every week she was faced with the dilemma of what to do with leftover organic produce from the Co-op. Go eat at Pat's and enjoy delicious nutritional meals.

Pitch-a-Kid-Houston

Our MIssion - To connect every kid around the world to entrepreneurship. Our Goal - Teach our kids entrepreneurship and help entrepreneurs communicate effectively by delivering a pitch competition where the kids are the judges and they tap into their critical thinking skills. We serve in three ways with our educational based driven startup: Schools/educators Entrepreneurs/Startups Companies/internal teams Which one of those doors are you?

Nefer Games

OUR MISSION We are dedicated to creating tools and environments of play which are beautiful and wonderful. #SEDIS is in a kickstarter right now. http://bit.ly/sedisgame

My Family Plan

Help 21st Century Families Stay Connected With FamPlan, the same technologies that once isolated individuals can be used to draw you closer together. Advance Family Effectiveness At MyFamilyPlan, we are passionate about doing everything we can to make your family more effective… so you can focus on #DoMoreHappy! Prepare Digital Children Our children are the first generation in history to grow up with Smartphones in their hand. We must teach them to use them responsibly.

Group Raise

Fundraising made easy. Fundraise at Local Restaurants and organize delicious restaurant fundraisers for non-profit groups online!