Eight major players in Houston’s energy industry rank among the world’s top 20 energy companies for corporate startup activity.

The inaugural Corporate Startup Activity Index 2025, published by StartupBlink, ranks global corporations by industry. The eight Houston-area employers fall into the index’s energy and environment category.

Researchers from StartupBlink, an innovation research platform, scored more than 370 companies based on three factors: corporate involvement in startup activity, startup success and ecosystem integration.

The eight Houston-area energy employers that landed in the energy and environment category’s top 20 are:

• No. 3 BP. Score: 13.547. U.S. headquarters in Houston.
• No. 5 Saudi Aramco. Score: 7.405. Americas headquarters in Houston.
• No. 7 Eni. Score: 6.255. Headquarters of Eni U.S. Operating Co. in Houston.
• No. 8 Shell. Score: 6.217. U.S. headquarters in Houston.
• No. 11 Occidental Petroleum. Score: 5.347. Global headquarters in Houston.
• No. 15 Engie. Score: 3.352. North American headquarters in Houston.
• No. 17 Repsol. Score: 2.980. U.S. headquarters for oil and gas operations in The Woodlands.
• No. 19 Chevron. Score: 2.017. Global headquarters in Houston.

“Building a startup is hard, and navigating corporate innovation can be just as complex. This ranking is a step toward making the connection between startups and corporations more transparent, enabling startups and corporations to collaborate more effectively for mutual success,” said Eli David Rokah, CEO of StartupBlink.

Salesforce topped the global index with a score of 380.090, followed by Intel, Google, Qualcomm, and Comcast.

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This article originally appeared on InnovationMap.com.