Fervo Energy — and a few other Greentown Labs companies — made a global list of clean tech companies. Photo via fervoenergy.com

Nine Greentown Labs members were recognized on a global list honoring cleantech companies.

Houston-based Fervo Energy was named to Cleantech Group’s Global Cleantech 100 report. Cleantech Group is a research-driven company that aids the public sector, private sector, investors, and also identifies, assesses, and engages with the innovative solutions around climate challenges.

Fervo, a geothermal energy company that specializes in a renewable energy technology that uses hot water to produce electricity, debuted in 2022 on the list, and was honored in the “Energy & Power” category for the second straight year.

The other Greentown Labs, which is dual located in Houston and Somerville, Massachusetts, companies recognized on the list include:

  • Amogy, a New York-based novel carbon-free energy system using ammonia as a renewable fuel
  • Carbon Upcycling Technologies, a Canadian waste and carbon utilization company
  • Dandelion Energy, New York-based company offering ground source heat pumps for most homes
  • Energy Dome, a Milan-based company addressing the problem of long-duration energy storage
  • e-Zinc, a Canadian company with a breakthrough electrochemical technology for energy storage
  • Nth Cycle, a Massachusetts company with sustainable metal refining
  • Raptor Maps, a Massachusetts company with a software platform for solar assets' performance data management
  • Sublime Systems, a Massachusetts companydeveloping a breakthrough process for low-carbon cement
  • WeaveGrid, a California company working with utilities, automakers, EVSEs, and EV owners to enable and accelerate the electrification of transportation

The number of nominations from the public, a panel, i3, awards and Cleantech Group totaled 25,435 from over 65 countries, which is a 61% increase from the 2023 nomination process. Winners were chosen from a short list of 330 companies by a panel of over 80 industry experts.

While not on the list, Beaumont-based Fortress Energy was mentioned for its electrolyzer supply agreement with Cleantech Group 100 winner Electric Hydrogen.

The Cleantech Group 100 was started 15 years ago.

“In 15 more years, we will be at 2039—by which time, a mere decade out from the ‘net-zero’ target of 2050,” Cleantech Group CEO Richard Youngman says in the report. “I would expect the composition of our annual list to have markedly changed again, and the leading upcoming private companies of that time to reflect such.”

Moelis hired Arash Nazhad as Houston-based managing director and co-head of its newly formed clean energy technology group. Photo via rice.edu

Investment banking firm launches cleantech group, names Houston-based co-leader

new hire

A Houston investment banker has been tapped as co-leader of a new team at investment bank Moelis & Co. that will mine the energy sector for cleantech deals.

Publicly traded Moelis said September 7 that it hired Arash Nazhad as Houston-based managing director and co-head of its newly formed clean energy technology group. Nazhad joins Moelis from financial services giant Citigroup, where he was managing director of its clean energy investment team. He worked at Citigroup for nine years.

During his tenure at Citigroup and, before that, Norwegian energy company Equinor (which operates a Houston office), Nazhad helped carry out more than $50 billion in M&A advisory activities and helped raise over $40 billion in capital for clients. He’s been involved in the rollout of more than 20 IPOs.

“Moelis is very well-positioned to help clients navigate the far-reaching implications of the energy transition that is underway,” Nazhad tells EnergyCapitalHTX. “Houston is a major player in the cleantech ecosystem, and I’m thrilled to join Moelis and leverage the breadth of the firm’s capital market solutions, advisory services, and global connectivity to support clients in this space.”

Nazhad will run the new Moelis group alongside Rick Polhemus, the investment bank’s San Francisco-based managing director. Polhemus, formerly an executive at investment bank Morgan Stanley, joined Moelis last October.

Jeff Raich, co-founder and co-president of Moelis, says the backgrounds of Nazhad and Polhemus make them “uniquely positioned to lead our efforts and expand opportunities for clients in this rapidly changing environment.”

“The energy transition that is underway demands integrated advisory services, access to capital, and strategic long-term planning,” adds Navid Mahmoodzadegan, co-founder and co-president of Moelis.

“Achieving net-zero emissions will require a significant increase in spending,” Mahmoodzadegan adds, “and our dedicated clean energy efforts better position us to be a seamless partner to our strategic, financial sponsor, and venture capital clients as we leverage our dynamic advisory practice and global connectivity.”

Nazhad and his colleagues will be searching for cleantech deals in a supercharged sector.

The International Energy Agency says global investment in cleantech is on track to hit $1.7 trillion this year. An impressive share of that money is being pumped into cleantech startups. Globally, VC funding in the cleantech sector soared from $1.9 billion in 2019 to $12.3 billion in 2022, according to management consulting firm Oliver Wyman.

Nazhad’s M&A experience should prove particularly beneficial for Moelis’ new cleantech arm.

A recent report from management consulting firm West Monroe indicates cleantech M&A “is picking up speed.” The report is based on the firm’s survey of 200 corporate and private equity executives.

“The overarching trend is that cleantech is no longer the stuff of speculation, but a viable sector benefiting from a confluence of tailwinds, including high energy demand, the need for secure supplies that complement fossil fuels, and more ambitious policymaking efforts targeting decarbonization,” the report says.

