EnergyTech Cypher names 7 startup winners from Pilotathon pitch event

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Here's who took home top honors at this year's Pilotathon and Startup Showcase. Photo via LinkedIn

Houston Energy and Climate Week was full of fast-paced pitches and inspiring technology, showcased during some of the week's signature events.

EnergyTech Cypher's annual Piloathon and Startup Showcase was one of the places to be, bringing together 16 pilot-ready startups to present their best seven-minute pitches before investors, plus 52 companies that demonstrated their technologies on the showcase floor.

"This year's cohort raised the bar," Nada Ahmed, co-founder of EnergyTech Cypher, shared in a news release. "Working with these founders through the pitch preparation process, we saw firsthand the depth of technology and commercial readiness they brought to the stage. Three ties in four categories says it all."

Seven startups took home top honors in various categories, all under this year's theme of "The NEW Energy Industrial Revolution," with three categories ending in a tie. Judges included leaders from Baker Tilly, NRG Energy, Shell, Aramco Ventures, Baker Hughes, Avatar Innovations, Kanin Energy, NoviDigiTech, aiCTO Services, and the FIFA World Cup Houston Committee.

Here's who won in their respective categories:

Future of Industrial Work: Houston-based BigMachine AI, an AI engineer for industrial projects, and Oslo, Norway-based OTee, an automation machinery manufacturer. Otee was also named one of the 10 most-promising startups at the Rice Alliance Energy Tech Venture Forum during HECW.

Industrial Decarbonization: Berkeley-based Oleo, which is developing a biomanufacturing platform to transform biomass waste into carbon-negative, cost-competitive oil feedstocks for advanced fuels

Grid Infrastructure and Distributed Energy: Edinburgh-based Mocean Energy, which works to deliver renewable ocean energy to power offshore industry, and Tulsa-based RyuGen Energy Solutions Inc., which works to turn underused commercial power into distributed AI infrastructure

Critical Minerals and Resource Security: Houston-based Resollant, which is working to produce battery-grade graphite and ultra-low-cost hydrogen, and Berkeley-based Sunchem, which provides precision separation of critical metals from sources including e-waste, evaporator scrap, solar panels, and mining ores and concentrates.

Last year, the Pilotathon named eight winners from the competition, which focused on the theme of "Energy Access and Resilience." See the winners here.

EnergyTech Cypher rebranded from EnergyTech Nexus earlier this year. The energy transition hub also launched Cephyron, EnergyTech Cypher's new investor relationship management platform, built specifically for energy and climatech founders.

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Here's who's speaking at Houston Energy and Climate Week. Photos courtesy and via company websites

Clean energy leaders taking the stage at Houston Energy and Climate Week

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Some of the biggest names in the clean energy scene will be sharing their expertise in Houston this week.

From leaders fresh off one of the industry's biggest IPOs to local organizers, here's who's speaking at promising panels and anchor events during Houston Energy and Climate Week—taking place now through Sept. 18. Visit each event's website for a full lineup.

Read more about Houston Energy and Climate Week and its programming in Energy Capital's event preview. Or learn more about the startups pitching at events throughout the week here.

Energy Solutions in a New Era Hosted by JERA & Mitsubishi Heavy Industries — Sept. 15 at the Ion

Mary Dhillon, strategy manager at Fervo Energy
Ricky Sakai, SVP of investment & business development at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America
Daniel Padilla, strategy & business development lead at Emerald AI
Adrian Trömel, chief innovation officer / interim vice president for innovation at Rice University (moderator)
Shigeki Uchihashi, VP of strategy & corporate venturing at JERA Americas

Cypher Pilotathon and Startup Showcase — Sept. 15 at POST Houston

Nada Ahmed, co-founder and CRO of Energytech Cypher
Taylor Chapman, investment principal at New Climate Ventures
Jason Ethier, co-founder and CEO of Energytech Cypher
Sean Kelly, CEO of Amperon
Ionel Nechiti, investment director for Aramco Ventures
Hema Prapoo, global energy industry leader from Microsoft
Ishan Rao, VP of commercial at Syzygy Plasmonics

