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How Corrolytics is tackling industrial corrosion and cutting emissions

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Anwar Sadek of Corralytics. Courtesy photo

Corrosion is not something most people think about, but for Houston's industrial backbone pipelines, refineries, chemical plants, and water infrastructure, it is a silent and costly threat. Replacing damaged steel and overusing chemicals adds hundreds of millions of tons of carbon emissions every year. Despite the scale of the problem, corrosion detection has barely changed in decades.

In a recent episode of the Energy Tech Startups Podcast, Anwar Sadek, founder and CEO of Corrolytics, explained why the traditional approach is not working and how his team is delivering real-time visibility into one of the most overlooked challenges in the energy transition.

From Lab Insight to Industrial Breakthrough

Anwar began as a researcher studying how metals degrade and how microbes accelerate corrosion. He quickly noticed a major gap. Companies could detect the presence of microorganisms, but they could not tell whether those microbes were actually causing corrosion or how quickly the damage was happening. Most tests required shipping samples to a lab and waiting months for results, long after conditions inside the asset had changed.

That gap inspired Corrolytics' breakthrough. The company developed a portable, real-time electrochemical test that measures microbial corrosion activity directly from fluid samples. No invasive probes. No complex lab work. Just the immediate data operators can act on.

“It is like switching from film to digital photography,” Anwar says. “What used to take months now takes a couple of hours.”

Why Corrosion Matters in Houston's Energy Transition

Houston's energy transition is a blend of innovation and practicality. While the world builds new low-carbon systems, the region still depends on existing industrial infrastructure. Keeping those assets safe, efficient, and emission-conscious is essential.

This is where Corrolytics fits in. Every leak prevented, every pipeline protected, and every unnecessary gallon of biocide avoided reduces emissions and improves operational safety. The company is already seeing interest across oil and gas, petrochemicals, water and wastewater treatment, HVAC, industrial cooling, and biofuels. If fluids move through metal, microbial corrosion can occur, and Corrolytics can detect it.

Because microbes evolve quickly, slow testing methods simply cannot keep up. “By the time a company gets lab results, the environment has changed completely,” Anwar explains. “You cannot manage what you cannot measure.”

A Scientist Steps Into the CEO Role

Anwar did not plan to become a CEO. But through the National Science Foundation's ICorps program, he interviewed more than 300 industry stakeholders. Over 95 percent cited microbial corrosion as a major issue with no effective tool to address it. That validation pushed him to transform his research into a product.

Since then, Corrolytics has moved from prototype to real-world pilots in Brazil and Houston, with early partners already using the technology and some preparing to invest. Along the way, Anwar learned to lead teams, speak the language of industry, and guide the company through challenges. “When things go wrong, and they do, it is the CEO's job to steady the team,” he says.

Why Houston

Relocating to Houston accelerated everything. Customers, partners, advisors, and manufacturing talent are all here. For industrial and energy tech startups, Houston offers an ecosystem built for scale.

What's Next

Corrolytics is preparing for broader pilots, commercial partnerships, and team growth as it continues its fundraising efforts. For anyone focused on asset integrity, emissions reduction, or industrial innovation, this is a company to watch.

Listen to the full conversation with Anwar Sadek on the Energy Tech Startups Podcast to learn more:

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Energy Tech Startups Podcast is hosted by Jason Ethier and Nada Ahmed. It delves into Houston's pivotal role in the energy transition, spotlighting entrepreneurs and industry leaders shaping a low-carbon future.


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Anwar Sadek of Corrolytics joins the Houston Innovators Podcast to discuss his company's growth and move to Houston. Photo courtesy

This Houston innovator's innovative corrosion detection tech is vital to the future of energy

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Houston-based Corrolytics approach is to help revolutionize and digitize microbial corrosion detection — both to improves efficiency and operational cost for industrial companies, but also to move the needle on a cleaner future for the energy industry.

"We are having an energy transition — that is a given. As we are bringing new energy, there will be growth of infrastructure to them. Every single path for the energy transition, corrosion will play a primary role as well," Anwar Sadek, co-founder and CEO of Corrolytics, says on the Houston Innovators Podcast.

