#Stay tuned for TNVC2026 photos!
Finalists
First Place Finalist: Gale – Lantana, TX
$35,000
Gale enables retailers to grow their sales by up to 10% by adding IRS-Compliant HSA & FSA payments to their checkout. Gale publicly launched in Q3 2025 and has since acquired 120+ merchants onto its HSA/FSA payments platform with a compounded monthly growth rate of 165%. With Gale, merchants can add HSA/FSA payments to their store in minutes enabling their shoppers to use pre-tax HSA/FSA dollars that can save them up to 40% off.
Second Place Finalist: Octane – Houston, TX
$25,000
Convenience stores are the backbone of the American commute, they sell about 80% of the fuel we buy, across ~150k locations. Yet behind the counter, many stores still run like it’s the 90s, which quietly squeezes an already thin-margin business. Octane is building the first Agentic AI Store Operator to fix this: software that takes over repetitive operational busywork end-to-end and runs it consistently, catching issues teams often miss or don’t have the bandwidth to chase, and only pulling a human in when a real judgment call is needed.
Third Place Finalist: Clavius Health – Houston, TX
$15,000
Clavius Health is building an AI-driven spinal alignment screening platform for musculoskeletal care. Using depth or standard RGB imaging, our software captures objective posture and spinal alignment measurements in minutes—replacing subjective visual assessments with structured, repeatable metrics.
Fourth Place Finalist: Bioprinting Laboratories – Dallas, TX
$15,000
Bioprinting Laboratories Inc. (BPL) develops a high-throughput pillar/perfusion plate platform combining microarray 3D bioprinting, pump-free dynamic perfusion, and on-plate organoid cryopreservation to enable scalable, predictive, and cost-effective human organoid screening. Injection-molded 36/144/384-format plates allow ultra-fast, reproducible loading (≤1 minute; CV <20%), long-term perfused culture without pumps/tubing, in situ imaging, and compatibility with standard HTS automation. Ultra-low assay volumes cut reagent costs 20–100× while improving human relevance versus 2D assays and static organoids.
Fifth Place Finalist: Pike Robotics – Austin/Houston, TX
$8,000
Pike Robotics develops advanced robotic inspection systems for hazardous industrial infrastructure. Its flagship product, the Wall-Eye platform, is a Class 1, Division 1–certified wall-crawling robot that performs in-service inspections inside explosive and confined environments such as above-ground storage tanks. By eliminating confined-space entry and costly shutdowns, Wall-Eye improves safety, reduces inspection costs, and helps operators maintain regulatory compliance while keeping assets online.
Sixth Place Finalist: Backstop Neural – Dallas, TX
$5,000
Backstop Neural, Inc. is a privately held, pre-clinical stage medical device company based in Dallas, TX and focused on restoring arm and hand function in people with cervical spinal cord injuries using epidural spinal cord stimulation (eSCS). Founded in 2018, our company has been funded through private capital and multiple NIH and NSF grants. Our purpose-built eSCS system is anchored by the company’s innovative cervical paddle lead that leverages novel materials and microfabrication processing. Together with an implantable pulse generator and AI-driven software platform, the system is designed to first precisely map the targeted muscle groups and then deliver specific stimulation at the dorsal roots of the spinal cord.
Elevator Pitch
Elevator Pitch First Place: StreamSettle – Houston, TX
$4,000
StreamSettle is a B2B legal-tech platform solving the “blinking first” standoff in civil litigation. Opposing parties confidentially submit bottom-line settlement numbers. If an overlap exists, the claim settles instantly at the midpoint. If not, data remains concealed with zero leverage lost. U.S. insurance carriers waste billions annually on avoidable legal fees simply because neither side wants to make the first move.
Elevator Pitch Second Place: Nu M.A.Y.A. – Houston, TX
$2,500
Tape is slow. Tape gets left behind on the aircraft and that creates a real safety hazard. SMART-FOD Kits address both problems.
SMART-FOD fills that critical safety gap. Every cover is pre-cut, serialized, and tracked like a tool significantly reducing the risk of leaving material on the jet.
Elevator Pitch Third Place: FirstThen – Dallas, TX
$2,000
FirstThen has created the first parent-centered, AI-enhanced mobile health app for the treatment of pediatric Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). We’re working at the crossroads of digital mental health, responsible AI, and caregiving to address the massive unmet need for psychosocial treatment and support when a child has ADHD.
Elevator Pitch Fourth Place: Arrow Analytics – Bryan/College Station, TX
$2,000
Arrow Analytics reduces airline flight delays and travel stress with the first fully autonomous carry on baggage tracker, counter, and sizer at the boarding gate. Up to 26% of flight delays are caused by boarding inefficiencies, many tied to baggage issues, yet gate agents are forced to guess bag sizes and counts without objective data while managing multiple operational tasks.
