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Hola Rocket Networkers,
Two things on my radar this week
Candid Intelligence just moved from SF to Houston, and they're throwing a hackathon.
They packed up San Francisco and landed here, which tells you where they think the next decade happens. AI needs power. Power needs AI. So they're putting 30 builders in a room on Saturday, Aug 8 (10 AM–8 PM, Museum District) to hack on it.
Build anything at the AI + energy intersection: agents, copilots, dashboards, automation. No energy background needed — if you can build, you're in. Solo or teams of 3, food covered, $1,750 in cash prizes, live demos, no slides. Backed by Quiet Capital, Schneider Electric Ventures, and Yann LeCun. Capped at 30, approvals rolling.
Welcome to H-Town, y'all.
Houston Energy + AI Hackathon
What else is interesting?
LinkedIn Introduces a 'Seems Like AI Slop' Button / ...
and …Buzz has been on my radar… folks keep sending it to me. It’s Block's free, open-source Slack + GitHub replacement where AI agents work in the same channels as your team, each with its own cryptographic identity and a trail back to whoever authorized it. Apache 2.0, self-host or use Block's hosting, zero seat cost. Still early (no mobile yet), but if you're paying for Slack and GitHub and wondering where agents fit, it's the cheapest experiment on the board.
Don’t forget to check the - 💰 MONEY ON THE TABLE section!
cheers,
- oleg 👊
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 📅📍
🚀 - must attend
🔥🌶️ - something hot
🤓💻 - good for developers and other technical folks
🦄💰- venture capital and investing-related
⚡- energy-related
♻️- renewable energy and sustainability-related
🏥 - health care related
🎖️🪖 - veteran or military related
🏅 - sports tech related
₿ - web3 related
HERE ARE OUR PICKS FOR HTX THIS WEEK
Monday, August 3
A hands-on workshop on the part nobody talks about: reviewing AI-generated code before you ship it. Bring a laptop and a project that works but might be hiding something. Pizza and sodas on Improving.
Tuesday, August 4
Far-west satellite of the Friday Ion staple, out on FM 1093 for the Fulshear and Katy crowd.
Blue People hosts David Lopez for a no-BS session on which AI capabilities buyers actually pay a premium for, and how to kill founder-dependency before you go to market.
An evening on blockchain and web3 with live Q&A, co-hosted by Houston Crypto, Houston Blockchain Alliance, Event Horizon Capital, BitAngels, and CryptoEQ. Free, with free parking outside.
Rice Summer Engineering Innovation Program interns demo the projects they built all summer. Open to the public, network with the partner companies.
Wednesday, August 5
Inner-loop satellite edition. Same purpose-over-job-title format, closer to home if you are west of 610.
💰Angel Investing 101: FirstCheck — Investor Foundations — The Ion, Conference Room 032 (5:30–6:30 PM)
iCUE USA on the mechanics of early-stage investing — how capital actually flows, how returns are generated, and whether this asset class belongs in your strategy. Free, approval required.
Nine Rice student companies pitch what they built this summer — edge AI for surveillance, wearable haptics for defense, AI patient intake, RL environments. Hosted by the Ion District with Rice Alliance and Lilie.
Free weekly hangout in the Heights. Bring a laptop and an API key and they'll install OpenClaw, an open-source AI agent, on your machine in the first 15 minutes. Then coffee, networking, and an open floor.
Thursday, August 6
Coffee and open networking inside one of Houston's biggest startup coworking hubs on Brittmoore.
Hands-on workshop on customer targeting and growth frameworks. Useful if your go-to-market is still vibes.
"We Have AI at Home" — Mason Tang on learning smarter with AI, Erin Coe on running a household with it. Houston's largest AI community, free validated parking, food provided.
Nomad Global Hub brings its 23-city format to Houston: curated networking, then live 7-minute founder pitches with audience Q&A. Deliberately kept small.
Friday, August 7
The flagship. Friday-morning open networking for Houston founders and startup lovers.
