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Houston energy SaaS startup wins local pitch competition

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Houston-based WellWorth was selected as the winner of this year’s Houston Startup Showcase. Photo via LinkedIn

The Ion hosted its annual startup pitch competition, and one company walked away with a win.

WellWorth, a financial modeling and analysis software-as-a-service company for the upstream energy sector, won the Houston Startup Showcase + Expo and secured a $5,000 prize. The startup's technology introduces a more streamlined approach to NAV modeling or corporate financial modeling for its users.

“Having worked in investment banking, I have seen firsthand how the limitations of Excel models and a lack of bespoke tools have led to inefficient workflows in upstream Oil & Gas finance," says Samra Nawaz, CEO and Co-founder of WellWorth, in a statement. "We decided to solve this problem by building a cloud-based platform that helps energy finance leaders improve decision-making around raising, managing, and deploying capital.”

Nawaz explains how impactful the opportunity to pitch has been on WellWorth, which aims to raise funding early next year accelerate customer acquisition and product development.

“By getting involved in the Ion’s innovation ecosystem, we’ve been able to not only network with many entrepreneurs and innovators in the Houston community, but also find opportunities to scale our growth,” continues Nawaz. “We’re thrilled to have brought a few more customers onboard recently, and are working closely with them to optimize our product pipeline."

The company pitched alongside the other five finalists, which included Tierra Climate, MRG Health, BeOne Sports, Trez, and Mallard Bay. Mallard Bay, a booking platform for hunting and fishing trips, secured the people's choice award, which was decided by the crowd.

“Our flagship event, Houston Startup Showcase, not only connects startups and entrepreneurs with top business leaders but also provides them an opportunity to pitch their innovations to the technology ecosystem,” says Jan Odegard, executive director of the Ion, in a news release. “We extend our congratulations to WellWorth and the company’s innovative SaaS platform for energy industry finance teams, as well as Mallard Bay, the People’s Choice winner. These companies are exemplifying the exciting new technologies being developed in Houston today.”

In addition to the pitches, several companies showcased at the event, including Nanotech, manufacturer of thermal management materials for the built environment; last year's winner Unytag, a universal toll tag that provides drivers the ability to pass through tolls anywhere in the nation; and Softeq, provides early-stage innovation, technology business consulting, and full-stack development solutions to enterprise companies and innovative startups.

ALLY Energy has named its 2023 GRIT Awards finalists. Photo courtesy of ALLY Energy

Houston energy workforce solutions company names finalists for annual awards

energy honorees

For the seventh year, a Houston-based company that's working to make the energy industry more equitable has named the finalists for its annual award.

ALLY Energy's GRIT Awards and Best Energy Workplaces, which will take place on October 26, has announced the finalists for the 2023 awards program.

“Every year, we are astounded at how many impressive, committed people are demonstrating leadership and grit in their work to advance the energy transition and build more diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces,” ALLY Energy CEO Katie Mehnert says in a news release. “This year is no exception. This is the time to celebrate so many crucial achievements that may otherwise go overlooked in the energy sector and in broader society.”

The finalists are leaders, teams, and companies from around the world and across industry verticals — oil and gas, power and utilities, wind, solar, hydrogen, nuclear, climate tech startups, and academia. EnergyCapitalHTX, as well as its sister site InnovationMap, is a media partner for the event.

This year, ALLY has named three Lifetime Achievement Award honorees who have distinguished careers championing change in energy and climate in the private or public sector in the areas of technology, policy, and workforce: John Berger, CEO of Sunnova Energy; Rhonda Morris, vice president and chief human resources officer of Chevron; and Amy Chronis, vice chair, US energy and chemicals leader, and Houston managing partner at Deloitte.

This year's finalists for the award categories are as follows, according to ALLY Energy.