Elevator Pitch Fifth Place: Texas Microsintering – Austin, TX
$1,000
Texas Microsintering is revolutionizing semiconductor manufacturing and packaging by commercializing Holographic Volumetric Lithography. Traditional semiconductor fabrication is slow, expensive, and wasteful, relying on a long sequence of material deposition, masking, and etching steps. We replace this outdated workflow with a single-pass 3D printing process that patterns advanced electronics using ultra-thin optical metasurfaces.
Special Prize Winners
Austin Community College Bioscience Incubator Prize: Brimstalt Therapeutics – Houston, TX
Brimstalt Therapeutics is developing AIRR, a breakthrough therapy designed to reduce heart damage during a heart attack. Each year, millions of people survive heart attacks thanks to emergency procedures that restore blood flow — but the return of blood flow itself can cause additional injury to the heart muscle. Today, there are no approved medicines that directly protect the heart during this critical window.
Aggie Angel Network Investment Prize: Spry Bio – Irving, TX & Nu M.A.Y.A. – Houston, TX
Spry Bio is on a mission to transform osteoarthritis care by developing SBI-101, the first standardized, shelf-stable platelet therapy designed to become an FDA-approvable biologic for knee osteoarthritis — a condition affecting 32 million Americans and driving $30 billion in annual U.S. medical costs. Autologous PRP injections have demonstrated clinical superiority over corticosteroids in published literature, but adoption remains below 1% because they are inconsistent, unapproved, and unreimbursed. SBI-101 addresses this as a quality-controlled allogeneic platelet drug built on FDA-regulated blood banking infrastructure.
Tape is slow. Tape gets left behind on the aircraft and that creates a real safety hazard. SMART-FOD Kits address both problems.
SMART-FOD fills that critical safety gap. Every cover is pre-cut, serialized, and tracked like a tool significantly reducing the risk of leaving material on the jet.
Amerra Visualization Services Prize: Backstop Neural – Dallas, TX
Backstop Neural, Inc. is a privately held, pre-clinical stage medical device company based in Dallas, TX and focused on restoring arm and hand function in people with cervical spinal cord injuries using epidural spinal cord stimulation (eSCS). Founded in 2018, our company has been funded through private capital and multiple NIH and NSF grants. Our purpose-built eSCS system is anchored by the company’s innovative cervical paddle lead that leverages novel materials and microfabrication processing.
Antler Investment Prize: Octane – Houston, TX & StreamSettle – Houston, TX
Convenience stores are the backbone of the American commute, they sell about 80% of the fuel we buy, across ~150k locations. Yet behind the counter, many stores still run like it’s the 90s, which quietly squeezes an already thin-margin business. Octane is building the first Agentic AI Store Operator to fix this: software that takes over repetitive operational busywork end-to-end and runs it consistently, catching issues teams often miss or don’t have the bandwidth to chase, and only pulling a human in when a real judgment call is needed.
StreamSettle is a B2B legal-tech platform solving the “blinking first” standoff in civil litigation. Opposing parties confidentially submit bottom-line settlement numbers. If an overlap exists, the claim settles instantly at the midpoint. If not, data remains concealed with zero leverage lost. U.S. insurance carriers waste billions annually on avoidable legal fees simply because neither side wants to make the first move.
Austin Technology Incubator Prize: Pike Robotics – Austin/Houston, TX & Backstop Neural – Dallas, TX
Pike Robotics develops advanced robotic inspection systems for hazardous industrial infrastructure. Its flagship product, the Wall-Eye platform, is a Class 1, Division 1–certified wall-crawling robot that performs in-service inspections inside explosive and confined environments such as above-ground storage tanks. By eliminating confined-space entry and costly shutdowns, Wall-Eye improves safety, reduces inspection costs, and helps operators maintain regulatory compliance while keeping assets online.
Backstop Neural, Inc. is a privately held, pre-clinical stage medical device company based in Dallas, TX and focused on restoring arm and hand function in people with cervical spinal cord injuries using epidural spinal cord stimulation (eSCS). Founded in 2018, our company has been funded through private capital and multiple NIH and NSF grants. Our purpose-built eSCS system is anchored by the company’s innovative cervical paddle lead that leverages novel materials and microfabrication processing. Together with an implantable pulse generator and AI-driven software platform, the system is designed to first precisely map the targeted muscle groups and then deliver specific stimulation at the dorsal roots of the spinal cord.
Capital Factory Membership & Services Prize: Gale – Lantana, TX, Octane – Houston, Clavius Health – Houston, TX, Bioprinting Laboratories – Dallas, TX, Pike Robotics – Austin/Houston, TX, & Backstop Neural – Dallas, TX
Gale enables retailers to grow their sales by up to 10% by adding IRS-Compliant HSA & FSA payments to their checkout. Gale publicly launched in Q3 2025 and has since acquired 120+ merchants onto its HSA/FSA payments platform with a compounded monthly growth rate of 165%. With Gale, merchants can add HSA/FSA payments to their store in minutes enabling their shoppers to use pre-tax HSA/FSA dollars that can save them up to 40% off.
