The inaugural "Software Day at the Ion," a monthly series aimed at nurturing software innovation and supporting startups on their path to growth, takes place May 14.
Software Day at the Ion’s first event kicks off with a fireside chat on “Raising Seed Capital in an Uncertain Times,” followed by a networking happy hour at the Ion’s Second Draught where founders can connect with fellow software entrepreneurs, investors and industry professionals – fostering connections that could shape the future of a company.
Register here for the May 14 event hosted by the Ion – Houston’s innovation hub powered by Rice University – and Mercury.
“While Houston has thriving innovation ecosystems around energy and life sciences, there are still hundreds of software startups outside these key verticals that need nurturing and assistance,” said Mercury Managing Director Blair Garrou. “Our goal is to come together as a tech community to cultivate the next generation of software startups, so that we launch more companies like Brassica, Cart.com, RepeatMD and many others.
“We have a remarkable community of mentors and industry professionals in the Houston ecosystem coming together to support local founders,” he continued. “Our team is looking forward to working with more local entrepreneurs as they amplify their startup’s growth journey.”
This monthly series, comprising mentor office hours, keynote sessions and networking, establishes a critical axis for the software innovation community to rally around at the Ion, according to Brad Burke, associate VP of Industry and New Ventures in Rice’s Office of Innovation and executive director of Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship. It brings together leading mentors, promising early-stage startups and like-minded Houstonians focused on building transformative software innovations.
“This isn’t just an event series – it's a catalyst for growth and collaboration in Houston’s software ecosystem,” Burke said.
Prior to the fireside chat, a select group of seed-stage software startups will participate in mentor office hours. Over the course of 2 hours, startup entrepreneurs looking for guidance and seasoned founders needing help tackling tough challenges will have access to a group of curated mentors from the Mercury network. The ideal profile of a company for this mentorship program is a pre-Series A software startup that is in the early stages of revenue generation. Interested startups are encouraged to submit their applications here. Each month, startups will be selected to participate in the mentor office hours.