Greentown Climatetech Summit — Sept. 16 at Greentown Labs

Arne Ballantine, co-founder of Ohmium International
David Baldwin, partner at SCF Partners
Christopher Hanson, former chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Tim Latimer, CEO and co-founder of Fervo Energy
Georgina Campbell Flatter, CEO of Greentown Labs
Nicolaus Radford, CEO and co-founder of Persona AI
Prag Mishra, chief AI officer at Armada
Jeremy Pitts, managing director at Activate
Bobby Gallagher, CEO, CTO and co-founder of Deployable Energy
Jason Wells, chair, president and CEO of CenterPoint Energy
Eliecer Viamontes, CEO of Entergy Texas

Rice Alliance Energy Tech Venture Forum — Sept. 17 at Rice University’s Jones Graduate School of Business

Laurent Alteirac, enabling technology development manager at SLB
Kemal Anbarci, managing executive and general manager of venture capital at Chevron Technology Ventures
Sameer Bandhu, managing director of ventures and licensing at GE Vernova
Brad Burke, former associate vice president at Rice Office of Innovation and former executive director of Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship at Rice University (moderator)
Andres Cabada, managing director at Halliburton Labs
Quennie Co, managing partner at Shell Ventures
Rob Crane, technology scouting & venturing manager at ExxonMobil
Ira Ehrenpreis, founder and managing partner at DBL Partners
Menachem Elimelech, director of Rice Center for Membrane Excellence (RiCeME) at Rice University
Brian Iversen, founder & managing partner at Cimbria Capital
Dustin Kinder, CEO of Maverick Water Group
Megan Lund, lead of venturing strategy & strategic partnerships at Woodside Energy
Sean Maher, vice president of investor relations & chief economist at Phillips 66
Robert Mellors, SUPERHOT program director at ARPA-E
John (JR) Reale, interim associate vice president for industry and new ventures at Rice University and executive director of Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship at Rice University
Chad Seely, SVP of regulatory policy, general counsel, chief compliance officer, and corporate secretary at ERCOT
David Sholl, executive vice president for research and professor of chemical & biomolecular engineering at Rice University
Jim Sledzik, managing director of strategic venturing, North America, at Aramco Ventures

Applications for the Liftoff fundraising program close May 20. Photo via Getty Images

Houston energy transition hub opens applications for new fundraising cohort

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EnergyTech Cypher has opened applications for its second Liftoff fundraising program.

Applications close May 20 for the 10-week virtual fundraising sprint. The program is geared toward energy and climatech founders preparing to raise their first institutional round. It will cover fundraising requisites, like pitch materials, term sheet negotiation and round closing, according to a release from EnergyTech Cypher.

The program kicks off June 1 and runs every Monday from 1-3 p.m. CST. It will conclude with an in-person capstone simulation in Houston on August 3, where founders will work to close a mock round.

Jason Ethier, EnergyTech Cypher founder and CEO, will lead the program with Payal Patel, an EnergyTech fellow and entrepreneur in residence.

The program is available through Cephyron, EnergyTech Cypher's new investor relationship management platform, built specifically for energy and climatech founders. Users must have a Cephyron Boost membership to participate in the Liftoff program.

The Cephyron IRM app recently went live and is available to founders at any point in their fundraising process, according to the news release. The platform aggregates investor data, tracks market signals and delivers curated weekly recommendations.

EnergyTech Cypher launched Liftoff last year. The inaugural cohort included 19 startups, including Houston-based AtmoSpark Technologies, The Woodlands-based Resollant and others. Each participant closed at least one fundraising deal, according to EnergyTech Cypher.

EnergyTech Cypher rebranded from EnergyTech Nexus earlier this year. It also launched its CoPilot accelerator in 2025. The inaugural group presented its first showcase during CERAWeek last month.

EnergyTech Cypher's annual Pilotathon Pilot Pitch and Showcase applications also opened this month. Find more information here.

