5 innovative gift ideas from Houston startups
Dec. 14, 2020 01:23PM EST
Support Houston startups by shopping local this holiday season. Photos courtesy
The holidays are fully upon us, and in the spirit of giving, why not give a little business to local startups as you shop for friends and family this year?
Browse this year's roundup of Houston startup-created gift ideas below, and then click here to check out last year's gift ideas too for eight more options for you.
Low-carb treats from ChipMonk Baking
Give the gift of healthy desserts with ChipMonk Baking. Photo via chipmonkbaking.com
Houstonians David Downing and Jose Hernandez were tired of having such limited options when it came to finding healthy dessert alternatives. So, they founded ChipMonk Baking, a local, mail-order bakery that creates treats using monk fruit and allulose, a low-calorie (0.4 calories per gram) rare sugar that's found naturally in foods such as raisins, dried figs, and kiwi. Hernandez began developing ChipMonk's recipes to satisfy his taste for cookies after being diagnosed with type-2 diabetes.
An online business, ChipMonk offers every snacks from cookies and bites to mixes and sweeteners. There are also a few bundles to choose from as well as a free, downloadable holiday cookbook
Skin-healthy athletic wear from Élastique
Emeline Kuhner-Stout, founder of Élastique Athletics, wanted to create a product that was easy to wear and benefitted lymphatic health. Photo courtesy of Élastique Athletics
Moms know how to make the most of their time, and that's exactly how Emeline Kuhner-Stout came across the idea for Élastique Athletics, a clothing line that promotes skin health and reduces cellulite.
"We did some research, and found that the best way to improve the appearance of your skin and move those fluids — because the cause [of cellulite] is really about those fluids that get trapped under your skin and cause a lot more negative effects other than skin appearance," Kuhner-Stout previously told InnovationMap.
She learned that exercise is the best move for improving lymphatic drainage, and another option is to do it manually through massaging and with compression. After around five years of research and development, Kuhner-Stout was able to release her first product for Élastique Athletics — a pair of leggings that have MicroPerle™ micro-massage beads in the compression leggings to massage the skin when worn.
Now, Élastique has three "wellnesswear" products available online.
Support local with Sesh Coworking
Sesh's gift sets are available for pick-up or delivery. Photo via girlsesh.com
Sesh Coworking is a space founded for women, by women, and that focus extends to the company's in-store and online market. Located in Montrose, Sesh opened its doors in February and was founded by Maggie Segrich and Meredith Wheeler to fill a need in the coworking sector.
"We as women show up in our work lives as a whole person. We don't compartmentalize and forget about all the other things happening in our lives," Wheeler previously told InnovationMap. "We wanted a space that reflected that and embraced it."
While the market supports local female-owned business year round, Sesh has some special items for the holidays. The company has produced a 2020 Holiday Haute List to help users find the perfect gift as well as some gift bundles for the working women of the world. These sets and more are available on Sesh's online store.
Stylish sanitizers from Cobalt
Cobalt's gift set comes with a bottle of each of the company's three FDA-approved cleaning products. Photo via cobaltclean.com
This year's pandemic inspired new products and companies aplenty, and one of them here in Houston is Cobalt founded by Houstonians Molly Voorhees and Christina Milligan. Their hand sanitizing and surface cleaning products blend the importance of cleanliness and safety with the added value of accessibility and a refined appearance.
As working parents of young children, the two women wanted to create a line of sanitizing products that boosted their confidence in the safety of their environments amid a pandemic and that they'd be proud to pull out of their purse on short notice.
"Cleaning products are in your bathroom or are in an ugly looking bottle or the back of our restaurant in massive chemical containers. There is really nothing for the on-the-go market," Voorhees says.
The company sells six FDA-approved sanitizers, sprays, keychains, and to-go kits that eliminate 99.9 percent of bacteria and viruses in easy to access, personal-sized, contemporary bottles, ranging from $14 to $30. The products are designed to be free of harsh, alcoholic odors and come in scents like peppermint and bubble gum.
