Houston energy tech platform Molecule closes series B funding

energy software

Molecule has closed its latest investment round. Photo via Getty Images

Houston-based energy trading risk management (ETRM) software company Molecule has completed a successful series B round for an undisclosed amount, according to a July 16 release from the company.

The raise was led by Sundance Growth, a California-based software growth equity firm.

Sameer Soleja, founder and CEO of Molecule, said in the release that the funding will allow the company to "double down on product innovation, grow our team, and reach even more markets."

Molecule closed a $12 million Series A round in 2021, led by Houston-based Mercury Fund, and has since seen significant growth. The company, which was founded in 2012, has expanded its customer base across the U.S., U.K., Europe, Canada and South America, according to the release.

Additionally, it has launched two new modules of its software platform. Its Hive module, which debuted in 2022, enables clients to manage their energy portfolio and renewable credits together in one scalable platform. It also introduced Elektra, an add-on for the power market to its platform, which allows for complex power market trading.

"Four years ago, we committed to becoming the leading platform for energy trading," Soleja said in the release. "Today, our customers are managing complex power and renewable portfolios across multiple jurisdictions, all within Molecule.”

Molecule is also known for its data-as-a-lake platform, Bigbang, which enables energy ETRM and commodities trading and risk management (CTRM) customers to automatically import trade data from Molecule and then merge it with various sources to conduct queries and analysis.

“Molecule is doing something very few companies in energy tech have done: combining mission-critical depth with cloud-native, scalable technology,” Christian Stewart, Sundance Growth managing director, added in the statement. “Sameer and his team have built a platform that’s not only powerful, but user-friendly—a rare combination in enterprise software. We’re thrilled to partner with Molecule as they continue to grow and transform the energy trading and risk management market.”

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Houston-based Collide plans to use its seed funding to accelerate the development of its GenAI platform for the energy industry. Photo via Getty Images.

Houston energy-focused AI platform raises $5M in Mercury-led seed round

fresh funding

Houston-based Collide, a provider of generative artificial intelligence for the energy sector, has raised $5 million in seed funding led by Houston’s Mercury Fund.

Other investors in the seed round include Bryan Sheffield, founder of Austin-based Parsley Energy, which was acquired by Dallas-based Pioneer Natural Resources in 2021; Billy Quinn, founder and managing partner of Dallas-based private equity firm Pearl Energy Investments; and David Albin, co-founder and former managing partner of Dallas-based private equity firm NGP Capital Partners.

“(Collide) co-founders Collin McLelland and Chuck Yates bring a unique understanding of the oil and gas industry,” Blair Garrou, managing partner at Mercury, said in a news release. “Their backgrounds, combined with Collide’s proprietary knowledge base, create a significant and strategic moat for the platform.”

Collide, founded in 2022, says the funding will enable the company to accelerate the development of its GenAI platform. GenAI creates digital content such as images, videos, text, and music.

Originally launched by Houston media organization Digital Wildcatters as “a professional network and digital community for technical discussions and knowledge sharing,” the company says it will now shift its focus to rolling out its enterprise-level, AI-enabled solution.

Collide explains that its platform gathers and synthesizes data from trusted sources to deliver industry insights for oil and gas professionals. Unlike platforms such as OpenAI, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot, Collide’s platform “uniquely accesses a comprehensive, industry-specific knowledge base, including technical papers, internal processes, and a curated Q&A database tailored to energy professionals,” the company said.

Collide says its approximately 6,000 platform users span 122 countries.

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Houston scientists unveil faster, low-energy method to recycle lithium-ion batteries

Battery breakthrough

Rice University researchers have uncovered a more energy-efficient and faster way to recycle critical minerals from used lithium-ion batteries.

Traditional methods rely on high heat, long processing times and harsh chemicals to recover a small fraction of critical materials from batteries used in everything from smartphones to electric vehicles. However, the team from Rice's Department of Materials Science and Nanoengineering developed a process that uses a water-based solution containing amino chlorides to extract more metals in less time

The team published the findings in a recent edition of the scientific journal Small.

Simon King, a sophomore studying chemical and biomolecular engineering who completed this work as a summer research fellow at the Rice Advanced Materials Institute, served as first author of the study. He worked with corresponding authors Pulickel Ajayan, the Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor of Engineering, and Sohini Bhattacharyya, a research scientist in Ajayan’s lab.