The technology Sadek and his team have created is a tool to detect microbial corrosion — a major problem for industrial businesses, especially within the energy sector. Sadek describes the product as being similar to a testing hit a patient would use at home or in a clinic setting to decipher their current ailments.



Users of the Corrolytics test kit can input their pipeline sample in the field and receive results via Corrolytics software platform.

"This technology, most importantly, is noninvasive. It does not have to be installed into any pipelines or assets that the company currently has," Sadek explains. "To actually use it, you don't have to introduce new techniques or new processes in the current operations. It's a stand-alone, portable device."

Corrolytics hopes to work with new energies from the beginning to used the data they've collected to prevent corrosion in new facilities. However, the company's technology is already making an impact.

"Every year, there is about 1.2 gigaton of carbon footprint a year that is released into the environment that is associated with replacing corroded steel in general industries," Sadek says. "With Corrolytics, (industrial companies) have the ability to extend the life of their current infrastructure."

Despite having success in taking his technology from lab to commercialization, Sadek made the strategic decision to move his company, Corrolytics, from where it was founded in Ohio to Houston.

"Houston is the energy capital of the world. For the technology we are developing, it is the most strategic move for us to be in this ecosystem and in this city where all the energy companies are, where all the investors in the energy space are — and things are moving really fast in Houston in terms of energy transition and developing the current infrastructure," Sadek says.

And as big as a move as it was, it was worth it, Sadek says.

"It's been only a year that we've been here, but we've made the most developments, the most outreach to clients in this one last year."

Sadek says his move to Houston has already paid off, and he cites one of the company's big wins was at the 2024 Houston Innovation Awards, where Corrolytics won two awards.

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This article originally ran on InnovationMap.

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Electric truck charging network expands to Houston-Dallas freight corridor

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Greenlane Infrastructure, an electric public charging station developer and operator, is expanding outside of its home state of California and into Texas.

The Santa Monica-based company plans to launch its high-power charging sites along the Dallas–Houston I-45 corridor, which is one of the highest-volume commercial trucking routes in the country, according to a news release from Greenlane.

The sites will feature 6-8 pull-through lanes with chargers supporting combined charging system (CCS) and megawatt charging system (MCS) connectors that allow electric truck drivers to recharge their vehicles during standard rest periods. They will also offer tractor parking and charging, as well as operations that will allow for overnight stops.

Drivers can reserve chargers in advance, monitor charging activity in real time, and manage billing from the Greenlane Edge platform.

“Our customers are making commitments to electrify their fleets, and they need a charging network that can grow alongside them,” Patrick Macdonald-King, CEO of Greenlane, said in the release. “This is the first leg of the Texas triangle, one of the more important freight arteries in the country, so bringing high-power charging there is the next logical step in building a network that serves how freight moves across America.”

Greenlane is also expanding across the West Coast, with five locations under development in California and Nevada. It opened its flagship Greenlane Center in Colton, California, in April 2025. The company plans to open locations in Blythe, California, and Port of Long Beach this year.

Greelane was founded in 2023 as a joint venture between Daimler Truck North America, NextEra Energy Resources and BlackRock. It has secured partnerships with electric long-haul truck developer Windrose Technology, Velocity Truck Centers and Volvo Trucks North America.

Major Oxy announcement, new AI platform, and more Houston energy headlines

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Editor's note: The top Houston energy headlines for the first half of May include the rollout of a new AI platform and a big announcement from Oxy. Plus, a nuclear reactor company opens a Houston office and a local battery recycling company secures millions in financing. Here are the most-read EnergyCapitalHTX stories published May 1-14, 2026:

1. Houston AI startup rolls out platform to reshape oil and gas workflows

Houston-based Collide is looking to solve AI issues in the energy industry from within. Co-founded by former oil roughneck Collin McLelland, the company has developed AI software for operators and field teams, shaped by firsthand oilfield experience. Its AI-native platform “retrieves and synthesizes data from authoritative sources to deliver accurate, cited, and energy-focused insights to oil and gas professionals,” it says. Continue reading.