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Houston joint venture secures $5.2M for AI-powered methane tracking tech

fresh funds

Houston-based Envana Software Solutions has received more than $5.2 million in federal and non-federal funding to support the development of technology for the oil and gas sector to monitor and reduce methane emissions.

Thanks to the work backed by the new funding, Envana says its suite of emissions management software will become the industry's first technology to allow an oil and gas company to obtain a full inventory of greenhouse gases.

The funding comes from a more than $4.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and more than $1 million in non-federal funding.

“Methane is many times more potent than carbon dioxide and is responsible for approximately one-third of the warming from greenhouse gases occurring today,” Brad Crabtree, assistant secretary at DOE, said in 2024.

With the funding, Envana will expand artificial intelligence (AI) and physics-based models to help detect and track methane emissions at oil and gas facilities.

“We’re excited to strengthen our position as a leader in emissions and carbon management by integrating critical scientific and operational capabilities. These advancements will empower operators to achieve their methane mitigation targets, fulfill their sustainability objectives, and uphold their ESG commitments with greater efficiency and impact,” says Nagaraj Srinivasan, co-lead director of Envana.

In conjunction with this newly funded project, Envana will team up with universities and industry associations in Texas to:

  • Advance work on the mitigation of methane emissions
  • Set up internship programs
  • Boost workforce development
  • Promote environmental causes

Envana, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup, provides emissions management technology to forecast, track, measure and report industrial data for greenhouse gas emissions.

Founded in 2023, Envana is a joint venture between Houston-based Halliburton, a provider of products and services for the energy industry, and New York City-based Siguler Guff, a private equity firm. Siguler Gulf maintains an office in Houston.

“Envana provides breakthrough SaaS emissions management solutions and is the latest example of how innovation adds to sustainability in the oil and gas industry,” Rami Yassine, a senior vice president at Halliburton, said when the joint venture was announced.

Top 6 Houston energy events to attend in February 2025

Energy Events

Editor's note: February is here, and the month is buzzing with forums, conferences, and the largest AI in Energy event. Here are six Houston energy events that you won't want to miss this month. Mark your calendars now, and plan ahead for the rest of Q1 via this guide.

February 4 — 2025 Brazil Summit: Energy at a Crossroads 

The Brazil Summit, held at Rice University's Baker Institute, will explore Brazil’s evolving energy sector, including recent progress in energy transition regulations, as well as the 2024 U.S. election's implications for Brazil's future. Participants from Brazil and the U.S., including policymakers, energy leaders, financial experts and more, will join the summit, which is free to attend and open to the public.

This event takes place Tuesday, February 4, at 7:30 am. Registration is required. Click here to register.

February 10-11— 6th American LNG Forum

Join LNG industry professionals, innovators and policymakers to discover groundbreaking technologies that are driving the future of liquified natural gas. From market dynamics to decarbonization strategies, this is your chance to connect, learn and become part of the LNG revolution at American LNG Forum.

This event begins Monday, February 10, at the Westin Galleria Houston. Click here to register.

February 11-12 — Oil & Gas Automation and Technology Week 

Oil and Gas Automation and Technology Week brings together oil and gas operators to share best-practice strategies for accelerating business transformation, decarbonization, and energy transition with disruptive technology. Expert speakers from the automation and technology space include Jack Hu, Dow; Partha Chatterjee, Shell; and Philippe Daroux, Chevron.

The two-day event takes place at the Sonesta Houston Hotel IAH Airport. Click here to register.

February 19-20— 7th Global Energy Forum 2025

The Global Energy Forum brings a bipartisan collective of U.S. Congressmen together with top energy executives to convene for off-the-record discussions in order to explore the energy strategies and solutions for a sustainable, clean, reliable and affordable energy future. Policymakers and executives from energy, finance, and technology will engage in dialogue on energy infrastructure, technological innovation, policy and regulation reform needed to respond to the global energy crisis.

This event begins Wednesday, February 19, at 7:30 am at the Petroleum Club of Houston. Click here to register.

February 24-25 — AI In Energy

Join 150+ senior operations, digital, data and AI leaders in Houston for the industry's largest AI in Energy event, and unlock the potential of AI within your operations. Key points of discussion include how to pair digital twins and gen AI, know when your critical assets need maintenance, move beyond pilot program to scale AI across the enterprise, and leverage generative AI and data intelligence to unlock asset reliability.

This event begins Monday, February 24 at 7:30 am at Norris Conference Centers' City Centre. Click here to register.

February 25-27 — 2025 Energy HPC Conference

The 18th annual Energy High Performance Computing Conference, hosted at Rice University by the Ken Kennedy Institute, is the premier meeting place for the energy industry to engage in conversations about challenges and opportunities in high-performance computing, computational science and engineering, machine learning and data science. Attended by more than 500 leaders and experts, this is a unique opportunity for key stakeholders to engage and network to help advance HPC in the energy industry.

This event begins Tuesday, February 25, at Rice University. Click here to register.

Geothermal energy startup's $600M deal fuels surge in Houston VC funding

by the numbers

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.