Mitra Miller is the vice president and board member of the Houston Angel Network, the oldest angel network in Texas and one of the most active angel networks in the country. Mitra shares a bit about the organization and how interested investors can get involved, as well as her experience as a judge for this year’s Rice Business Plan Competition.

Jessica Traver Ingram is the co-founder and CEO of IntuiTap, a company that was founded out of the Texas Medical Center’s Biodesign Fellowship Program. Jessica describes the device as a stud finder for the spine, improving upon the way health care providers administer spinal taps. IntuiTap received FDA clearance earlier this year, and Jessica explains what that means for the company’s commercialization journey.

Barbara Burger, a well-known pillar within Houston’s energy innovation ecosystem, previously served as an executive at Chevron for decades and led the company’s venture arm. On the show, shee shares how she spends her time these days helping innovative energy startups. She also recaps her observations of CERAWeek, the “Super Bowl of the energy industry,” which took place last month.

Aziz Gilani is the managing director of Mercury Fund, a Houston venture capital firm that closed its fifth fund last September to the tune of $160 million. Aziz joins the show today to share some trends in both the software and VC worlds, as well as why he’s optimistic about his hometown of Houston and its developing innovation ecosystem.

Sean Kelly is the co-founder and CEO of Amperon, a real-time energy data provider that is supplying forecasts and analytics crucial to the energy transition. Sean joins the show today to discuss his company’s recent partnership with Microsoft and why he’s running his energy business as a tech company to make the biggest impact in the space. 

Stephanie Campbell and Diana Murakhovskaya are co-founders of The Artemis Fund, a Houston-based, female founder-focused venture capital firm that just announced its $36 million fund II. Stephanie and Diana share how this second round of fundraising went and some of their new portfolio companies they are excited about — as well as why they are optimistic about the future of women in VC.

Marc Nathan is senior director of market development at Michael Best. He works exclusively with startups and has a special passion for Texas’s entrepreneurial community — and specifically founders hailing from his home city of Houston. Now based in Austin, Marc is a seasoned expert on all things SXSW. on the show today, he shares all of his tips for founders looking to tackle SX this year.

Scott Gale is the executive director of Halliburton Labs, which has a unique mission of incubating early stage climate tech companies. Scott joins me to talk about Halliburton Labs, as well as the recently announced Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week 2024 which is taking place in September. The week of events is being spearheaded by Halliburton Labs, the Rice Alliance, and Greentown Labs, but Scott says they are looking for more organizations and events to join the initiative to truly spotlight Houston’s innovative energy transition community. 

Emma Konet is the co-founder and chief technology officer of Tierra Climate, an energy transition software technology that’s creating a new market within energy storage. She shares what led her to starting her company and the challenges within energy storage, as well as what the business is focused on this year. Emma, who led her company to fourth place in the Rice Business Plan competition, also gives her tips and advice for perfecting a startup pitch.

Dave Pruner is the executive director of the Texas Entrepreneurship Exchange for Energy, known as TEX-E, a nonprofit housed out of Greentown Labs that connects Texas college students on a mission to innovate within the energy transition. Dave joins the show today to share how TEX-E has expanded beyond just an annual student startup competition, and he also weighs in on how Houston is doing as a leader within the energy transition.