2. Houston battery recycling company secures $32M in financing

Houston-based Ace Green Recycling has raised $32 million in private investment in public equity (PIPE) financing to support its future plans for growth. The battery recycling technology company secured the financing with Athena Technology Acquisition Corp. II, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company that Ace previously announced it plans to merge with. Once the merger is completed, Ace will become a publicly traded company on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "AGXI." Ace says the financing will be used to complete the merger and scale the company. Continue reading.

3. Modular nuclear reactor company opens office in Houston

The nuclear energy renaissance continues in Texas with an announcement by NuScale Power. The Oregon-based provider of proprietary and innovative advanced small modular reactor (SMR) nuclear technology announced in April it would be opening office space in Houston’s CityCentre. “Opening this space in Houston underscores our commitment to meeting rising energy demand with safe, scalable nuclear technology,” John Hopkins, NuScale president and CEO, said. Continue reading.

4. Oxy officially announces CEO transition, names successor

Houston-based Occidental (Oxy) has officially announced its longtime CEO's retirement and her successor. Oxy shared that Vicki Hollub will retire June 1. Reuters first reported Hollub's plan to retire in March, but a firm date had not been set. Hollub will remain on Oxy's board of directors. Richard Jackson, who currently serves as Oxy's COO, will replace Hollub in the CEO role. Continue reading.

5. Texas data center proposed by U.S. Army could use more power than El Paso

The U.S. Army is proposing developing a gargantuan, 3-gigawatt data center complex on Fort Bliss property that within a few years would consume more electricity than all of El Paso Electric’s 460,000 customers combined – even as questions about its development, water usage and air pollution remain unanswered. If built, it would be the third major data center project in the El Paso region, along with Meta Platform’s $10 billion facility in Northeast and the $165 billion Project Jupiter campus that Oracle and OpenAI are building in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. The combined scale and size of the three facilities could quickly transform the Borderland into one of the nation’s core hubs of power generation and AI infrastructure. Continue reading.

Houston startup lands $1B from Blackstone and Halliburton, plans acquisition

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Houston-based power generation startup VoltaGrid has nailed down a $1 billion equity investment from asset management heavyweight Blackstone and Houston-based oilfield services provider Halliburton.

The investment comes in two forms:

  • A $775 million primary capital raise
  • A $225 million secondary capital purchase from existing investors

VoltaGrid, founded in 2020, provides behind-the-meter mobile power generation equipment for data centers, microgrids and industrial customers.

Aside from the $1 billion investment, VoltaGrid has agreed to buy Propell Energy Technology, a VoltaGrid supplier, for an undisclosed amount. Propell offers a natural gas power generation platform for AI data centers. VoltaGrid plans to add two manufacturing plants at Propell’s facilities in Granbury, a Dallas-Fort Worth suburb.

The investment and acquisition deals are expected to close in mid-2026.

Funds managed by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities are contributing to the $1 billion investment. William Nicholson, managing director of Blackstone, called VoltaGrid “a highly differentiated platform addressing one of the most important infrastructure needs of the AI era: reliable, rapidly deployable power. This investment is a strong example of Tac Opps’ focus on providing flexible, scaled capital to exceptional entrepreneurs and businesses operating in Blackstone’s highest-conviction investment themes.”

Nathan Ough, founder and CEO of VoltaGrid, said in a release that the Blackstone investment “is a powerful endorsement of the platform we have built and the role VoltaGrid is playing in delivering the energy infrastructure of the AI era.”

Last October, VoltaGrid and Halliburton said they had forged a partnership to supply power for data centers around the world, with the Middle East picked as the initial target. Two months later, the companies said they had arranged the manufacturing of 400 megawatts of natural gas power systems that’ll be delivered in 2028 to support new data centers in the Eastern Hemisphere.

Jeff Miller, president and CEO of Halliburton, said his company’s investment in VoltaGrid “reflects our shared focus on long-term solutions for the world’s most demanding power environments, and advances VoltaGrid’s ability to deliver reliable, distributed power at scale.”

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