Houston’s Innovation Corridor is at the center of an extraordinarily powerful social and economic convergence. The four-mile-long Corridor is linked by light-rail, bike lanes, and pedestrian thoroughfares, and offers easy access to key industry and institutional players along with an unparalleled array of amenities.
Dozens of new startup support operations and infrastructure projects have recently opened or are now underway along the Corridor—from new incubators and accelerators to a collaborative life sciences research campus. Anchored on the south by the world’s largest medical complex, the Texas Medical Center, and top-ranked Rice University, the Corridor runs north along Houston’s light-rail line through the verdant 700-acre Hermann Park and oak-lined boulevards of the Museum District. It continues past the eclectic Montrose neighborhood and through Midtown, home to a millennial friendly mix of housing, dining, nightlife and recreation. The Corridor reaches its northern boundary in Downtown, the nexus of corporate headquarters, financial institutions and professional service firms, with a wide variety of cultural and recreational amenities, from the world-renowned Houston Theater District to Discovery Green park.
The Corridor also features professional sports, numerous museums, countless parks and green spaces, one of the largest theater districts in the country and a highly acclaimed restaurant and nightlife scene.
Home to many of Houston’s most prominent companies, Downtown is also one of the country’s most dynamic mixed-use urban centers with an incredible fusion of historic and contemporary architecture, convenient transit options, convention and sports venues, an active cultural and arts scene, fine dining and shopping and thriving residential communities in both mid-rise and high-rise settings.
The Amegy Bank building at 1801 Main Street will soon be home to The Downtown Launch Pad, a 17,000-square-foot space that’ll feature incubator programs, labs, coworking and innovation areas. The Launch Pad will be anchored by two accelerator programs, MassChallenge and gener8tor. The Cannon, a coworking space and entrepreneurial hub, will manage the space. 1801 Main St. Learn More
Located in the historic Jones Building, WeWork Labs works to foster connections between start-ups and the educational, mentorship and financial resources needed to make their concepts a reality. 708 Main St. Learn More
Leading business accelerator MassChallenge expanded its Texas operations in Houston in 2019. The new office in the GreenStreet development has already supported its initial cohorts of early-stage startups with its signature, a zero-equity, six-week bootcamp. 1313 Main St. Learn More
Located on the north end of Downtown just south of Buffalo Bayou, the former Downtown Post Office site is being reimagined as a 16-acre, mixed-use development that will include a food hall and market, live music venue, art exhibits, restaurants, bars, coworking space and a park. A timeline for the project is not yet available. Post HTX and the University of Houston-Downtown cap the northern end of the Innovation Corridor. 401 Franklin St. Learn More
One of the most diverse four-year colleges in the Southwest, the University of Houston–Downtown offers bachelor’s degrees in more than 40 areas and master’s degrees in eight across its five colleges. UHD draws students by offering a collaborative learning experience with small class sizes, flexible scheduling, undergraduate research opportunities, and faculty with industry experience. Competitively priced tuition and fees make learning affordable. UHD's new Science & Technology Building houses the College of Sciences and Technology, which offers degrees in majors such as Applied Statistics and Data Science. 1 Main St. Learn More
TXRX Labs is a nonprofit innovation and collaboration hub that’s served Houston’s creative community for more than a decade. Classes are offered in a variety of areas including woodworking, welding, machining, programming, electronics, drafting & design, textile arts, jewelry, ceramics, and STEAM education for young makers. The 50,000-square-foot facility provides an open environment where tools, knowledge, and skills are shared for hobbyists, inventors, artists, entrepreneurs, students, and anyone interested in becoming a maker. TXRX also offers fabrication and prototyping services as well as consultation on creative projects. 205 Roberts St. Learn More
At Accenture’s Houston Innovation Hub, one of 11 such facilities across North America, the well-known consulting firm works with clients in energy, utilities, chemicals and natural resources to help scale new products and conduct workshops on developing innovative technologies. Clients of the hub work hand-in-hand with Accenture designers, data scientists, developers, domain experts, and delivery specialists to bring their ideas to life. 1300 Fannin St. Learn More
Founded in 2016, Station Houston has made it its mission to transform Houston into a world-leading hub for technology innovation and entrepreneurship by connecting startups with the people and resources they need to succeed. Station Houston serves as a hub for Houston’s tech community, providing entrepreneurs with ongoing access to investors, mentors, resources, talent, and customers. Station plans to move into and operate the new Ion hub in Midtown when that facility opens in 2021. 1301 Fannin St. Learn More
The Midtown District is a dense, walkable, mixed-use neighborhood immediately south of Downtown. Midtown features countless restaurants, wine bars and beer gardens with a millennial-focused mix of townhomes and mid-rise options all centered around the light-rail and the new Midtown Park.
Houston Exponential was founded in 2017 to help convene and build collaboration across the innovation ecosystem in order to accelerate its growth. HX is focused on attracting talent and capital to the region as well as promoting Houston as a thriving, innovative city. So far, more than 400 volunteers have engaged in executing the organization’s mission of making Houston one of the nation's leading innovation hubs. Learn More
The 16-acre South Main Innovation District will bring together research, startups, entertainment, retail and more on a vibrant, sustainable campus at a key rail stop on the south side of Midtown. The Innovation District will be anchored by The Ion, a $100 million, 270,000-square-foot tech collaboration hub. The Ion will bring the region’s entrepreneurial, corporate and academic communities together under one roof to innovate alongside one another. Learn More
The Houston Museum District is one of the largest in the country, with 19 world-class museums set within blocks of each other, including fine arts, modern art, natural science and the renowned Menil Collection. The neighborhood also features a mix of housing options from mid- and high-rises to townhomes and bungalows. The 700-acre Hermann Park, home to the Houston Zoo and Miller Outdoor Theatre, separates the Museum District from the Texas Medical Center and Rice University.
