RED Labs
RED Labs is the University of Houston's coworking space, startup accelerator, and technology entrepreneurship program. They work with UH-affiliated founders (faculty, students, and recent alumni of the past 6 months) to turn their technology startup ideas into high growth ventures by providing free co-working space, access to mentors and resources in the startup community, and customized startup curriculum. They are non-profit and take no equity. During the summer, the accelerator accepts up to ten companies and runs them through a full-time, three-month intensive program with curriculum, mentorship, and more. For the first two Cohorts, RED Labs was housed in Baurer College of Business’ Melcher Hall then later moved into the TMCx's co-working space. Since 2013, 46 founders have launched 17 companies at RED Labs.
Summmer Accelerator
Housed in the Texas Medical Center's new 100,000 square foot Innovation Institute (TMCx), the summer accelerator is an intensive, 3 month program operated in collaboration with Rice University's startup accelerator, OwlSpark. The summer accelerator (Class 4) begins on May 23rd, 2016 and concludes with the Bayou Startup Showcase. During the summer accelerator, RED Labs works with founders full time to launch and grow their startups. RED Labs offers co-working space at TMCx and access to mentors from Houston's technology startup ecosystem. Founders are required to attend sessions on topics such as funding, legal considerations, building a team, and other material that RED Labs has developed for early-stage founders. They also bring in successful entrepreneurs to recount their experiences and helpful lessons learned.
The Summer Accelerator Culminates in the Bayou Startup Showcase, which is a combined presentation of the companies coming out of both the RED Labs and OwlSpark accelerators. All members of the Houston entrepreneurial ecosystem are invited to register and go to the event.
Pre-Accelerator and Intro to Technology Entrepreneurship
The University of Houston offers credit for working with RED Labs Summer Accelerator as well as taking courses during U of H’s spring semester. This includes an Introduction to Technology Entrepreneurship that involves workshops, guest speakers and case studies focused on helping students understand how to identify problems, create solutions and then build products and companies from that. U of H also offers a Pre-Accelerator where during the Spring semester, the course helps potential founders develop initial drafts of a business model, product-market fit, and get started on customer validation.
Alumni Companies
| Name | Type of Company | Cohort | |
| Datafuel | Software Training | Class 3 | |
| Guestographer | Event Photography | Class 3 | |
| Lumen Motors | Electric Car Design | Class 3 | |
| Teomics | BioScience Lab technology | Class 3 | |
| Victory Crate | Board Game | Class 3 |
Management
- Hesam Penahi, Managing Director
- Kelly McCormick, Assistant Managing Director
- Interns:
- Travis Arnold
- Laura Mahaney