The gift set, which is available online for $50, includes a bottle of hand sanitizer, surface spray, and mask refresher.
Humidity-conscious women's workwear from Cotidie
Cotidié's fabrics are lightweight and moisture wicking — similar to exercise clothing — making the pieces conducive to the Houston heat and humidity. Lauren Marek/Cotidié
Other than during Houston's brief winter, rocking a professional wardrobe is tough in humidity that is so iconic to Houston. Local entrepreneur Kristina Haag founded Cotidié to design clothes with this struggle in mind.
"With Cotidié, it is all about the functionality of the clothing," Haag previously told InnovationMap. "It is more traditional items, but the use of technical fabrics is our differentiating factor."
The online retailer, which launched in June 2019, offers dresses, jackets, pants, skirts, and tops, ranging between $60 and $200 in price. The fabrics, sourced from Italy and Taiwan, provide breathable comfort, along with an elastic, structured fit for a more tailored look. All items are moisture wicking and machine washable.
"Everything we use on the line is athletic technical fabric that you would typically find in workout attire, but I've repurposed these fabrics to use in a contemporary womenswear line," Haag tells InnovationMap. "I wanted to create a more foundational capsule clothing collection that women can draw their own inspiration from."
The full collection is available online, as are gift cards.
Bonus: 8 more gift ideas from Houston startups
From after-alcohol relief to a smart pillbox, these Houston-founded companies have innovative holiday gifts to offer. Images via Instagram
Here are eight more ideas for gifts made by Houston startups. Click here,
Matthew Costello, Kristina Haag, and Greg Wright are this week's Houston innovators to know. Courtesy photos
It's the penultimate Monday of 2019, which means it's also the penultimate roundup of Houston innovators to know this week.
Today's featured innovators include an entrepreneur revolutionizing the maritime shipping industry, a fashion designer striving for comfort in Houston's long summers, and a startup advocate shining a spotlight on cybersecurity.
Matthew Costello, co-founder and CEO of Voyager
Houston-based Voyager, co-founded by Matthew Costello, has created a software solution for inefficient communication practices of the maritime shipping industry. Photo courtesy of Voyager
While in business school, Matthew Costello could not kick the thought of all the inefficiencies within the maritime shipping industry. He asked a friend, Bret Smart, to help him look into some of the logistical communications issues within the industry. The two co-founders of Houston-based Voyager started asking some questions for all the different parties involved in shipping across seas.
"The data we got back was pretty alarming," Costello says on this week's episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast. "It basically showed that whoever you speak to in the maritime industry, people are spending about 40 percent of their day on what we would consider low-value, low-complexity tasks." Read more and stream the podcast here.
Kristina Haag, founder of Cotidíe
Kristina Haag worked a corporate job that required her to run around Houston. She thought of her new fashion line out of wanting stylish clothes conducive to Houston's climate. Lauren Marek/Cotidié
Houston is a humid subtropical climate — the majority of the year brings hot and sticky weather. Local entrepreneur Kristina Haag found herself struggling to find traditional clothing that is comfortable in the Texas heat, so she created it herself.
"With Cotidié, it is all about the functionality of the clothing," says Haag, founder of the clothing line Cotidié. "It is more traditional items, but the use of technical fabrics is our differentiating factor."
The online retailer, which launched in June 2019, offers pieces specifically tailored for women who are up against Houston's hot and muggy climate. Read more here.
Greg Wright, founder of Hatch Pitch
Houston-based Hatch Pitch will host two competitions in spring of 2020 — one marks the return of the competition to the Bayou City. Photo courtesy of Hatch Pitch
For eight years, Greg Wright has been organizing a SXSW pitch competition in Austin for startups from around the world that are using technology to improve life. In 2020, Wright is bringing Houston-based Hatch Pitch back into the Bayou City — a goal he's had for a while — for a new cybersecurity-focused event.
"Many people know us as being associated with Austin and SXSW, but not many people know us as being based in Houston," Wright tells InnovationMap. "There's been a big push to bring Hatch back to Houston, and what we've been struggling with is finding the right vehicle."