The Professional Award

  • Alex Loureiro, Scientific Director at EnerGeo Alliance
  • Allie Thurmond, Asset Manager at Equinor
  • Catherine Fuller, Senior Learning Strategy Leader at Baker Hughes
  • Crystal McNack, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisor at Enbridge Inc.
  • Dani Milling, Gulf of Mexico Environmental Engineer & Mexico HSE Coordinator at Chevron
  • Diego Barreto, CFO Americas Region at Baker Hughes
  • Gayle Bowness, Technical Director Studies at Wood
  • Katie Zimmerman, Decarbonization Director, Americas at Wood
  • Kim Sabate-Strazde, Interim DEI Programs Manager at Baker Hughes
  • Krithika Kannan, IT HSE & Security Manager at Occidental
  • Lynn Buckley, Head of Supplier Development at Baker Hughes
  • Mark Klapatch-Mathias, Sustainability Coordinator at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls
  • Megan Suggs, Project Manager at BASF
  • Natalie Valentine, Director - Business Performance at Worley
  • Prajakta Kulkarni, Pricing Agreement Management Digital Platform Lead at Baker Hughes
  • Priscilla Enwere, Senior Well Engineer at Rano-Accrete Petroleum Development Company
  • Samantha Howard, Senior Organizational Development Specialist at Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline
  • Syed Fahim, Global ESG Lead at SLB
  • Tane Bates, Regional Operations Manager at Certarus LTD
  • Ujunwa Ojemeni, Senior Policy Advisor - Energy Transition & Technical Assistance Delivery at E3G - Third Generation Environmentalism
  • Yogashri Pradhan, Reservoir Engineer at Coterra

The Executive Award

  • Andy Drummond, Executive Vice President Exploration and Development at Woodside Energy
  • Cara Hair, SVP of Corporate Services, Chief Legal and Compliance Officer at Helmerich & Payne
  • Claire Aitchison, Executive Operations Leader at Baker Hughes
  • Emma Lewis, Senior Vice President USGC Chemicals & Products at Shell
  • Jeremy Campbell-Wray, Strategic Accounts and Enterprise Growth Market Executive at Baker Hughes
  • Kathy Eberwein, Chief Executive Officer at The Global Edge Group
  • Kim Holder, Senior Executive of Digital Technology at Baker Hughes
  • Leveda Charles, Director of PMO & Business Enablement at Baker Hughes
  • Maggie Seeliger, SVP & Global Head of Strategy, Energy & Resources at Sodexo
  • Max Chan, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development Officer at Enbridge
  • Megan Beauregard, Chief Legal Officer, Secretary, and Head of Policy and Regulatory Affairs at Enel North America, Inc.
  • Nikki Martin, President at EnerGeo Alliance
  • Pamela Skaufel, Vice President of Procurement at ExxonMobil
  • Sarah Delille, Vice President of US Country Management at Equinor
  • Shiva McMahon, Executive Vice President International Operations at Woodside Energy
  • Soma Somasundaram, Chief Executive Officer at ChampionX
  • Toby Begnaud, Chief Commercial Officer & SVP of Oilfield Services and Equipment at Baker Hughes
  • Trevor Mihalik, Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer at Sempra
  • Whitney Eaton, EVP, People & Sustainability at TGS Energy

The JEDI Award

  • Alex Fleming, Senior Manager at Deloitte
  • Doug Peck, Head of Reserves at Woodside Energy
  • Jason Limerick, Sustainability Strategy Lead at Woodside Energy
  • Melina Acevedo, Associate & Partnerships Lead at DE Shaw Renewable Investments
  • Shengke Zhi, Director for Growth and Development at Wood

The Entrepreneur Award

  • Charli Matthews, CEO at Empowering Women in Industry
  • Mandeep Patel, Founder at ElecTrip
  • Mike Francis, Co-Founder and CEO at NanoTech
  • Nick Valenzia, Founder at Leafr

The ESG & Climate Champion Award

  • Andrea Hepp, Deal Lead at Shell
  • Brittney Marshall, Senior Advisor, Climate Strategy and Policy at Woodside Energy
  • Freya Burton, Chief Sustainability Officer at LanzaTech
  • Gabriel Rolland, Vice President, Corporate QHSE at TGS Energy
  • Lisa Larroque Alexander, SVP, Corporate Affairs and Chief Sustainability Officer at Sempra
  • Misty Rowe, Global CCUS Account Manager at Halliburton
  • Sandhya Ganapathy, Chief Executive Officer at EDP Renewables North America