Energytech Cypher co-founders Nada Ahmed and Jason Ethier. Photo via energytechcypher.com

Houston energy transition ecosystem rebrands as 'Energytech Cypher'

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Houston-based Energytech Nexus has rebranded.

The cleantech founders community will now be known as Energytech Cypher. Organizers say the new name was inspired by the Arabic roots of the word cypher, ṣifr, which is also the root of the word zero.

"A cypher is a key that unlocks what's hidden," Nada Ahmed, co-founder and chief revenue officer of Energytech Cypher, said in a news release. "And zero? Zero is where every transformation begins, the leap from 0 to 1, from idea to reality, from potential to power. We decode the energy transition by connecting the right founders, the right capital, and the right corporate partners at the right time, because the most important journey in energy is the one that takes you from nothing to something."

Energytech Nexus has rebranded to Energytech Cypher.

Co-founder and CEO Jason Ethier says that the name change better reflects the organization's mission.

"The energy transition doesn't have a technology problem. It has a connection problem," Ehtier added in the release. "The right founders exist. The right investors exist. The right partners exist. What's been missing is the infrastructure to bring them together—to decode the complexity, remove the friction, and make sure the best technologies find the markets that need them. That's what this community has always done. Energytech Cypher is the name that finally says it."

Energytech Cypher, previously known as Energytech Nexus, was first launched in 2023 and has grown from a podcast to a 130-member ecosystem. It has supported startups including Capwell Services, Resollant, Syzygy Plasmonics, Hertha Metals, Solidec and many others.

It is known for its flagship programs like the Pilotathon, which connects founders with industry partners for pilot opportunities. The event debuted in 2024.

Energytech Cypher also launched its COPILOT Accelerator last year. The accelerator partners with Browning the Green Space, a nonprofit that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the clean energy and climatech sectors. The inaugural cohort included two Houston-based startups and 12 others from around the U.S.

It also hosts programs like Liftoff, Energy Tech Market, lunch and learns, CEO roundtables, investor workshops and international partnership initiatives.

Last year, Energytech Cypher also announced a new strategic ecosystem partnership with Greentown Labs, aimed at accelerating growth for clean energy startups. It also named its global founding partners, including Houston-based operations such as Chevron Technology Ventures, Collide, Oxy Technology Ventures, and others from around the world.

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Houston geothermal company picks Nevada site for commercial-scale project

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Sage Geosystems, a Houston-based developer of geothermal power systems, has chosen a site in Nevada for its commercial-scale Project Vector facility.

The company’s two-well enhanced geothermal system (EGS) will deliver around-the-clock geothermal heat to Ormat Technologies’ Blue Mountain geothermal power plant in Winnemucca, Nevada.

The startup expects to begin drilling the first well later this year, with the first electricity to be generated in 2027 and full-scale production to start in 2028.

In the Nevada system, fluid will circulate through an engineered subsurface reservoir, absorb heat from the surrounding rock and return heat to the surface. The heat will be delivered to the Blue Mountain plant for conversion into electricity.

Project Vector builds on the performance of Sage’s SMECI facility in South Texas. That facility’s results, combined with Sage’s digital twin platform, will be used to shape to the design and development of Project Vector.

Project Vector supports Sage’s growing commercial pipeline, including a 150-megawatt geothermal power agreement with Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

“Blue Mountain is an ideal location for Sage to take the next step in continuing to commercialize our proprietary EGS approach,” Jason Peart, chief operating officer at Sage, said in a release. “By delivering geothermal heat into an existing power plant, Project Vector can demonstrate the model for bringing firm, 24/7 geothermal power to market at scale.”

Project Vector extends Sage’s relationship with Ormat.

In August 2025, Sage and Ormat agreed to accelerate commercialization of Sage’s geothermal technology at an Ormat power plant. This January, Ormat co-led Sage’s $97 million Series B funding round.

Sage, founded in 2020, has raised about $159 million across three funding rounds.

As the startup ramps up its ESG platform, Sage is targeting data centers as customers, among other large-scale users of electricity.

