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EnergyCapitalHTX announces new editor to site

The newly launched EnergyCapitalHTX has a new editor. Photo via Getty Images

Houston's role in the energy transition is a developing story, and one new media platform that's dedicated to telling it has a new leader at the helm.

EnergyCapitalHTX, which launched on June 1, is the newest platform from Houston-based Gow Media, a media company and the parent company of InnovationMap, CultureMap, SportsMap, and ESPN Radio 97.5FM and 92.5FM. Natalie Harms, inaugural editor of InnovationMap, has been promoted to oversee EnergyCapitalHTX. The promotion took effect on June 26.

“Natalie will do a great job as editor of EnergyCapitalHTX. Her work covering Houston’s innovation economy has been outstanding and we are delighted to extend her leadership to Houston’s energy transition,” says David Gow, chairman of Gow Media. “She has demonstrated an ability to take complex topics and write about them in a clear, informative manner – an attribute that will support the growth of EnergyCapitalHTX.com.”

The site launched with inaugural sponsor HETI, founded in 2021 by the Greater Houston Partnership. Led by Executive Director Jane Stricker, HETI was founded to drive economic growth in the Houston area within the energy transition toward a lower carbon future.

“We are thrilled at the recent announcement of Natalie as the editor of EnergyCapitalHTX. She has a proven track record of telling the Houston innovation story and look forward to working with her to continue share the exciting happenings in the energy transition ecosystem,” says Stricker, who also serves as GHP's Senior Vice President of Energy Transition.

Prior to launching InnovationMap as editor in 2018, Harms served as associate editor at the Houston Business Journal. A University of Houston journalism graduate, she also has a certificate in publishing from New York University. In 2020, she received the Small Business Media Advocate award from the Small Business Administration for her work on InnovationMap.

Harms also hosts the Houston Innovators Podcast, a weekly conversation with movers and shakers within Houston's innovation community.

Natalie Harms is the editor of InnovationMap and EnergyCapitalHTX. Photo courtesy

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PitchBook attributes $634 million in fourth-quarter VC to Fervo. Photo via Getty Images

The venture capital haul for Houston-area startups jumped 23 percent from 2023 to 2024, according to the latest PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor.

The fundraising total for startups in the region climbed from $1.49 billion in 2023 to $1.83 billion in 2024, PitchBook-NVCA Venture Monitor data shows.

Roughly half of the 2024 sum, $914.3 million, came in the fourth quarter. By comparison, Houston-area startups collected $291.3 million in VC during the fourth quarter of 2023.

Among the Houston-area startups contributing to the impressive VC total in the fourth quarter of 2024 was geothermal energy startup Fervo Energy. PitchBook attributes $634 million in fourth-quarter VC to Fervo, with fulfillment services company Cart.com at $50 million, and chemical manufacturing platform Mstack and superconducting wire manufacturer MetOx International at $40 million each.

Across the country, VC deals total $209 billion in 2024, compared with $162.2 billion in 2023. Nearly half (46 percent) of all VC funding in North America last year went to AI startups, PitchBook says. PitchBook’s lead VC analyst for the U.S., Kyle Stanford, says that AI “continues to be the story of the market.”

PitchBook forecasts a “moderately positive” 2025 for venture capital in the U.S.

“That does not mean that challenges are gone. Flat and down rounds will likely continue at higher paces than the market is accustomed to. More companies will likely shut down or fall out of the venture funding cycle,” says PitchBook. “However, both of those expectations are holdovers from 2021.”

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This story originally appeared on our sister site, InnovationMap.com.

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