Gritty Girl Award

  • Deepasha Baral, Student at the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies

Best Affinity Group, Employee Resource Group Award, sponsored by ChampionX

  • Baker Hughes, Asian Pacific American Forum (APAF)
  • Baker Hughes, Generation STEM
  • Baker Hughes, D&I Group Celle
  • Baker Hughes, Parenting Tribe
  • Baker Hughes, Pride@Work
  • Baker Hughes, Multicultural ERG
  • ChampionX, PLAN
  • ChampionX, PRIDE
  • ChampionX, RISE Gender Equity ERG
  • ChampionX, SEED
  • Ovintiv, Leveraging Inclusion, Networking and Knowledge (LINK)
  • Sempra, Growing Responsibilities and Opportunities for Women
  • Shell, WAVE - Women Adding Value Everywhere
  • Shell, DE&I Council
  • TPI Composites, LEAP for Women
  • Women's Energy Network Houston, Women's Energy Network Houston
  • Wood, Launch
  • Wood Mackenzie, Pride Working Group-Americas
  • Woodside Energy, EmBRace - Employees Beyond Race
  • Woodside Energy, Spark
  • Woodside Energy, VIBE LGBTIQ+ Employee Resource Group
  • Worley, PRIDE@Worley

Best Energy Team Award, sponsored by Ovintiv

  • Advisian Material Handling
  • Baker Hughes, Sustainability Team
  • ChampionX, Asset Integrity Team
  • ChampionX, Brunei Supply Chain
  • EIC Rose Rock/Rose Rock Bridge
  • Halliburton Labs
  • NOV Marketing
  • Sempra Infrastructure
  • Syzygy Plasmonics, Rigel Manufacturing & Launch Team
  • TGS New Energy Solutions

Best Energy Workplaces Award

  • Aera Energy LLC
  • Baker Hughes
  • ChampionX
  • Consolidated Asset Management Services
  • EDP Renewables North America
  • Enel
  • The Global Edge Group
  • Shell
  • Solar Energy Industries Association - SEIA
  • Southwestern Energy
  • Sunnova Energy International, Inc (6-time finalist)
  • TGS Energy
  • Wood
  • Woodside Energy
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Houston-based ENGIE to add new wind and solar projects to Texas grid

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Houston-based ENGIE North America Inc. has expanded its partnership with Los Angeles-based Ares Infrastructure Opportunities to add 730 megawatts of renewable energy projects to the ERCOT grid.

The new projects will include one wind and two solar projects in Texas.

“The continued growth of our relationship with Ares reflects the strength of ENGIE’s portfolio of assets and our track record of delivering, operating and financing growth in the U.S. despite challenging circumstances,” Dave Carroll, CEO and Chief Renewables Officer of ENGIE North America, said in a news release. “The addition of another 730 MW of generation to our existing relationship reflects the commitment both ENGIE and Ares have to meeting growing demand for power in the U.S. and our willingness to invest in meeting those needs.”

ENGIE has more than 11 gigawatts of renewable energy projects in operation or under construction in the U.S. and Canada, and 52.7 gigawatts worldwide. The company is targeting 95 gigawatts by 2030.

ENGIE launched three new community solar farms in Illinois since December, including the 2.5-megawatt Harmony community solar farm in Lena and the Knox 2A and Knox 2B projects in Galesburg.

The company's 600-megawatt Swenson Ranch Solar project near Abilene, Texas, is expected to go online in 2027 and will provide power for Meta, the parent company of social media platform Facebook. Late last year, ENGIE also signed a nine-year renewable energy supply agreement with AstraZeneca to support the pharmaceutical company’s manufacturing operations from its 114-megawatt Tyson Nick Solar Project in Lamar County, Texas.

Houston geothermal company raises $97M Series B

fresh funding

Houston-based geothermal energy startup Sage Geosystems has closed its Series B fundraising round and plans to use the money to launch its first commercial next-generation geothermal power generation facility.

