Erik Ibarra is the founder and CEO of ORDRS, a digital health platform for optimized lab testing. Erik is a serial entrepreneur and active mentor within the Houston innovation ecosystem, and today on the show, he shares details of his latest venture as co-founder and investor at Magnolia Fund, a new investment opportunity that supports Houston’s east end community.

Jason Ethier is the senior director of membership at Greentown Labs and the co-host of the EnergyTech Startups podcast. Jason’s background in energy innovation has spanned from corporate to startups and from Boston and Houston. He shares some of his thought leadership in the space as well as his passion for Houston’s future as a hub for energy innovation on the show today.

Emily Keeton, a familiar name to Houston’s innovation ecosystem, recently joined New York-based investment firm Loeb.nyc as operating partner and investor. She joins the show today to talk about how she’s seen the ecosystem evolve over the past decade and how she’s tapping into Houston startups now.

Jim Gable is the vice president of innovation at Chevron and president of Chevron Technology Ventures. Jim has held various leadership roles across Chevron for the past 24 years and has recently relocated to Houston to lead CTV, which is based in the Ion. Jim explains some of the unique opportunities within Chevron innovation and also weighs in on the role incumbent energy companies play in the energy transition — in Houston and beyond.

Dr. Emmanuel Urquieta is the chief medical officer for the Translational Research Institute for Space Health, or TRISH, a Houston organization based out of Baylor College of Medicine that’s leading space health research. Emmanuel joins the show to talk about TRISH and its ongoing research including its most recent mission with Axiom Space that was completed last week.

Rob Schapiro is Microsoft’s Energy Acceleration program director and site leader for the company’s Houston office. He has transitioned his career from being a geologist in the oil and gas sector to being a leader within Houston’s innovation ecosystem and energy transition. He joins the show today to discuss that journey as well as his passion for making sure Houston has equitable opportunities for current and future innovators. He also discusses a recent report from Microsoft that identified impact artificial intelligence will have on the future of work.

Ramanan Krishnamoorti is the vice president of energy and innovation at the University of Houston. UH has always been a hub for invention, entrepreneurship, and innovation, but Ramanan’s role is to help better connect the dots — both on campus and within Houston as a whole. He joins the show today to share how he plans on doing that, from growing the awareness of the UH Tech Bridge to supporting the university’s plans to create an industry agnostic innovation hub in the center of campus.

Youngro Lee is the founder and CEO of Brassica Technologies, a fintech company that’s creating a more modern and holistic approach to investing and alternative assets. Youngro has spent over a decade on a mission of democratizing investment, first as founder and CEO of NextSeed up until that company was acquired by Republic. Now, he oversees Republic’s expansion in the Asia market as well as leading his new endeavor. Youngro joins the show today to discuss the details of his new company and the future of fintech.

Jason Bock is the founder and CEO of the Cell Therapy Manufacturing Center, or CTMC, a joint venture between National Resilience and MD Anderson Cancer Center that hopes to serve as an engine for advancing cell therapy therapeutics for cancer patients. Formed just over a year ago, CTMC has expanded its footprint and already worked on a handful of innovative treatments. Jason shares a bit on how this progress has gone so far and why he’s bullish on Houston being a hub for the relatively young field of cell therapy manufacturing.

Josh Teekell is the founder and CEO of SmartAC.com, a software and hardware technology platform that works with contractors to lower energy cost and waste in residential HVAC systems. SmartAC.com has recently secured fresh funding to continue its growth and supercharge sales and deployment of its system. Josh explains on the show how his fundraising experience went as well as how he managed to attract Houston investors.