“The energy needs are huge, and they need it now,” CEO Cindy Taff said on Data Center Frontiers’ podcast. “They can’t depend on the grid anymore.”

Houston’s power advantage: Key takeaways from 2026 HETI Power Summit

The view from heti

Power has become a defining economic development issue as electricity demand rises across Texas.

Industrial expansion, advanced manufacturing, AI and data center growth are increasing the importance of reliable, affordable power delivered on the timelines major projects require.

The 2026 HETI Power Summit, titled Houston’s Power Advantage: Competing for Large-Load Growth, brought together leaders from utilities, power producers, large energy customers, technology and infrastructure providers, professional services firms and the public sector to examine how Houston can meet this moment.

Across keynotes, research report-outs, panel discussions and a fireside chat, a consistent theme emerged: Houston’s power advantage comes from the region’s ability to align utilities, customers, infrastructure, flexible demand, emerging solutions and regional partners around reliable, affordable and timely growth.

Reliability and Readiness

Public Utility Commission of Texas Commissioner Kathleen Jackson opened the summit by emphasizing reliability as the foundation for continued growth as Texas electricity demand rises.

Commissioner Jackson underscored the importance of sustained planning and investment to support new industrial, manufacturing and digital demand while maintaining a reliable power system. Remarks framed the morning’s broader discussion of how Houston can pair reliability with speed, affordability and long-term system readiness.

Scott Cockerham of FTI Consulting previewed HETI and FTI’s “Texas Power Market & Industry Assessment”. The research identifies accessibility, reliability, affordability, market flexibility and infrastructure readiness as key dimensions of regional competitiveness.

Leaders from FTI Consulting, Kroll, AWS and Constellation also discussed factors shaping major investment decisions, including reliability, infrastructure timelines, cost certainty, site readiness, community support and regional coordination.

For large customers, these factors must translate into credible project-level execution. Confidence in system performance, energization timelines and infrastructure plans can materially influence major capital commitments.

Building for the Houston We Want to Become

Jason Ryan of CenterPoint Energy challenged participants to plan now for the infrastructure needed to support Houston’s next phase of growth. Drawing on the idea that “what got you here won’t get you there,” Ryan urged the region to build infrastructure for “the Houston we want to become” and stay ahead of large-load demand.

A fireside discussion between CenterPoint Energy and Foxconn brought that challenge to the customer level. The conversation explored how early coordination between utilities and large customers can help advanced manufacturing projects move from site selection and planning to construction and operation.

Long-term growth will require continued investment in generation, transmission and distribution. In the near term, better use of existing infrastructure can create additional capacity.

HETI also shared findings from its Role of Efficiency & Demand Response to Meet Near-Term Regional Power Demand report. Energy efficiency can lower baseline electricity use, while demand response can shift or reduce demand during critical periods. Combined with supply-side investment, these tools can create grid headroom as longer-term infrastructure advances.

The summit’s closing panel, featuring leaders from Amperon, Enchanted Rock, EY and Quanta Services, expanded the discussion to emerging solutions. Panelists explored modular and flexible generation, advanced forecasting, grid intelligence and greater coordination among utilities, customers, infrastructure providers and communities.

Houston’s broader regional power landscape adds another dimension. Entergy Texas President and CEO Eli Viamontes described Southeast Texas as experiencing an “extraordinary trifecta of residential, industrial and data center growth.” His remarks highlighted how the MISO-facing portion of the region complements Houston’s ERCOT strengths through utility planning, generation and infrastructure investment, resource adequacy and coordination with major industrial customers.

Together, these approaches point to a broader strategy: invest for long-term demand while using flexibility, technology and regional coordination to create capacity for growth today.

From Power Advantage to Economic Advantage

Taken together, the Power Summit discussions point to a clear priority for Houston: translating power market and infrastructure strengths into coordinated execution.

Priority areas include earlier infrastructure planning, stronger site and project readiness, clearer pathways from projected demand to reliably served load, expanded efficiency and flexibility, and sustained coordination among utilities, customers, policymakers, communities, technology providers and economic development organizations.

