The challenge will occur on May 21 at Houston Tech Rodeo in partnership with Houston Exponential and will feature five technology startup finalists from greater Houston that will be evaluated by a panel of successful entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. One will walk away with a $50,000 investment! The 2nd annual Houston Tech Rodeo will be a week-long corralling of the #HouTech community, spurring new connections, ideas, and innovation through digital events and experiences culminating in Capital Factory’s investment challenge.

Startups, submit your application!

Who Can Apply?

Any software, hardware, or CPG startup located in the greater Houston metropolitan area can apply to participate. If you win, you will receive a $50,000 investment from Capital Factory in the form of a convertible security (see the application for more details). The best opportunity and pitch will receive:

• An invitation to join the Capital Factory Ventures portfolio where you will receive support to help scale and grow your startup
• A $50,000 cash investment on a SAFE or Convertible Note using Capital Factory’s term sheet and your most recent funding valuation
• Access to the Capital Factory Mentor network
• Up to $250,000 in potential total hosting credits from AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and other major hosting providers (each individual offer is different and subject to change)
• Six months free Capital Factory work membership for you and your team.

Apply now to be one of five teams selected to pitch. You could walk away with $50,000 and a new home at the Center of Gravity for Entrepreneurs in Texas! Application deadline is May 2.

Just some of the winners include thriving Texas startups like Syzygy Plasmonics (Houston), ShearShare (Dallas), GroupRaise (Houston), Journey Foods (Austin), Easy Expunctions (San Antonio), MyndVR (Dallas), ZPEG (Austin), Grain4Grain (San Antonio), and Senseye (Austin). We’ve helped winners connect with customers, mentors, and secure millions of dollars in capital from Google, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Fund, Backstage Capital, and many other VC investors.

Houston-based Syzygy Plasmonics is developing a green power source from hydrogen fuel cell technology and raised a $5.8 million Series A round.

Dallas’ ShearShare has a marketplace connecting stylists with available seats at salons and $2.3 million in funding.

Houston’s GroupRaise is a marketplace that helps groups of 20–200 people make reservations at restaurants willing to donate a percentage of the sales back to a charitable cause.

Austin’s Journey Foods uses AI to create sustainability recipes for food manufacturers.

San Antonio’s Easy Expunctions makes it easier and more affordable for people to clean up their criminal records by automating the expunction process and has raised $1.6 million in funding.

Dallas-based MyndVR creates virtual reality experiences for senior citizens to help combat loneliness, stimulate memory and cognition, and reduce anxiety and depression.

Austin-based ZPEG developed an upgraded compression algorithm for streaming videos based on an advanced human visual model that reduces streaming costs for 4K streams by 30%.

Austin-based Senseye has developed a system of high-resolution cameras and software that can read your mind just by watching the movement of the muscles in your pupils. They’ve raised $7.2 million in funding to date.

About Capital Factory

Capital Factory is the center of gravity for entrepreneurs in Texas, the number one state for startups in the U.S. Thousands of entrepreneurs, programmers, and designers gather day and night, in-person and online for meetups, classes, and coworking. With boots on the ground in Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio, we meet the best entrepreneurs in Texas and introduce them to investors, employees, mentors, and customers. According to Pitchbook, Capital Factory has been the most active, early-stage investor in Texas since 2010.

About Houston, TX

Houston is the fourth-largest, and the seventh most diverse city in the U.S. It’s the energy capital of the world and is home to the Texas Medical Center (TMC), the world’s largest concentration of healthcare delivery and research institutions; to the NASA Johnson Space Center, a hub for cutting-edge human space flight research and astronaut training; to the number one seaport in the nation for waterborne tonnage, for foreign waterborne tonnage, and for vessel transits. Houston is an international city — a seaport, a spaceport, a “health-port”, and an “energy-port.” As a result, Houston has a diverse, high-tech industry ecosystem, and is increasingly an industry destination, serving as the home to 22 Fortune 500 company headquarters (with Hewlett-Packard Enterprise becoming the latest addition).

About Houston Tech Rodeo

The Houston Tech Rodeo (May 17–23) is a festival that celebrates the convergence of popular culture and innovation in Houston. Founded in 2020, The Houston Tech Rodeo has quickly transformed into an essential destination for founders (future and present) and talented individuals to spur new connections and ideas while highlighting all that Houston has to offer. The Houston Tech Rodeo proves that the most impactful discoveries happen when diverse topics and people come together.

Apply now to be one of five teams selected to pitch for a chance to win $50,000 and a partnership with Capital Factory Ventures. Application deadline is May 2.