Ion entrepreneurial programs train founders, researchers, innovators, and corporate leaders to drive positive, disruptive societal change by building scalable enterprises. These programs teach skills, business development, startup skills—and more.
Get
Involved
Innovation is an invitation to build the world you want to see.
Ion supports businesses at all stages of the innovation lifecycle and provides resources for those seeking to engage in the innovation ecosystem. We invite you to join our network and become a part of Houston’s HQ for innovation.
Entrepreneurship
Current
Accelerators
Ion Onramp
Ion Onramp aims to support early-stage startups looking for a quality workspace that offers networking and access to a community of founders.
DivInc
DivInc’s 12-week tech startup development programs accelerate your business growth. They connect you to a network of industry-specific mentors and investors and provide the critical resources you need to turn your idea into a thriving company.
Rice Alliance
Rice Alliance aims to support the creation and success of startups and the commercialization of new technologies in the Houston community and beyond.
MediaTech Ventures
MediaTech Ventures is designed to develop early-stage and growth-driven media technology startups in Houston through education and mentorship with MediaTech Ventures’ startup curriculum and platform.
Interested in exploring more entrepreneurship opportunities?
Meet the
Cohorts
- Aerospace
- Consumer
- Energy
- Logistics
- Media
- Medical
- Sports Tech
Developing and applying innovative applications of AI to solve difficult and critical path engineering and operational problems affecting the process control in varies industries.
Hey Inventor
An online platform that enables inventors and start-ups to confidently file their own patent applications.
A deep tech climate solutions company focused on industrial power waste capture and 100% utilization for greenhouses and other industrial products.
Patented technology unlocking unique insights into the performance data of concrete infrastructure throughout its operational life using process efficiencies, structural health monitoring, and CO2 reduction benefits.
A gamified educational platform used by K-12 students to reduce bullying and bias in school through teaching social and emotional skills.
Building teams of engaged collaborators and confident communicators through on-demand communications coaching programs for teams—at scale.
Transforming the hydrogen industry by simplifying OTC transactions and offering a comprehensive platform for businesses to seamlessly obtain equipment, fuel, and services essential for hydrogen adoption.
An online youth carpool marketplace, helping local parents match, meet, and schedule shared rides for their busy children going to school, after-school activities, and sports.
Building the next generation electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to accelerate the transition to electrified transport.
A smart energy app that helps users reduce bills while reducing their carbon footprint and earning rewards.
Creating the next generation of solar roofs through innovating existing technologies.
Solving the problems of drinking water scarcity and thirst with atmospheric water generators, producing fresh drinking water from the humidity in the air.
Delivering sustainable and affordable solar energy solutions to households and businesses in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Summer ’23 cohort to be announced soon.
Another Step For Youth
Innovative and interactive children’s toys and media to promote self-awareness, independent living readiness, and optimal brain development for youth.
An evolving on-site retail where you can buy products directly through video commerce.
A platform teaching students team building skills, like traditional sports, while providing the competitive environment and training to participate in large competitions or earn scholarship money.
The place where Gen Z college students, tech boot campers, trade apprentices, and entry level employees connect to network with other business-minded individuals and companies in a no-pressure environment.
Prties
A 2-sided marketplace platform that connects small and medium-sized businesses to content creators.
A marketing and audio branding company specializing in digital marketing strategy, sound design, and sound strategy.
Ion Prototyping Lab
Ion Prototyping Lab is where your ideas meet the designers, engineers, and fabricators that can make your vision a reality. Located at the Ion, the intersection of Houston’s culture, creativity, and innovation, our 6,500 SF lab has the equipment, engineers, and access to technical training—all of the must-haves for every inventor, innovator, and creator.
Ion Investor Studio
Ion Investor Studio is a unique, private gathering space for investors to land. It is a studio that can be scheduled/reserved where investors can interact and meet with founders, entrepreneurs, corporate innovators, and other investors. The pipeline of deals in Houston is growing, and through connections and a convenient space to facilitate meetings, we will help find the next big investments.
Partners
Ion creates pathways for corporate innovators to collaborate, create, grow, learn, and lead. Together we explore opportunities to strengthen Houston’s economic resiliency and competitiveness by investing in the region’s industries. Join us as we take Houston’s talent and sprawl and connecting it all—catalyzing the development of better products and technologies, workforces and businesses.
Student Ambassador
As an Ion Student Ambassador, you’ll work side-by-side with fellow students from institutions in the Ion Academic Network and members of the Ion team to create, strengthen, promote, and amplify the programs and amenities of Ion and Ion District. Ion Student Ambassadors will develop a broad and deep understanding of the Ion, Ion District, its stakeholders, its partners, and its ambitious goals for Houston as a prophetic city and urban environment.
*Applications will close June 15, 2023, at 11:59 PM.
Artist Residency
Ion District’s developing Art Program is committed to creating opportunities for local and regional artists by creating long-term platforms to create, innovate, and collaborate. As the center for Houston’s innovation ecosystem, Ion recognizes the importance of cross-disciplinary connections creating and fostering innovation. Creative expression and ideation are an essential part of Ion’s bigger picture and mission.
Current
Programs
Eye On Art
Eye on Art pays homage to the original department window store displays of the beloved Sears building on which Ion was built by engaging local artists to create site-specific art installations. The display windows are a unique opportunity to reimagine Sears’ store windows and build on the collective memory of the space’s past, present, and future. Ion is committed to creating opportunities for Houston-based artists by providing long-term platforms to create, innovate, and collaborate.
Ion Plaza
Efflorescence is an interactive installation fabricated by the talented Austin-based artist team of Ilya Pieper and Whiptail Designs (Nathan Kandus) that is designed to instill the Ion Plaza with an immediate dose of vitality as visitors enter and exit the building. Now on display as Houston enters one of its most pleasant stretches of the year, Efflorescence will remain a fixture at the Ion for a six-month duration, from March – September.
Meet the Artists
Maria Eleanora Rodriguez
Eye on Art’s Exploración Orgánica was led by Maria Eleanora Rodriguez, who is originally from a small town in Venezuela. As a child, she traveled frequently across the country, gaining insight into different aspects of Venezuelan culture. Eventually, she landed in Milan, Italy, where she lived for seven years before moving for a three-year stay in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Rodriguez studied at a number of international schools, becoming fluent in both English and Italian — in addition to her native Spanish – along the way.
Following her global primary and secondary tutelage, Rodriguez ended up at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, where she learned the foundations of architecture and how to think in terms of space, the human experience, environmental awareness, and conceptual design. After graduation from Texas Tech, Rodriguez moved to Houston and has since immersed herself in a number of activities in order to create a positive impact in the local artist community and to grow both as an architect and as an artist.
Stacy Gressel + Lisa Morales
Eye on Art’s The Collective Hive was led by Lisa Morales and Stacy Gressell who have been collaborating for several years out of Winter Street Studios in the Houston Arts District’s Sawyer Yards. Using media such as paper collage, encaustic (wax), wood, metal, plexiglass, and found objects, the team has developed a synergy that is both playful and thought-provoking.
Inquire
Interested in learning more about our programming or how to get involved? Let’s chat!