ADVERTISEABOUT USSUBMIT A STORYSUBSCRIBETERMS OF USEPRIVACY POLICY
Visit our family of Brands

Houston leaders launch new downtown hub to support energy transition innovation

ribbon cutting

Energy Tech Nexus has opened in downtown Houston. Photo by Natalie Harms/EnergyCapital

Three Houston energy innovators have cut the ribbon on a new space for energy transition innovation.

The Energy Tech Nexus, located in the historic Niels Esperson Building at the corner of Travis and Rusk Avenue, opened on September 10, which was proclaimed Energy Tech Nexus Day by the city.

Jason Ethier and Juliana Garaizar, formerly in leadership roles at Greentown Labs, teamed up with Nada Ahmed, previously headed innovation and transformation at Aker Solutions, launched ETN as a community for energy transition startups. The new hub plans to host incubation programs, provide mentorship, and open doors to funding and strategic partnerships for its members.

"We are creating more than a space for innovation," Garaizar says in a news release. "We are crafting a community where pioneers in technology and energy converge to challenge the status quo and accelerate the shift to sustainable energy solutions."

The hub describes its goal of tackling the "trilemma" of energy security, sustainability, and affordability while also contributing to the mission of setting up Houston as the global center for energy transition. To accomplish that mission, ETN will help facilitate rapid deployment of cutting-edge energy technologies.

'The future of energy is not just being written here in Houston; it's being rewritten in more sustainable, efficient, and innovative ways," adds Garaizar. "Houston provides the perfect backdrop for this transformation, offering a rich history in energy and a forward-looking approach to its challenges and opportunities."

"We believe that a broad spectrum of perspectives is crucial in solving global energy challenges. It's about bringing everyone to the table — startups, industry leaders, and investors from all backgrounds," she continues.

Ethier, who co-hosts the Energy Tech Startups Podcast with Ahmed, says he hopes that ETN acts as a meeting place for energy transition innovators.

"By providing the right tools, access, and expertise, we are enabling these companies to leap from ideation to implementation at an unprecedented pace;" Ethier explains. "The interaction between startups and established companies within Energy Tech Nexus creates a unique synergy, fostering innovations that might otherwise take years to mature in isolation."

Payal Patel, an angel investor who has held leadership roles at Station Houston, Plug and Play Ventures, and Softeq, also contributed to launching ETN, which is collaborating with George Liu, who has over 15 years of investment banking experience across energy, cleantech and hardtech with more than $20 billion in M&A projects across his career.

In May, ETN teamed up with Impact Hub Houston to establish the Equitable Energy Transition Alliance and Lab to accelerate startup pilots for underserved communities. The initiative announced that it's won the 2024 U.S. Small Business Administration Growth Accelerator Fund Competition, or GAFC, Stage One award.

ETN celebrated its opening during the inaugural Houston Energy and Climate Week.

From Your Site Articles
Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

NOV's Houston accelerator names inaugural cohort to propel digital transformation in energy

building tech

Houston-based Venture Builder VC has kicked off its NOV Supernova Accelerator and named its inaugural cohort.

The program, originally announced earlier this year, focuses on accelerating digital transformation solutions for NOV Inc.'s operations in the upstream oil and gas industry. It will support high-potential startups in driving digital transformation within the energy sector, specifically upstream oil and gas, and last five months and culminate in a demo day where founders will present solutions to industry leaders, potential investors, NOV executives, and other stakeholders.

The NOV Supernova Accelerator will work to cultivate relationships between startups and NOV. They will offer specific companies access to NOV’s corporate R&D teams and business units to test their solutions in an effort to potentially develop long-term partnerships.

“The Supernova Accelerator is a reflection of our commitment to fostering forward-thinking technologies that will drive the future of oil and gas,” Diana Grauer, director of R&D of NOV, says in a news release.

The cohort’s focus will be digital transformation challenges that combine with NOV’s vision and include data management and analytics, operational efficiency, HSE (Health, Safety, and Environmental) monitoring, predictive maintenance, and digital twins.

Startups selected for the program include:

  • AnyLog, an edge data management platform that replaces proprietary edge projects with a plug-and-play solution that services real-time data directly at the source, eliminating cloud costs, data transfer, and latency issues.
  • Equipt, an AI-powered self-serve platform that maximizes Asset & Field Service performance, and minimizes downtime and profit leakages.
  • Geolumina's platform is a solution that leverages data analytics to enhance skills, scale insights, and improve efficiency for subsurface companies.
  • Gophr acts as the "Priceline" of logistics, using AI to provide instant shipping quotes and optimize dispatch for anything from paper clips to rocket ships.
  • IoT++ simplifies industrial IoT with a secure, AI-enabled ecosystem of plug-and-play edge devices.
  • Kiana's hardware-agnostic solution secures people, assets, and locations using existing Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, UWB, and cameras, helping energy and manufacturing companies reduce risks and enhance operations.
  • Novity uses AI and physics models to accurately predict machine faults, helping factory operators minimize downtime by knowing the remaining useful life of their machines.
  • Promecav is redefining crude oil conditioning with patented technology that slashes water use and energy while reducing toxic exposure for safer, cleaner, and more sustainable oil processing.
  • RaftMind's enterprise AI solution transforms how businesses manage knowledge. Our advanced platform makes it easier to process data and unlock insights from diverse sources.
  • Spindletop AI uses edge-based machine learning to make each well an autonomous, self-optimizing unit, cutting costs, emissions, and cloud dependence.
  • Taikun.ai combines generative AI with SCADA data to create virtual industrial engineers, augmenting human teams for pennies an hour.
  • Telemetry Insight’s platform utilizes high-resolution accelerometer data to simplify oilfield monitoring and optimize marginal wells for U.S. oil and gas producers via actionable insights.
  • Visual Logging utilizes fiber optic and computer vision technology to deliver real-time monitoring solutions, significantly enhancing data accuracy by providing precise insights into well casing integrity and flow conditions.

