šŸ”„ Whatā€™s hot in Houstonā€™s innovation scene this week?

2/23/26 - 3/1/26

Author

Oleg Lysiak
February 22, 2026

In partnership with

Happy ā˜€ļøSunny Sunday Rocket Networkers,

This week is absolutely stacked. AI in energy. AI in healthcare. Founders pitching. Funders listening. Bootstrappers bootstrapping. NASA talking space. Someone's definitely getting a term sheet signed somewhere between Tuesday and Thursday.

Houston is buzzing right now -- you just have to show up.

Pick two or three events that make sense for where you are in your journey. Find your people. Whether that's a co-founder, a client, an investor, or just someone who gets what you're building -- they're out there this week, at one of these events, waiting for that awkward 15-minute conversation before the keynote starts.

The Oil Industry Has a Secret Nobody's Talking About

An entire generation of oilworkers is retiring.

And they're taking 40 years of hard-won knowledge with them. The kind of knowledge you can't Google. The kind that tells you something's wrong before the instruments do.

Here's the wild part. The industry only captures 2% of the data it generates. Engineers spend 80% of their time searching for information and writing reports. And we leave 95% of the oil in every shale reservoir sitting in the ground.

That's a knowledge problem. And AI might be the only thing that can fix it in time.

Collin McLelland, who's been on the rig floor, covered in drilling mud, watching this industry evolve from the inside, just got featured on a16z News, breaking down exactly why this moment matters. It's one of the best reads you'll find this week.

Go check it out: The Great Crew Change

In energy or energy tech? The people solving this are already gathering. Register for the Collide community and get in the room: LINK

Is AI Killing SaaS? Houstonā€™s founders are about to find out.

SaaS is dead" is the hot take everyone's throwing around right now.

But the founders and CTOs who are actually building companies? Do they have a very different answer? And on March 10th, they're sharing it -- live, unfiltered, and in the same room as you.

SaaStock Local Houston is bringing together a panel of seriously badass SaaS CTOs, founders, and operators to have the conversation the industry keeps dancing around. No demos. No sales pitches. Just real talk from people who've been in the trenches.

The questions on the table are the ones keeping founders up at night -- what happens to your moat when execution gets cheaper? How do you price, grow, and compete when AI is your new co-founder? What does a winning SaaS company actually look like in 2026?

If you're building in this market, you need to be in this room.

Early bird tickets are still available -- grab one before they're gone.

And if you're an early-stage founder trying to save every dollar for ramen, message me directly. I'll hook you up with a free or discounted ticket. No founder should miss this oneā€¦

SaaStock Local Houston March 10th | 6--8:30pm The Invincible, 801 Travis St

TODAY IS THE LAST DAY TO APPLY -

Cheers,
- oleg šŸ‘Š

P.S. Know a Texas company doing something insane? hit reply.
Got a founder friend who needs to hear this? forward them this email. let's raise Houston's tech game together.

At Rocket Network, we do the dirty work for you, curating Houston's tech scene so you spend less time scrolling and more time building. Want to be featured or sponsor? Hit reply.

LET'S ROCKET NETWORK!

We are using emojis to guide subscribers in our event list šŸ“…šŸ“

šŸš€ - must attend

šŸ”„šŸŒ¶ļø - something hot

šŸ¤“šŸ’» - good for developers and other technical folks

šŸ¦„šŸ’°- venture capital and investing-related

āš”- energy-related

ā™»ļø- renewable energy and sustainability-related

šŸ„ - health care related

šŸŽ–ļøšŸŖ– - veteran or military related 

šŸ… - sports tech related

ā‚æ - web3 related


HERE ARE OUR PICKS FOR HTX THIS WEEK

The Lithium Boom is Heating Up

Thanks to growing demand, lithium stock prices grew 2X+ from June 2025 to January 2026. $ALB climbed as high as 227%. $LAC hit 151%. $SQM, 159%.

This $1B unicornā€™s patented technology can recover 3X more lithium than traditional methods. Thatā€™s earned investment from leaders like General Motors.

Now theyā€™re preparing for commercial production just as experts project 5X demand growth by 2040. Theyā€™ve announced what could be one of the USā€™ largest lithium production facilities and have rights to approximately 150,000 lithium-rich acres across North and South America.

Unlike public stocks, you can buy private EnergyX shares alongside 40,000+ other investors. Invest for $11/share by the 2/26 deadline.

This is a paid advertisement for EnergyX Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.energyx.com. Under Regulation A, a company may change its share price by up to 20% without requalifying the offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

šŸ‘‰šŸ“…ROCKET NETWORK HTX CALENDAR šŸ“…šŸ‘ˆ

šŸ‘‰ROCKET NETWORK DEALSšŸ‘ˆ

āš ļøHosting a tech meetup or startup event? Submit it via the RocketNetwork Event Submission Form to boost your visibility!

post of the day šŸ˜…

Instagram Reel

šŸ‘‰Entry Level Tech Jobs - LINK

šŸ‘‰Energy Community and Energy Tech Jobs - LINK

šŸ‘‰The Biggest Free Remote Job Board in North America - LINK

šŸ‘‰Soft Skills-Focused Interviews for Better Hiring Decisions - LINK

šŸ‘‰Start your targeted job search today with AI - LINK

Thatā€™s a wrap for now, RocketNetworkers,

Stay tuned, and keep grinding!

ā¤ļø - ROCKET NETWORK TEAM

Disclaimer: The content in this newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by any sponsors. All opinions and information are those of the author and not of the sponsors or affiliated organizations.

Reply

or to participate.