Ranked among the top 20 universities in the country, Rice University offers students a world-class education in the heart of Houston. Rice’s schools of architecture, engineering, business, music, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences all rank among the top programs in their fields. The university houses a variety of institutes and centers, including leading think tank James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy and the Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, the first nanotechnology research center in the world.The 300-acre campus, which features neo-Byzantine architecture, is located next to the Texas Medical Center, and the Houston Museum District. 6100 Main St. Learn More
Texas Southern University is one of the nation’s largest historically black universities (HBCU). TSU provides academic and research programs that address critical urban issues and prepares an ethnically diverse student population to become a force of positive change in a global society. TSU offers its more than 9,000 undergraduate and graduate students a multitude of degree programs and concentrations. TSU is recognized for its research in innovative transportation solutions and has been designated by the U.S. Department of Transportation as a Beyond Traffic Innovation Center. Learn More
More than 42,700 students attend the University of Houston, known for its groundbreaking research, entrepreneurship programs, and expertise in energy, health, and the arts. UH’s location in Houston’s historic Third Ward neighborhood provides students close proximity to opportunities with Fortune 500 companies, major nonprofit institutions, and arts organizations. The 667-acre campus has seen nearly $1 billion in new construction over the last decade, from new student housing and research labs to classrooms and athletic facilities. Reflecting the DNA of our city, UH’s undergraduate entrepreneurship program is consistently ranked among the top in the nation. Initiatives like the UH Technology Bridge, Red Labs and others help make this one of the region's leading institutions when it comes to innovation and entrepreneurship. Learn More
The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship is Rice University’s nationally-recognized initiative aimed at supporting technology commercialization, entrepreneurship education, and the launch of technology companies. Rice Alliance formed as a strategic alliance of three schools at the university: the George R. Brown School of Engineering, the Wiess School of Natural Sciences and the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business. The Alliance works as a catalyst for building technology-based companies and commercializing new technologies in the Houston region and Southwest. 6100 Main St. Learn More
Established in 2012, OwlSpark aims to ignite a passion for entrepreneurship within the Rice University community. OwlSpark provides hands-on entrepreneurship experiences and a roadmap from innovation to commercialization. Along with the accelerator program, the group’s partnerships with university and community organizations create an environment that cultivates entrepreneurs and early-stage startup teams, enabling founders to share ideas, collaborate and learn from mentors. 6100 Main St. Learn More
Home to more than 60 premier clinical, research and education institutions, the world’s largest medical center features biotech business accelerators, including the Texas Medical Center’s TMCx, AT&T Foundry and Johnson & Johnson’s JLABS, which provide networks to advance the development of technology companies and hasten commercialization.
The Texas Medical Center is a top destination in the world for clinical health care and medical research. TMC members institutions receive significant National Institutes of Health funding and TMC is home to some of the world’s leading hospitals and facilities. Within its campus, the TMC Innovation Institute houses TMCx, one of the country’s largest life science business accelerators focuses on early-stage digital health and medical device companies, as well as Johnson and Johnson’s Center for Device Innovation, JLabs, and the AT&T Foundry for Connected Health. Learn More
The Texas A&M University System is developing a 5-acre, mixed-use complex at the Texas Medical Center. The Texas A&M Innovation Plaza will enable collaboration in engineering, medicine, research and education across three buildings. An existing 18-story office building will become the new home of EnMed, a unique two-degree program that provides students an opportunity to earn a masters degree in engineering from Texas A&M University and a medical degree from the Texas A&M College of Medicine. A public-private partnership will invest $400 million in two additional buildings totaling 1.9 million square feet that will include a 714-bed student housing tower and a medical tower with space for clinical, biomedical, technology and office uses. The whole project will be developed in phases with the final phase set for delivery in 2024. Learn More.
Construction is set to begin in 2020 on TMC3, a translational research campus that will rise on 37 acres immediately south of the current TMC footprint. TMC3 will bring together Baylor College of Medicine, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth), The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and TMC itself to realize the translational research campus. Spanning more than 1.5 million square feet, the project will include labs and research facilities as well as commercial and retail space and a hotel/conference center. Construction on the project is expected to be completed in 2022. Learn More
Silicon Valley-based Plug and Play Tech Center expanded to Houston in 2019. The accelerator and venture capital firm brought its energy and sustainability innovation vertical to the local office and has plans to open a medical tech vertical as well. Plug and Play works with about 30 startups in each vertical for a six-month stretch. Learn More
ABB Robotics opened a robotics research facility in the Texas Medical Center in fall 2019. The 5,300-square-foot lab inside the TMC Innovation Institute is developing robots able to carry out repetitive yet delicate tasks such as sorting through samples and logging inventory. Learn More
The Houston Methodist Center for Innovation's Technology Hub opened in early 2020 showcasing new digital health technologies ranging from virtual reality and wearable tech to ambient listening and voice control. The 3,500-square-foot center serves as a laboratory for digital health innovations and a hub for collaboration between doctors, administrators and subject matter experts. 6565 Fannin St. Learn More
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