“Each startup brings unique solutions to the table, and we are eager to see how these technologies will evolve with NOV’s support and expertise,” Billy Grandy, general partner of Venture Builder VC, says in the release. “This partnership reflects our ongoing commitment to nurturing talent and driving innovation within the energy sector.”

Venture Builder VC is a consulting firm, investor, and accelerator program.

“Unlike mergers and acquisitions, the venture client model allows corporations like NOV to quickly test and implement new technologies without committing to an acquisition or risking significant investment,” Grandy previously said about the accelerator program.

Houston investor leads Houston climatetech startup's $5.6M seed to transform energy-efficient HVAC challenges

local funding

A Houston startup with clean tech originating out of NASA has secured millions in funding.

Helix Earth Technologies closed an oversubscribed $5.6 million seed funding led by Houston-based research and investment firm Veriten. Anthropocene Ventures, Semilla Capital, and others including individual investors also participated in the round.

“This investment will empower the Helix Earth team to accelerate the development and deployment of our first groundbreaking hardware technology designed to disrupt a significant portion of the commercial air conditioning market, an industry that is ready for innovation,” Rawand Rasheed, Helix Earth co-founder and CEO, says in a news release.

Helix Earth was founded based on NASA technology co-invented by Rasheed and spun out of Rice University and has been incubated at Greentown Labs in Houston since 2022. Currently being piloted, the technology is estimated to save up to half of the net energy used in commercial air conditioning, reducing both emissions and costs for operators.

“The enthusiastic response from investors reinforces our team’s confidence in our ability to transform innovation-starved sectors such as commercial air conditioning with an easy-to-install-and-maintain solution that benefits distributors, mechanical contractors, and most of all, building owners, with a positive benefit to the environment,” Rasheed says.

Prior to its raise, the company received grant funding from the National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Energy.

“We couldn’t be more excited to partner with the Helix Earth team," Maynard Holt, Veriten’s founder and CEO, adds. "We were so impressed with their unique combination of a technology with broad applicability across multiple industries, a product that will have an immediate and measurable impact on our energy system, and a fantastic and well-rounded team.”

Helix Earth, per the release, reports that is also looking to provide solutions for commercial humidity control and carbon capture.

———

This article originally ran on InnovationMap.

Report: Texas trails behind in cycling safety, sustainability

share the road

In what will come as no surprise to cyclists around Houston, the state of Texas is not a good place for bicycle riding. According to a new report of the "Most Cycling-Friendly States in the U.S.," Texas comes in at No. 47 — meaning that only three other states are worse.

The report, from Philadelphia personal injury law firm KaplunMarx, examines all 50 states based on six metrics: Air quality index, the number of cyclist deaths per one million residents, bike routes per square mile, local government actions supporting cycling, federal funding for cycling projects, and bicycle laws.

Texas musters a mere 31 points out of 100 for its "cycling friendly score."

The most cycling friendly state in the U.S.: Minnesota, which earned 84 points to claim the title.

According to the report's findings, there have been 15 local government actions per capita in Texas that integrate pedestrians and cyclists in transportation projects. Texas' has a 41 air quality index value, and there are approximately 1.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles in the state.

On cyclist deaths, Texas does a little better, with three cyclist deaths per one million residents in Texas — about nine percent lower than the national average.

According to KaplunMarx founding partner Ted Kaplun, there is an average of 857 cyclist fatalities in the U.S. every year. He adds that every measure or community effort to improve cyclist-friendliness is beneficial for all Americans.

"It's crucial for all states to continually assess and enhance their cycling provisions, learning from both high-ranking peers and their own experiences," he says.

Top-ranking Minnesota has only one cyclist death per one million state residents. It also has about 27.2 bike routes per 1,000 square miles.

After Minnesota, the remaining top five best states for cyclists are Massachusetts (No. 2), Rhode Island (No. 3), Washington (No. 4), and Iowa (No. 5).

At the bottom of the list are Nevada (No. 48), Arizona (No. 49), and Utah (No. 50) — all of which performed far worse than Texas to be declared the three least cycling-friendly states.

The entire country still has areas for improvement when it comes to creating a safer environment for cyclists, regardless of where each state landed on the list, according to Kaplun.

"With over 53 million Americans riding bicycles regularly, the importance of cycling-friendly infrastructure and safety measures cannot be overstated," said Kaplun in the report. "This isn't just about rankings – it's about enhancing the quality of life, promoting sustainable transportation, and most crucially, saving lives."

———

This article originally ran on CultureMap.

View All Listings