Convenience stores are the backbone of the American commute, they sell about 80% of the fuel we buy, across ~150k locations. Yet behind the counter, many stores still run like it’s the 90s, which quietly squeezes an already thin-margin business. Octane is building the first Agentic AI Store Operator to fix this: software that takes over repetitive operational busywork end-to-end and runs it consistently, catching issues teams often miss or don’t have the bandwidth to chase, and only pulling a human in when a real judgment call is needed.
Clavius Health is building an AI-driven spinal alignment screening platform for musculoskeletal care. Using depth or standard RGB imaging, our software captures objective posture and spinal alignment measurements in minutes—replacing subjective visual assessments with structured, repeatable metrics.
Bioprinting Laboratories Inc. (BPL) develops a high-throughput pillar/perfusion plate platform combining microarray 3D bioprinting, pump-free dynamic perfusion, and on-plate organoid cryopreservation to enable scalable, predictive, and cost-effective human organoid screening. Injection-molded 36/144/384-format plates allow ultra-fast, reproducible loading (≤1 minute; CV <20%), long-term perfused culture without pumps/tubing, in situ imaging, and compatibility with standard HTS automation. Ultra-low assay volumes cut reagent costs 20–100× while improving human relevance versus 2D assays and static organoids.
Pike Robotics develops advanced robotic inspection systems for hazardous industrial infrastructure. Its flagship product, the Wall-Eye platform, is a Class 1, Division 1–certified wall-crawling robot that performs in-service inspections inside explosive and confined environments such as above-ground storage tanks. By eliminating confined-space entry and costly shutdowns, Wall-Eye improves safety, reduces inspection costs, and helps operators maintain regulatory compliance while keeping assets online.
Backstop Neural, Inc. is a privately held, pre-clinical stage medical device company based in Dallas, TX and focused on restoring arm and hand function in people with cervical spinal cord injuries using epidural spinal cord stimulation (eSCS). Founded in 2018, our company has been funded through private capital and multiple NIH and NSF grants. Our purpose-built eSCS system is anchored by the company’s innovative cervical paddle lead that leverages novel materials and microfabrication processing. Together with an implantable pulse generator and AI-driven software platform, the system is designed to first precisely map the targeted muscle groups and then deliver specific stimulation at the dorsal roots of the spinal cord.
Conley Rose Legal Services Prize: MyEngene – Houston, TX
MyEngene Inc. prevents adverse drug reactions (ADRs), the 4th leading cause of death in North America, killing 128,000+ Americans annually at $136B cost. Our bioinformatics and AI platform interprets genetic data for personalized medication decisions. Two products: PGxIQ is an AI pharmacovigilance platform providing real-time drug-drug, drug-gene, and lifestyle-drug interaction alerts without genetic testing. PGxME analyzes 1,110 genes across 990+ medications via 30X Whole Genome Sequencing.
Geekdom Membership Prize: Octane – Houston, TX, Arrow Analytics – Bryan/College Station, TX & FirstThen – Dallas, TX
Convenience stores are the backbone of the American commute, they sell about 80% of the fuel we buy, across ~150k locations. Yet behind the counter, many stores still run like it’s the 90s, which quietly squeezes an already thin-margin business. Octane is building the first Agentic AI Store Operator to fix this: software that takes over repetitive operational busywork end-to-end and runs it consistently, catching issues teams often miss or don’t have the bandwidth to chase, and only pulling a human in when a real judgment call is needed.
Arrow Analytics reduces airline flight delays and travel stress with the first fully autonomous carry on baggage tracker, counter, and sizer at the boarding gate. Up to 26% of flight delays are caused by boarding inefficiencies, many tied to baggage issues, yet gate agents are forced to guess bag sizes and counts without objective data while managing multiple operational tasks.
FirstThen has created the first parent-centered, AI-enhanced mobile health app for the treatment of pediatric Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). We’re working at the crossroads of digital mental health, responsible AI, and caregiving to address the massive unmet need for psychosocial treatment and support when a child has ADHD.
Greater Brazos Partnership Launch Prize: Encando.AI – Bryan/College Station, TX
Encando.AI is a vertically integrated AI portal for higher education that empowers instructors – not replaces them. Encando addresses a $6.8B annual teaching support problem in the U.S. for scaling instructor and student support at a fraction of traditional support cost. We combine automated course organization, a course-aligned multimodal AI tutor (ChaTA), AI-driven assessment generation, and an autograder into a single accreditation-friendly platform.