HETI is advancing this work through research and convening efforts focused on Houston’s evolving power needs and economic competitiveness.

The 2026 Power Summit reinforced Houston’s strong foundation for power-intensive growth and the importance of aligning investment, reliability, flexibility and regional coordination around the next generation of economic opportunity.

———

This article originally appeared on the Greater Houston Partnership's Houston Energy Transition Initiative blog. HETI exists to support Houston's future as an energy leader. Gain more insights from HETI’s Energy Efficiency and Demand Response Report.

Houston geothermal companies secure more than $45M in DOE funding

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Three Houston-based companies—Fervo Energy, Quaise Energy and XGS Energy—have been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to advance geothermal technologies and field tests.

Combined, the companies will receive more than $45 million in funding from the DOE's Next-Generation Geothermal Field Tests and Geothermal Resource Characterization and Confirmation initiative. The projects were among 21 selected from around the country to receive a total of $99 million.

Fervo was selected to conduct two projects under the initiative for approximately $20 million in funding. For the first project, the geothermal unicorn, which achieved first power at its flagship geothermal plant last week, will drill and complete enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) wells in Elmore County, Idaho, and will deploy high-temperature seismic monitoring technology at record-high temperatures at or above 200°C.

For the second project, the company will conduct an appraisal drilling campaign at a "high-priority" site in Humboldt County, Nevada, to confirm if the reservoir is suitable for EGS development.

“We are grateful to the Department of Energy for funding these grants. We believe this is a clear indication from the federal government that expanding geothermal energy to new states is a national priority,” Jack Norbeck, CTO and co-founder of Fervo Energy, said in a news release. “We expect this funding to accelerate Fervo’s pipeline and advance the cutting edge of geothermal technologies.”

Fresh off a $180 million Series B, Quaise Energy also received $25 million in DOE funding through the initiative to support its Project Obsidian super hot geothermal plant in Central Oregon. The funding will go toward the analysis of the drilling, stimulation and flow results of the first two wells at the Project Obsidian site, which will help the company optimize its third well on site.

“This DOE support is a recognition of what we are building at Quaise and the progress we are making in the field, including the confirmation well currently being drilled at Project Obsidian,” Carlos Araque, CEO and president of Quaise, said in a release. “Our ambition has always been to make superhot geothermal a commercial reality, and Project Obsidian is where we first deliver on that promise.”

XGS Energy, which recently relocated its headquarters from Palo Alto, California, to Houston, was also selected for an exploration drilling project. The company will drill a deep vertical appraisal well in Socorro County, New Mexico, to determine if the site is a viable source of geothermal energy. XGS had not disclosed a funding estimate at press time.

The full value of the proposed DOE funding is subject to completion of award negotiations, according to Quaise.

Data from these projects will be shared through DOE’s Geothermal Data Repository (GDR), providing valuable information to researchers and stakeholders in the geothermal sector.

“This is an excellent example of how public and private entities can partner together to scale critical energy technologies,” Tim Latimer, CEO and co-founder of Fervo, added in a release. “With this funding, the Department of Energy is making important investments to help Americans across the country gain access to clean, affordable geothermal energy.”

Other geothermal companies and institutions from around the country will complete the 17 remaining projects. They include:

Denver-based 400C Energy Inc.
Salt Lake City-based AlterG Resources
Denver-based DAVINCI EP LLC
Anchorage-based GeoAlaska LLC
Oklahoma City-based GreenFire Energy Inc.
Virginia-based Hexagon Energy LLC
Virginia-based INTEK Inc.
Chicago-based Invenergy Geothermal Development LLC
Massachusetts-based LiPower Geothermal LLC
Fort Worth-based Oriah Geothermal LLC
Reno-based Raser Power Systems LLC
Santa Fe-based San Ildefonso Services LLC
Salt Lake City-based The University of Utah
Reno-based TLS Geothermics Corp.
Salt Lake City-based Zanskar Geothermal and Minerals

Read more about the full list of projects here.

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