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Cart.com Raises $130 Million, Houston Sees Venture Capital Surge, More Top Stories

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Editor’s Note:Let’s review the most read news stories of the week about innovation in Houston.Houston tech trends and startup stories from InnovationMap and its daily newsletter included major startup and venture funding rounds, a story about a Houston startup working on data solutions in the wake of Hurricane Beryl, and more.

Houston e-commerce unicorn secures $130M in funding

Cart.com announced a $25 million Series C extension and a $105 million debt refinancing from investment manager BlackRock. Photo courtesy of Cart.com

Houston-based Cart.com, which operates a multichannel commerce platform, has secured a $105 million debt refinancing from investment manager BlackRock.

The debt refinancing follows a recent $25 million Series C extension, bringing Cart.com’s total Series C to $85 million. The scaleup’s valuation now stands at $1.2 billion, making it one of the few billion-plus “unicorns” in the Houston area.

Cart.com says BlackRock’s new term loan consolidates its venture debt into one package “on competitive terms.” Those terms were not disclosed. Continue reading.

Report: In tough market, Houston sees surge in venture capital funding

In the first six months of this year, Houston-area startups attracted $760.55 million in venture capital funding, a 17.7% increase from the same period last year. Photo via Getty Images

Houston-area startups saw a healthy increase in venture capital funding in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period last year, new data shows.

In the first six months of this year, Houston-area startups attracted $760.55 million in venture capital funding, according to the latest PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor. That’s a 17.7% increase from the $645.99 million raised in the first six months of 2023. Continue reading.

Houston heart health startup raises $43M in Series B to develop AI-powered platform

Octagos Health has announced a $43 million Series B funding round that will help bring its technology to many more hearts. Image via octagoshealth.com

A Houston-based technology company that offers a range of software solutions for heart health has raised funding.

Octagos Health, the parent company of Atlas AI — a software platform for cardiac devices such as pacemakers, defibrillators, ambulatory monitors and consumer wearables — has announced a $43 million Series B funding round that will bring its technology to many more hearts.

Morgan Stanley Investment Capital led the investment, which also included funds from Mucker Capital and other strategic investors. The goal of the round is to provide funding to accelerate Atlas AI’s growth in the U.S. and expand into other areas of care, including ambulatory monitors, consumer wearables and sleep. Continue reading.

Houston startup leverages technology to provide key data in wake of Hurricane Beryl

Resilitix AI contributes to Hurricane Beryl relief efforts. Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images

A Houston-based artificial intelligence startup is using technology to aid in relief efforts following Hurricane Beryl and beyond.

Resilitix AI is an AI-powered digital twin for “disaster situational awareness” that partnered with local organizations to help in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, a Category 1 storm that hit Houston on Sunday, July 7, causing power outages for more than 2 million Houston residents and other structural and environmental damage. The storm is estimated to have had an impact of $3.3 billion.

“Our mission is to reduce the impact of disasters through intelligence, by knowing what is happening and giving emergency teams the information they need to identify the areas that need it, because the information they currently have is significantly delayed and the effort they have to put in to get that information is significant,” Ali Mostafavi, founder of Resilitix, tells InnovationMap. Continue reading.

Energy giant announces deal with retail company to bring electric vehicle technology to Houston malls

Two city malls — The Galleria and Katy Mills Mall — will soon see BP’s electric vehicle charging Gigahubs. Photo via Wikipedia

Two Houston-area shopping centers will benefit from BP’s electric vehicle charging technology through a new global collaboration.

The global energy group will roll out its global electric vehicle charging business, bp pulse, to 75 shopping centres across the country through a partnership with Simon Malls. Two shopping centres in the city, The Galleria and Katy Mills Mall, will soon see bp’s electric vehicle charging Gigahubs. The company will install and operate the chargers at both sites in the region.

The deal aims to provide more than 900 ultra-fast charging bays that will support most makes and models of electric vehicles, with the first locations opening to the public in early 2026. Other Texas sites include Grapevine Mills in Grapevine and Barton Creek Square in Austin. Continue reading.

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