Invincible Spaces Prize: Octane – Houston, TX & Arrow Analytics – Bryan/College Station, TX
Convenience stores are the backbone of the American commute, they sell about 80% of the fuel we buy, across ~150k locations. Yet behind the counter, many stores still run like it’s the 90s, which quietly squeezes an already thin-margin business. Octane is building the first Agentic AI Store Operator to fix this: software that takes over repetitive operational busywork end-to-end and runs it consistently, catching issues teams often miss or don’t have the bandwidth to chase, and only pulling a human in when a real judgment call is needed.
Arrow Analytics reduces airline flight delays and travel stress with the first fully autonomous carry on baggage tracker, counter, and sizer at the boarding gate. Up to 26% of flight delays are caused by boarding inefficiencies, many tied to baggage issues, yet gate agents are forced to guess bag sizes and counts without objective data while managing multiple operational tasks.
Knobbe Martens Legal Services Prize: Bioprinting Laboratories – Dallas, TX
Bioprinting Laboratories Inc. (BPL) develops a high-throughput pillar/perfusion plate platform combining microarray 3D bioprinting, pump-free dynamic perfusion, and on-plate organoid cryopreservation to enable scalable, predictive, and cost-effective human organoid screening. Injection-molded 36/144/384-format plates allow ultra-fast, reproducible loading (≤1 minute; CV <20%), long-term perfused culture without pumps/tubing, in situ imaging, and compatibility with standard HTS automation. Ultra-low assay volumes cut reagent costs 20–100× while improving human relevance versus 2D assays and static organoids.
Plug & Play Admission & Investment Prize: Gale – Lantana, TX
Gale enables retailers to grow their sales by up to 10% by adding IRS-Compliant HSA & FSA payments to their checkout. Gale publicly launched in Q3 2025 and has since acquired 120+ merchants onto its HSA/FSA payments platform with a compounded monthly growth rate of 165%. With Gale, merchants can add HSA/FSA payments to their store in minutes enabling their shoppers to use pre-tax HSA/FSA dollars that can save them up to 40% off.
Southwest-Midwest Pediatric Device Consortium Cash Prize: Clavius Health – Houston, TX
Clavius Health is building an AI-driven spinal alignment screening platform for musculoskeletal care. Using depth or standard RGB imaging, our software captures objective posture and spinal alignment measurements in minutes—replacing subjective visual assessments with structured, repeatable metrics.
Stibbs & Co. Legal Services Prize: Gale – Lantana, TX
Gale enables retailers to grow their sales by up to 10% by adding IRS-Compliant HSA & FSA payments to their checkout. Gale publicly launched in Q3 2025 and has since acquired 120+ merchants onto its HSA/FSA payments platform with a compounded monthly growth rate of 165%. With Gale, merchants can add HSA/FSA payments to their store in minutes enabling their shoppers to use pre-tax HSA/FSA dollars that can save them up to 40% off.
Womble Bond Dickinson Legal Services Prize: Arrow Analytics – Bryan/College Station, TX
Arrow Analytics reduces airline flight delays and travel stress with the first fully autonomous carry on baggage tracker, counter, and sizer at the boarding gate. Up to 26% of flight delays are caused by boarding inefficiencies, many tied to baggage issues, yet gate agents are forced to guess bag sizes and counts without objective data while managing multiple operational tasks.
Semifinalists
Semifinalist: DystropHix – Bryan/College Station, TX
Dystrophix has the potential to dramatically impact the lives of children suffering from muscle Dystrophy (MD). To maintain muscle mass in disease, ongoing clinical studies are investigating compounds directed toward a range of therapeutic targets including corticosteroids and viral gene therapy.
Semifinalist: Deep Anchor Solutions – Houston, TX
Deep Anchor Solutions develops scalable anchoring systems for floating energy and offshore infrastructure. Most offshore anchors used today were designed for oil and gas and require massive steel structures and complex offshore installation. As floating energy expands globally, these legacy anchor systems are becoming a cost and deployment bottleneck. We developed the Deeply Embedded Ring Anchor (DERA), a pipe-based anchor architecture that reduces anchor size and simplifies manufacturing and installation. DERA can reduce anchor system costs by up to 75% compared with conventional solutions.
Semifinalist: IonTX – Houston, TX
IonTX, a Texas pre-seed preclinical biotech, develops first-in-class small molecule protein–protein interaction (PPI) modulators to control the regulation of voltage-gated sodium (nav) channels, innovating precision medication of neuropsychiatric illnesses. Targeting intracellular proteins that bind to nav channels, IonTX aims to normalize abnormal neuronal firing that underlies aberrant brain network functioning in people living with neurological, pain or mental disorders.
Semifinalist: Lamplight Logistics – Austin, TX
Lamplight Logistics builds Spotlight, an industrial spatial intelligence platform created by RTLS veterans with 40+ years of combined experience. We design full-stack location systems (BLE, UWB, GNSS, and multi-modal) that convert physical movement into operational intelligence.
