energy venture day
40+ teams to pitch at annual CERAWeek clean energy competition
The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, the Houston Energy Transition Initiative (HETI), the Texas Entrepreneurship Exchange for Energy (TEX-E) and the Ion have named the 30-plus energy ventures and teams that will pitch at the 2026 Energy Venture Day and Pitch Competition during CERAWeek this month.
The selected ventures are "driving efficiency and advancements toward the energy transition," according to the Rice Alliance. Each will each present a 3.5-minute pitch before a network of investors and industry partners during CERAWeek's Agora program on Wednesday, March 25, from noon-5:30 p.m.
The competition is divided up into the TEX-E university track, in which Texas student-led energy startups compete for $50,000 in cash prizes, and the industry ventures track.
Teams competing in the TEX-E Prize track include:
- GOES
- Quantum Power System
- Quas
- Resonant Thermal Systems
- Srijan
The industry track is subdivided into three additional tracks, spanning materials to clean energy and will feature 37 companies. A group of expert judges will name the top three companies from each industry track. The winner of the CERAWeek competition will also have the chance to advance and compete for the $1 million investment prize at the Startup World Cup in November 2026.
Teams come from around the world, including several Houston-based ventures, such as Agellus Tank Robotics, Capwell Services and Corrolytics.
The full list of companies pitching at CERAWeek includes:
- Agellus Tank Robotics
- Airovation Technologies
- Anax Power
- Armeta
- ATS Energy
- Capwell Services
- CarbonLume
- Cogniprise
- Corrolytics
- Daphne Technology
- Gemini Energy
- Grid8
- H Quest Vanguard
- intcom
- Ionada Canada
- Junipix
- Kunin Technologies
- LAVA Power
- Licube
- LNK Energies
- Maverick X
- Membravo
- Mirico
- Mocean Energy
- Monitorai
- OCOchem
- Oleo
- Pix Force
- PolyJoule
- Power to Hydrogen
- Sotaog
- Spotlight
- Tierra Climate
- Verdagy
- Via Separations
- Vycarb
- ZettaJoule
Those not attending CERAWeek can catch these companies and more than a dozen others at a pitch preview at the Ion. The free Pitch Preview will be held Tuesday, March 24, from 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Click here to register.
Additional companies pitching during the free preview include:
- Ammobia
- Arolytics
- Ayrton Energy
- ChainWeave
- Cybereum
- Energytech
- ENP Technologies
- KP Labs
- Mcatalysis
- Mitico
- Mote
- Nanos
- New Horizon Oil and Gas
- Predyct
- Salem Robotics
- Toluai
Two Rice University student teams took home top prizes during last year's TEX-E competition, while ventures from New Jersey, Wyoming and Virgina won in their respective industry tracks. See the full list of last year's winners here.
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