Ormat Technologies and Carbon Direct Capital co-led the $97 million round, according to a press release from Sage. Existing investors Exa, Nabors, alfa8, Arch Meredith, Abilene Partners, Cubit Capital and Ignis H2 Energy also participated, as well as new investors SiteGround Capital and The UC Berkeley Foundation’s Climate Solutions Fund.

The new geothermal power generation facility will be located at one of Ormat Technologies' existing power plants. The Nevada-based company has geothermal power projects in the U.S. and numerous other countries around the world. The facility will use Sage’s proprietary pressure geothermal technology, which extracts geothermal heat energy from hot dry rock, an abundant geothermal resource.

“Pressure geothermal is designed to be commercial, scalable and deployable almost anywhere,” Cindy Taff, CEO of Sage Geosystems, said in the news release. “This Series B allows us to prove that at commercial scale, reflecting strong conviction from partners who understand both the urgency of energy demand and the criticality of firm power.”

Sage reports that partnering with the Ormat facility will allow it to market and scale up its pressure geothermal technology at a faster rate.

“This investment builds on the strong foundation we’ve established through our commercial agreement and reinforces Ormat’s commitment to accelerating geothermal development,” Doron Blachar, CEO of Ormat Technologies, added in the release. “Sage’s technical expertise and innovative approach are well aligned with Ormat’s strategy to move faster from concept to commercialization. We’re pleased to take this natural next step in a partnership we believe strongly in.”

In 2024, Sage agreed to deliver up to 150 megawatts of new geothermal baseload power to Meta, the parent company of Facebook. At the time, the companies reported that the project's first phase would aim to be operating in 2027.

The company also raised a $17 million Series A, led by Chesapeake Energy Corp., in 2024.

Houston expert discusses the clean energy founder's paradox

Guest Column

Everyone tells you to move fast and break things. In clean energy, moving fast without structural integrity means breaking the only planet we’ve got. This is the founder's paradox: you are building a company in an industry where the stakes are existential, the timelines are glacial, and the capital requires patience.

The myth of the lone genius in a garage doesn’t really apply here. Clean energy startups aren’t just fighting competitors. They are fighting physics, policy, and decades of existing infrastructure. This isn’t an app. You’re building something physical that has to work in the real world. It has to be cheaper, more reliable, and clearly better than fossil fuels. Being “green” alone isn’t enough. Scale is what matters.

Your biggest risks aren’t competitors. They’re interconnection delays, permitting timelines, supply chain fragility, and whether your first customer is willing to underwrite something that hasn’t been done before.

That reality creates a brutal filter. Successful founders in this space need deep technical knowledge and the ability to execute. You need to understand engineering, navigate regulation, and think in terms of markets and risk. You’re not just selling a product. You’re selling a future where your solution becomes the obvious choice. That means connecting short-term financial returns with long-term system change.

The capital is there, but it’s smarter and more demanding. Investors today have PhDs in electrochemistry and grid dynamics. They’ve been burned by promises of miracle materials that never left the lab. They don't fund visions; they fund pathways to impact that can scale and make financial sense. Your roadmap must show not just a brilliant invention, but a clear, believable plan to drive costs down over time.

Capital in this sector isn’t impressed by ambition alone. It wants evidence that risk is being retired in the right order — even if that means slower growth early.

Here’s the upside. The difficulty of clean energy is also its strength. If you succeed, your advantage isn’t just in software or branding. It’s in hardware, supply chains, approvals, and years of hard work that others can’t easily copy. Your real competitors aren’t other startups. They’re inertia and the existing system. Winning here isn’t zero-sum. When one solution scales, it helps the entire market grow.

So, to the founder in the lab, or running field tests at a remote site: your pace will feel slow. The validation cycles are long. But you are building in the physical world. When you succeed, you don’t have an exit. You have a foundation. You don't just have customers; you have converts. And the product you ship doesn't just generate revenue; it creates a legacy.

If your timelines feel uncomfortable compared to software, that’s because you’re operating inside a system designed to resist change. And let’s not forget you are building actual physical products that interact with a complex world. Times are tough. Don’t give up. We need you.

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Nada Ahmed is the founding partner at Houston-based Energy Tech Nexus.

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