Houston innovation awards

4 biggest challenges of Houston-based sustainability startups

The six finalists for the sustainability category for the 2023 Houston Innovation Awards weigh in on their challenges overcome. Photos courtesy

Six Houston-area sustainability startups have been named finalists in the 2023 Houston Innovation Awards, but they didn't achieve this recognition — as well as see success for their businesses — without any obstacles.

The finalists were asked what their biggest challenges have been. From funding to market adoption, the sustainability companies have had to overcome major obstacles to continue to develop their businesses.

The awards program — hosted by EnergyCapital's sister site, InnovationMap, and Houston Exponential — will name its winners on November 8 at the Houston Innovation Awards. The program was established to honor the best and brightest companies and individuals from the city's innovation community. Eighteen energy startups were named as finalists across all categories, but the following responses come from the finalists in the sustainability category specifically.

    Click here to secure your tickets to see who wins.

    1. Securing a commercial pilot

    "As an early-stage clean energy developer, we struggled to convince key suppliers to work on our commercial pilot project. Suppliers were skeptical of our unproven technology and, given limited inventory from COVID, preferred to prioritize larger clients. We overcame this challenge by bringing on our top suppliers as strategic investors. With a long-term equity stake in Fervo, leading oilfield services companies were willing to provide Fervo with needed drilling rigs, frack crews, pumps, and other equipment." — Tim Latimer, founder and CEO of Fervo Energy

    2. Finding funding

    "Securing funding in Houston as a solo cleantech startup founder and an immigrant with no network. Overcome that by adopting a milestone-based fundraising approach and establishing credibility through accelerator/incubator programs." — Anas Al Kassas, CEO and founder of INOVUES

    "The biggest challenge has been finding funding. Most investors are looking towards software development companies as the capital costs are low in case of a risk. Geothermal costs are high, but it is physical technology that needs to be implemented to safety transition the energy grid to reliable, green power." — Cindy Taff, CEO of Sage Geosystems

    3. Market adoption

    "Market adoption by convincing partners and government about WHP as a solution, which is resource-intensive. Making strides by finding the correct contacts to educate." — Janice Tran, CEO and co-founder of Kanin Energy

    "We are creating a brand new financial instrument at the intersection of carbon markets and power markets, both of which are complicated and esoteric. Our biggest challenge has been the cold-start problem associated with launching a new product that has effectively no adoption. We tackled this problem by leading the Energy Storage Solutions Consortium (a group of corporates and battery developers looking for sustainability solutions in the power space), which has opened up access to customers on both sides of our marketplace. We have also leveraged our deep networks within corporate power procurement and energy storage development to talk to key decision-makers at innovative companies with aggressive climate goals to become early adopters of our products and services." — Emma Konet, CTO and co-founder of Tierra Climate

    4. Long scale timelines

    "Scaling and commercializing industrial technologies takes time. We realized this early on and designed the eXERO technology to be scalable from the onset. We developed the technology at the nexus of traditional electrolysis and conventional gas processing, taking the best of both worlds while avoiding their main pitfalls." — Claus Nussgruber, CEO of Utility Global

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    A View From HETI

    Eight Texas companies made it on Time’s Most Sustainable Companies list for 2025. Photo via Getty Images

    Spring-based IT company Hewlett Packard Enterprise leads the list of eight Texas businesses that appear in Time magazine’s and data provider Statista’s World’s Most Sustainable Companies list for 2025.

    HPE landed at No. 68, earning a score of 74.36 out of 100.

    Time and Statista said the ranking highlights corporate responsibility and promotes sustainable practices.

    “In an era marked by significant environmental challenges and social inequalities, it is crucial to recognize and reward companies prioritizing sustainability,” according to an article on Time’s website. “By featuring these leading entities, the ranking sets a benchmark for other businesses, fostering transparency and accountability and encouraging the integration of sustainability into core corporate strategies.”

    Time and Statista’s ranking process started with a list of more than 5,000 of the world’s largest, most influential companies based on factors such as revenue and public prominence. They identified the top 500 companies based on more than 20 data points.

    The process weeded out non-sustainable businesses, such as those involved in producing fossil fuels, and zeroed in on:

    • External sustainability ratings
    • Availability and quality of sustainability reports
    • Performance regarding environmental and social responsibility measures

    HPE is targeting net-zero status across its supply chain by 2040. Working toward that goal, the company predicts its carbon emissions will decrease by 33 percent from 2020 to 2028.

    “The climate transition demands collective action across our entire value chain, and I am resolute in my commitment to ensure that HPE plays a central role in showcasing the attainability of net-zero emissions through our technologies and actions,” said Antonio Neri, HPE’s president and CEO.

    Among the ways HPE is reducing carbon emissions are:

    • Shipping certain products in bigger bundles
    • Incorporating environmentally responsible design
    • Using more renewable energy
    • Improving energy efficiency in buildings
    • Eventually shifting to an all-electric automotive fleet

    Here’s a rundown of the eight Texas-based companies that made the sustainability list, including their global rankings and scores.

    • No. 68 Spring-based Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Score: 74.36
    • No. 81 Dallas-based CBRE. Score: 73.49
    • No. 142 Dallas-based AMN Healthcare Services. Score: 69.8
    • No. 165 Austin-based Digital Realty. Score: 68.64
    • No. 257 Round Rock-based Dell Technologies. Score: 64.89
    • No. 295 Frisco-based Keurig Dr Pepper. Score: 63.25
    • No. 335 Dallas-based Jacobs Engineering. Score: 61.98
    • No. 471 Dallas-based AT&T. Score: 57.28

    France-based Schneider Electric claimed the top spot on the global list. The company opened a 10,500-square-foot, state-of-the-art Energy Innovation Center in Houston earlier this year.

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