Supportive weekly circle for people entering, transitioning into, or rebuilding a cybersecurity career.
Founders, teammates, experts and newbies of Greater Houston startups — right after Cup of Joey.
Under the hood of production LLM inference: what actually happens between a request landing and the first token streaming back, and the real bottlenecks in the systems layer. Zoom account required, link posted the day before.
Saturday, August 8
Thirty builders, one day, $1,750 in cash prizes. Grid data and interconnection queues provided, or bring your own idea. No energy background required — hosted by Candid Intelligence. Capped and approval-based, so grab a spot early.
⚠️Hosting a tech meetup or startup event? Submit it via the RocketNetwork Event Submission Form to boost your visibility!
MONEY ON THE TABLE
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Grow Getter Grant (Startup Grind x HubSpot for Startups) $2,500 and a spotlight for one founder who is already in motion, talking to customers and testing channels with whatever they've got. They're scoring clarity, traction, founder-market fit, and how specifically you'd spend the money. US or Canada, under $2M raised, free HubSpot for Startups membership required. Closes Aug 7, winner named Aug 14 - APPLY |
Blueprint by The Engine (Fall 2026) Eight weeks of free, no-equity training for researchers turning a Tough Tech breakthrough into a company. Grad students, postdocs, and lab teams across the US and Canada welcome, and you don't need a company, customers, or revenue yet. Virtual Fridays from Sept 11, in-person showcase Oct 29 in Cambridge. Closes Aug 16 - APPLY |
iF Social Impact Prize A €100,000 prize pool split across startups and organizations making life measurably better. If your work moves the needle on even one UN Sustainable Development Goal you can enter, and it's open worldwide. Free to apply, but your project needs a real design angle. Closes Aug 19 - APPLY |
Coefficient Giving The big one: grants running from $100,000 all the way to $10,000,000 for teams building where AI meets global health. Reviewed on a rolling basis, so earlier is better. Closes Aug 21 - APPLY |
Social Shifters Global Innovation Challenge Multiple awards of up to $15,000 for young founders already delivering social or environmental impact on the ground. You'll need to be 18 to 30, actually running the thing, and tied to a UN Sustainable Development Goal. Free coaching comes with the application. Closes Aug 31 - APPLY |
Cypher Pilotathon Startup Showcase The pitch track closed, but showcase spots are still open for the Sept 15 event at The Post right here in Houston. Built for teams in critical minerals, grid and distributed energy, industrial decarbonization, or the future of industrial work. Last year 70+ startups ran 50 matchmaking sessions with industry buyers. Free to apply, closes Sept 8 or when spots fill - APPLY |
Secretsos Small Business Grant $2,500 to one small business owner, awarded quarterly. You need to be 21 or older with an active business registered in the US, and they care more about your story and how you'd spend it than about a polished business plan. Heads up: there's a $15 application fee. This quarter closes Sept 30 - APPLY |
America's Seed Fund (NSF SBIR/STTR) Up to $2M in R&D money with zero equity taken, for deep-tech startups in all 50 states. AI, energy, robotics, medical devices, and plenty more. Project pitches are rolling, so there's no deadline to miss - APPLY |
Claude for Startups Free Claude API credits, priority rate limits, and a founder community, for companies founded in the last four years. Any early-stage founder can apply, and VC-backed teams get a bigger credit pool. Rolling - APPLY |
Google for Startups Cloud Program Up to $200K in cloud credits over two years if you're seed to Series A, or up to $350K if you're AI-first. Still pre-funded? There's $2K to get an MVP off the ground. No equity, open anywhere, rolling - APPLY |
IgniteHTX Pitch Competition (BakerRipley) Up to $5K in prizes for founders across Harris, Fort Bend, Brazoria, and Montgomery counties, plus free pitch coaching and workshops on the way there. Check the page for the next cohort's dates - APPLY |
FEATURED JOBS
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That’s a wrap for now, RocketNetworkers,
Stay tuned, and keep grinding!
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.
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