After Hatch Pitch Summit returns to Austin for its ninth year on March 16, Cyber Hatch will be hosted by the annual Houston Cyber Summit on April 28. Read more here.
Local entrepreneur designs fashionable clothes with Houston's heat and humidity in mind
h-town workwear
The online retailer, which launched in June 2019, offers pieces specifically tailored for women who are up against Houston's hot and muggy climate.
The line offers dresses, jackets, pants, skirts, and tops, ranging between $60 and $200 in price. The fabrics, sourced from Italy and Taiwan, provide breathable comfort, along with an elastic, structured fit for a more tailored look. All items are moisture wicking and machine washable. The line uses three different fabrics: LunAir, 88 percent polyester and 12 percent spandex; SolaSmooth, 73 percent nylon and 27 percent elastane; and StellaForm, 59 percent nylon and 41 percent elastane.
Haag, originally from Houston, studied history and business at Rice University before moving to London to attend the British School of Fashion. Following a few years of work at a London-based fashion PR firm, she returned to Texas. Haag was working a corporate job that required extensive job-site visits.
"I thought, how is there not more stylish women's clothing on the market that is comfortable and functional," says Haag.
The name Cotidié, which means "daily" or "every day," encompasses Haag's desire to create clothing that can be worn at work, for travel, on weekends, and more. Haag was determined to find comfortable professional clothing that held up in Houston's heat and humidity and created Cotidié to bridge the gap between technical performance wear and business attire, introducing a new kind of clothing for stylish women on the go.
Haag worked for over a year testing different fabrics and designing each piece to blend feminine style with technical performance. Haag works with Sew Pro Production, an apparel manufacturer based in Houston to develop the pieces.
For Cotidié's fall and winter line, which launched in October 2019, Haag adapted the pieces for cooler weather as the temperature shifts.
Haag plans to expand the marketing of Cotidié to a national scale in the next year. The company currently has two employees and has plans to begin fundraising efforts in 2020. The company currently ships internationally.
2 Houston suburbs roll onto top-15 spots on U-Haul's list of growing cities
More movers hauled their belongings to Texas than any other state last year. And those headed to the Greater Houston area were mostly pointed toward Missouri City and Conroe, according to a new study.
In its recently released annual growth report, U-Haul ranks Missouri City and Conroe at No. 13 and No. 19, respectively among U.S. cities with the most inbound moves via U-Haul trucks in 2022. Richardson was the only other Texas cities to make the list coming in at No. 15.
Texas ranks No. 1 overall as the state with the most in-bound moves using U-Haul trucks. This is the second year in a row and the fifth year since 2016 that Texas has earned the distinction.
"The 2022 trends in migration followed very similar patterns to 2021 with Texas, Florida, the Carolinas and the Southwest continuing to see solid growth," U-Haul international president John Taylor says in a news release. "We still have areas with strong demand for one-way rentals. While overall migration in 2021 was record-breaking, we continue to experience significant customer demand to move out of some geographic areas to destinations at the top of our growth list."
U-Haul determines the top 25 cities by analyzing more than 2 million one-way U-Haul transactions over the calendar year. Then the company calculated the net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks entering a specific area versus departing from that area. The top U-Haul growth states are determined the same way.
The studies note that U-Haul migration trends do not directly correlate to population or economic growth — but they are an "effective gauge" of how well cities and states are attracting and maintaining residents.
Missouri City is known for its convenient location only minutes from downtown Houston. The city's proximity to major freeways, rail lines, the Port of Houston, and Bush and Hobby Airports links its businesses with customers "around the nation and the world," per its website.
The No. 19-ranked city of Conroe is "the perfect blend of starry nights and city lights," according to the Visit Conroe website. Conroe offers plenty of outdoor activities, as it is bordered by Lake Conroe, Sam Houston National Forest and W. Goodrich Jones State Forest. But it also has a busy downtown area with breweries, theaters, shopping and live music.
To view U-Haul's full growth cities report, click here.
This article originally ran on CultureMap.