By using a hydroxylammonium chloride (HACI) solution, the team achieved roughly 65 percent extraction of key battery metals in just one minute at room temperature, according to the study. The efficiencies grew to roughly 75 percent for several metals under longer processing times.

“We were surprised by just how fast the reaction occurs, especially without the involvement of high temperatures,” King said in a news release. “Within the first minute, we’re already seeing the majority of the metal extraction take place.”

By not requiring high temperatures or long reaction times, Rice predicts the process could have a major impact on cost and the environmental impact of lithium battery recycling. Additionally, the water-based HACI solution makes waste handling easier and lowers certain environmental risks.

In addition to extracting the materials, the team went on to demonstrate that the recovered metals could be recycled and reprocessed into new battery materials.

“A big advantage of this system is that it works under relatively mild conditions,” Ajayan added in the release. “That opens the door to more sustainable and scalable recycling technologies.”

Fervo IPO leads Houston energy transition headlines for April

Hot Topics

Editor's note: The top Houston energy transition news of the month includes Fervo's official steps towards an IPO and Houston universities teaming up for recycling innovation. Below are the five most-read EnergyCapital stories published April 16-30, 2026:

Fervo Energy officially files for initial public offering

Fervo Energy has officially filed for IPO. The Houston-based geothermal unicorn filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on April 17 to list its Class A common stock on the Nasdaq exchange. Fervo intends to be listed under the ticker symbol "FRVO." Continue reading.

Fervo Energy adds former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, other leaders to board

As it prepares for a highly anticipated IPO, Houston-based geothermal power provider Fervo Energy has added four heavyweights to its board of directors. The most notable new board member is Meg Whitman, former CEO of eBay, Hewlett-Packard, and Spring-based HPE, and former U.S. ambassador to Kenya. She joined the Fervo board as lead independent director. Continue reading.

Tesla's EV Robotaxis officially launch in Texas' largest metros

Tesla’s Robotaxi service has taken to the streets of Houston. In a brief statement Saturday, April 18 on its X social media account, Tesla Robotaxi says the autonomous rideshare service just launched in Texas’ two biggest metro areas — Houston and Dallas. Continue reading.

Halliburton Labs names 4 new clean energy startups to incubator

Four new companies have joined Halliburton Labs, the incubator for early-stage energy and climate startups run by Houston energy giant Halliburton. Halliburton Labs provides the emerging companies with mentorship, industry connections, laboratory access and other resources as they work toward commercialization. Continue reading.

Rice, UH launch joint effort to accelerate plastics recycling solutions

Institutes at two Houston universities are joining forces to help position the city as a global leader in plastics recycling innovation. The Center for Energy Studies (CES) at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and the University of Houston’s Energy Transition Institute (UH-ETI) have announced a strategic partnership that aims to develop real-world solutions for plastic recycling. Continue reading.

Houston-area plastics company debuts state-of-the-art headquarters

new hq

Ultra-high-performance plastics company Drake Plastics officially opened its new state-of-the-art, 140,000-square-foot manufacturing center and corporate office in Cypress last month.

Dubbed “Drake HQ, ” the new facility was built to align with Harris County’s clean energy goals and features a 1.3-megawatt solar generation plant designed to offset 50 percent of the plant’s power consumption.

The facility is designed as a “factory ranch,” and is intended to blend in with its natural surroundings. With the expanded campus, Drake says it looks to serve existing and new customers in the semiconductor, aerospace, energy and defense industries.

The new headquarters is designed as a "factory ranch" and features a solar generation plant to offset half of its power consumption. Photo via LinkedIn

“We are thrilled to open the doors of our new headquarters in the area where it all began,” Drake Plastics President Steven Quance said in a news release. “We are honored to have reinvested in the community that has supported our growth and success over the past three decades.”

Drake Plastics cut the ribbon on March 26 at the new facility, which also marked the company’s 30th anniversary in the Cypress area. The company launched in 1996 with four employees and has grown to employ more than 100 staff members, according to a LinkedIn post.

Drake Plastics is a globally recognized leader in ultra-high-performance polymer manufacturing and specializes in extrusion, injection molding, precision machining, machine building, engineering and distribution. According to the company, its new Cypress facilty is one of the largest in the world that processes these high-performance polymers.

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