By Dwight Silverman
Houston Chronicle
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) As Dwight Silverman reports, “The Ion, Houston’s nascent technology hub, will partner with Austin-based nonprofit DivInc to create programs to help women and minority entrepreneurs find the resources needed to grow tech startups.”
Houston
The collaboration will be just one part of the Ion’s approach to making certain that the growth of Houston’s technology startup community serves traditionally underrepresented startup founders, said Deanea LeFlore, senior director for corporate and community engagement at the Ion.
DivInc, which has had five cohorts in its accelerator program since its 2016 launch, has worked with more than 60 founders and more than 50 companies in Austin.
“In its most recent cohort, 30 percent of the participants were from Houston,” LeFlore said. “They were driving into Austin to participate, and that made DivInc realize they should look at Houston.”
The Ion will be at the center of a 16-acre South Main Innovation District anchored by a facility in the remodeled Midtown Sears building. It currently operates out of three floors at 1301 Fannin. DivInc’s Houston operations will start there, with a series of informational meetings, workshops and “office hours” to acquaint Houston’s tech community with DivInc’s offerings.
When Ion’s building opens in January 2021, DivInc will have space there, LeFlore said.
DivInc will be the focus of a Houston Tech Rodeo event at 5 p.m. Wednesday at the 1301 Fannin titled “Diversity’s Impact on Innovation”. Tickets are available at htxtechrodeo.com/events.
___
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
