comeback tour

Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week announces 2025 dates, key events

Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week is coming back for a second year. Photo via GHP

Six local organizations focused on the energy transition have teamed up to bring back Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week.

The second annual event will take place Sept. 15-19, according to an announcement. The Ion District will host many of the week's events.

Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week was founded in 2024 by Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, Halliburton Labs, Greentown Labs, Houston Energy Transition Initiative (HETI), Digital Wildcatters and Activate.

“Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week was created to answer a fundamental question: Can we achieve more by working together than we can alone?” Jane Stricker, senior vice president at the Greater Houston Partnership and executive director of HETI, said in the release.

So far, events for the 2025 Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week include an introduction to climatetech accelerator Activate's latest cohort, the Rice Alliance Energy Tech Venture Forum, a showcase from Greentown Labs' ACCEL cohort, and Halliburton Labs Pitch Day.

Houston organizations New Climate Ventures and Digital Wildcatters, along with Global Corporate Venturing, are slated to offer programming again in 2025. And new partners, Avatar Innovations and Decarbonization Partners, are slated to introduce events. Find a full schedule here.

Other organizations can begin entering calendar submissions starting in May, according to the release.

Last year, Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week welcomed more than 2,000 attendees, investors and industry leaders to more than 30 events. It featured more than 100 speakers and showcased more than 125 startups.

"In 2024, we set out to build something with lasting impact—rooted in the ingenuity of Houston’s technologists and founders. Thanks to a collaborative effort across industry, academia, and startups, we’ve only just begun to showcase Houston’s strengths and invite others to be part of this movement," Stricker added in the release. "We can’t wait to see the city rise to the occasion again in 2025.”

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A View From HETI

The Welch Foundation has awarded funding through two of its newest grant programs. Photo via Getty Images.

Houston-based The Welch Foundation has issued $700,000 in additional funding to support chemical research through two of its newest grant programs.

The foundation has named the recipients of its Welch eXperimental (WelchX) Collaboration Retreat and Pilot Grants and the Welch Postdoctoral Fellows of the Life Sciences Research Foundation Grants.

The WelchX grants were awarded to teams of two Texas researchers who presented "innovative and collaborative ideas" addressing challenges in the clean energy space, according to the foundation.

Researchers from Texas universities gathered in Houston earlier this summer to discuss the theme “Chemical Research for Grand Challenges." They then paired off into nine teams and submitted proposals for the $100,000 pilot grants. The seven selected teams, several with ties to Houston, and their research topics include:

  • Yimo Han, Rice University, and Yuanyue Liu, The University of Texas at Austin, “Stabilizing Copper Electrocatalysts for CO2 Conversion”
  • Ognjen Miljanic, University of Houston, and Indrajit Srivastava, Texas Tech University, “Ping-Pong' Afterglow Luminescence in Self-Assembled Molecular Cubes”
  • Raúl Hernández Sánchez, Rice University, and Andy Thomas, Texas A&M University, “Accelerating Magnetic Resonance Imaging Contrast Agent Discovery via Rapid Injection NMR: Improving the Detection of Lithium for Disease Diagnostics”
  • Benjamin Janesko, Texas Christian University, and MD Masud Rana, Lamar University, “Cyber Twin Chemical Ensembles for Near-Infrared-Emitting Graphene Quantum Dot Therapeutics”
  • Ivan Korendovych, Baylor University, and Dino Villagrán, The University of Texas at El Paso, “Selective Bio-Inspired Electrochemical Probes for PFAS Analysis and Degradation”
  • Samantha Kristufek, Texas Tech University, and Kayla Green, Texas Christian University, “CIRCUIT: Critical Ion Recovery using Conductive and Ultrafiltration Intelligent Technology”
  • Fang Xu, The University of Texas at San Antonio, and Hong Wang, University of North Texas, “Visualize Molecular Adsorption on Supported Ni-porphyrin Model Catalysts via Substitute Effect”

The Welch Postdoctoral Fellows of the Life Sciences Research Foundation provides three-year fellowships to recent PhD graduates to support clinical research careers in Texas.

The foundation previously announced that it would name fellows from Rice University and Baylor University who would receive $100,000 annually for three years. This year's recipients and their research topics include:

  • Teng Yuan, Rice University, “Unlocking New Chemistry of Nonheme Iron Enzymes for α-Amino Acids and γ-Lactones Synthesis”
  • Katelyn Baumler, Baylor University, "Crystal Growth of Ln2Fe4Sb5 Phases Toward the Study of Novel Quantum Properties”

“As these programs become more established, it is thrilling to see the new research our awardees are exploring,” Adam Kuspa, president of The Welch Foundation, said in a news release. “The Foundation is very pleased by the applications that we continue to receive describing exciting new research projects to advance chemical research.”

This additional funding comes on the heels of the foundation doling out $27 million for chemical research, equipment and postdoctoral fellowships earlier this summer. The foundation made 85 grants to faculty at 16 Texas institutions at the time. Read more here.

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This article originally appeared on our sister site, Innovationmap.com.

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