teaming up for tech

Houston company's new joint venture to bring AI into upstream

The companies say their partnership is “aimed at revolutionizing the landscape of science-backed decision-making in the upstream energy industry.” Photo via Getty Images

Houston-based GeoMark Research and Peachtree Corners, Georgia-based Senslytics have formed a joint venture that will bring AI-fueled data and analysis to the upstream energy industry.

GeoMark Research provides geochemical and PVT (pressure, volume, temperature) data and analysis, while Senslytics produces AI software for the energy industry. The companies say their partnership is “aimed at revolutionizing the landscape of science-backed decision-making in the upstream energy industry.”

Among other things, the joint venture will:

  • Combine GeoMark’s geochemical and PVT data repository with Senslytics’ AI algorithms to develop applications for various aspects of fluid property estimation during the drilling process.
  • Provide tools that help subject matter experts “train” AI tools for data-driven decision-making.
  • Contribute to thought leadership in the AI and geochemical/PVT sectors through vehicles such as conferences, webinars, and publications.

“GeoMark Research is passionate about using our data and expertise to advance subsurface fluid understanding. Faster, better information improves our customers’ free cash flow. We are thrilled to partner with Senslytics and embark on this transformative journey together,” Ethan Brown, president of GeoMark, says in a news release.

Blake Bixler, CEO of Senslytics, adds: “Together, we will push the boundaries of what AI can achieve by unlocking insights from our two companies’ technical experts.”

GeoMark was founded in 1991 with the goal of performing regional oil studies in newly explored basins.

Today, the company operates three labs that provide geochemical services, studies, and databases. The labs are in Houston, Humble, and Lafayette, Louisiana.

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A View From HETI

Houston-based Flathead Forge Fund 1 has participated in Solidec's pre-seed funding round. Photo courtesy Greentown Labs

Houston-based Flathead Forge Fund 1 has invested in Houston startup Solidec, which specializes in modular onsite chemical manufacturing.

The investment was part of Solidec’s recent round of more than $2 million in pre-seed funding. The amount of Flathead Forge’s investment wasn’t disclosed.

“Flathead Forge brings exactly the kind of domain-specific capital and operational network that a company at our stage needs. Their focus on water and critical minerals makes this a genuinely strategic relationship,” Ryan DuChanois, co-founder and CEO of Solidec, said in a news release.

Other investors in the round included New Climate Ventures, Collaborative Fund, Echo River Capital, Ecosphere Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, Safar Partners and Semilla Climate Capital.

Solidec produces industrial chemicals, including hydrogen peroxide, formic acid and acetic acid, using only air, water and electricity. Its modular reactors eliminate the need for energy-intensive production and long-haul distribution.

“Solidec’s platform cuts cost, emissions, and supply-chain fragility at the source,” Douglas Lee, managing director of Flathead Forge, added in the statement.

DuChanois said in an email that the company plans to use the funding to "scale (its) modular chemical manufacturing platform."

Solidec recently announced a pilot project with Lynas Rare Earths, the world’s only commercial producer of separated light and heavy rare earth oxides outside China, for production of hydrogen peroxide for a Lynas facility in Australia.

Solidec, a member of Greentown Labs Houston, spun out of associate professor Haotian Wang’s lab at Rice University in 2024. Wang focuses on developing new materials and technology for energy and environmental uses, such as energy storage and green synthesis.

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