EFH Technology Harvey Fund
The E4H Fund was founded by Houstonians in the wake of Hurricane Harvey to provide the financial capital, entrepreneurial resources, and technology expertise to empower communities to recover, rebuild, and reimagine.
The Fund will build and pilot civic and social technology solutions in Houston that can be scaled globally.
The E4H History
In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, the millions of Houston residents stepped up to do their part to help their neighbors and communities. The entrepreneurship community also stepped up in a big way. Thousands of volunteers, in partnership with social service organizations, created applications to enable civilian rescue, help people find shelters, and match food providers with social services organizations and demolition volunteers with individual families whose homes incurred damage.
These innovations saved lives, reduced suffering, and impacted over 100,000 people during and after the storm. These same applications were later used to help the survivors of Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
Several pillars of the Houston entrepreneurship community have partnered together to form Entrepreneurs for Houston (E4H) to ensure that these tools remain available and are enhanced to meet the needs following future disasters. E4H is a non-profit founded with the mission of empowering communities to recover, rebuild, and reimagine.
E4H has bold plans to reimagine the way that Houstonians interact with their government and social service organizations, allowing individuals and families to realize their full potentials and rebuilding Houston as a city known as a vanguard for civic innovation.
The first and most critical project's focus will be on extending the toolset for disaster recovery. Complete recovery will take the city of Houston years. As the city moves through that process, E4H will fund the development of tools that will continue to accelerate recovery, catalyze on-the-ground efforts by social services organizations, and rebuild lives. These tools will be piloted and refined in Houston and then packaged for use in other communities.
Harvey Relief Initiatives by Sketch City
Sketch City, a Houston-based nonprofit community of technology advocates and hackers, built rapid response applications to empower Houstonians with information and provide immediate emergency relief. E4H will help package these tools for use in other communities.
Harvey API
The Harvey API supports data management for rescue, relief, and recovery efforts. Developed for Harvey and now deployed for Irma.
Civic Innovation Fellowships
Sketch City's fellowship program embeds technologists and policy experts within the City's relief efforts, building useful technology tools and analyzing data at a rapid pace.
HelpOutHouston.com
A continuously updated map of shelters and their needs, benefiting both volunteers who wish to donate their time/supplies and Houstonians in need of shelters/supplies.
OneClickRelief.com
A site that enables users to order supplies from Amazon to deliver to shelters, streamlining the donation process for maximum impact.
Supporting Organizations
Station Houston
Station Houston is the hub for Houston's tech innovation and entrepreneurship community. Station connects tech entrepreneurs with experienced mentors, investors, customers, education and talent. Post Harvey, Station has opened its doors and resources to serve the broader tech, marketing and civic hacker community who are developing solutions to support Houston's relief, recovery and rebuilding efforts.
Sketch City
Sketch City is a Houston-based open, non-profit community of technology advocates and civic hackers. Through hackathons and meetups, the Sketch City community is on the frontlines of creating solutions to Houston's most pressing civic challenges, including enabling communication for Hurricane Harvey rescue and relief efforts.
Alice
Alice is an intelligent business advisor offering universal access to business solutions and connections to curated opportunities and communities. Alice also hosts a 12-week digital accelerator for women entrepreneurs and an annual conference, Circular Summit, for women founders, investors and media.
TMCx
The TMCx program provides startup companies with shared work spaces, a curriculum tailored to the needs of health care entrepreneurs and the guidance of over 120 advisors from the front lines of the industry.
Mercury Fund
Mercury Fund is an early-stage venture capital firm. With over $200 million under management, Mercury focuses on entrepreneurs and technology innovation originating in the U.S. Midcontinent. Its investment themes target SaaS, Cloud and Data Science/AI platforms.
YPO Gulf States
YPO is the global platform for chief executives to engage, learn and grow. The YPO Gulf States chapter, based in Houston, embraces the YPO organization but also fully embodies the spirit and personality of our entrepreneurial city, defined by its authenticity, humility, commitment to family, and enduring entrepreneurial spirit.
Resources & Guides
How Many Pallets Fit on a Box Truck?
Complete guide to pallet capacity for 16-foot, 24-foot, and 26-foot box trucks with loading strategies.
How Long Is a Pallet?
A complete guide to pallet dimensions, sizes, and standards across North America, Europe, and Asia.
Where Can I Get Free Pallets?
Practical guide to finding free pallets from local businesses, online platforms, and community sources.
How Much Is a Pallet of Wood?
Current pricing guide for wooden pallets including new, recycled, and specialty options.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Entrepreneurs for Houston (E4H) Technology Harvey Fund?
The E4H Technology Harvey Fund is a nonprofit initiative founded by Houston's entrepreneurship community in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Its mission is to provide financial capital, entrepreneurial resources, and technology expertise to help communities recover, rebuild, and reimagine their future.
The Fund supports the development and deployment of civic and social technology solutions that were first created during Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. These tools helped coordinate civilian rescues, locate shelters, and match volunteers with families in need.
Beyond disaster recovery, E4H aims to build scalable technology platforms that can be deployed in other communities facing similar challenges worldwide.
How did Houston entrepreneurs respond to Hurricane Harvey?
When Hurricane Harvey struck in 2017, thousands of volunteers from Houston's entrepreneurship and technology community mobilized to create rapid-response applications. These tools enabled civilian rescue coordination, helped people find available shelters, and matched food providers with social service organizations.
The innovations developed during Harvey saved lives, reduced suffering, and impacted over 100,000 people during and after the storm. Many of these same applications were later adapted to assist survivors of Hurricanes Irma and Maria.
This grassroots response demonstrated the power of technology-driven civic innovation and inspired the formation of E4H as a permanent organization.
What technology tools did E4H and Sketch City develop?
Sketch City, a Houston-based nonprofit community of technology advocates, built several critical tools during Hurricane Harvey. The Harvey API supported data management for rescue, relief, and recovery operations. HelpOutHouston.com provided a continuously updated map of shelters and their supply needs.
OneClickRelief.com enabled users to order supplies directly from Amazon for delivery to shelters, streamlining the donation process. Additionally, Civic Innovation Fellowships embedded technologists within city relief efforts to build tools and analyze data rapidly.
These platforms were designed to be reusable and scalable for future disaster scenarios in other communities.
Which organizations support the E4H initiative?
E4H is supported by several prominent Houston organizations. Station Houston serves as the hub for the city's tech innovation and entrepreneurship community. Sketch City provides the civic hacking expertise and volunteer developer network.
Alice offers an intelligent business advisor platform connecting entrepreneurs with resources and opportunities. TMCx, the Texas Medical Center's startup program, brings healthcare innovation capabilities to the partnership.
Mercury Fund, an early-stage venture capital firm with over $200 million under management, and YPO's Gulf States chapter round out the coalition of supporters driving E4H's mission forward.
How can businesses and individuals support Houston's recovery efforts?
Businesses and individuals can support Houston's ongoing recovery by engaging with E4H's technology initiatives and contributing to the fund's mission. The organization welcomes volunteers with technology, policy, and community organizing skills who want to help build civic innovation tools.
Local businesses can partner with E4H to pilot new technology solutions that address community challenges. The fund also accepts financial contributions to support the development and maintenance of its disaster recovery and civic technology platforms.
Even simply spreading awareness about E4H's work helps the organization reach more communities and attract the talent and resources needed to scale its impact.