Energy Tech Nexus names 8 startup winners from Pilotathon pitch event

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Eight startups were given awards at Energy Tech Nexus' Pilotathon. Photo via Getty Images.

Energy Tech Nexus held its Pilotathon and Showcase during the second annual Houston Energy & Climate Startup Week last month and granted awards to eight startups.

This year's event, focused on the theme "Energy Access and Resilience," offered 24 startups an opportunity to pitch their pilot projects.

"At Energy Tech Nexus, we recognize that scaling breakthrough energy technologies requires more than just capital—it demands strategic pilot partnerships," Nada Ahmed, founding Partner of Energy Tech Nexus, said in a release. "The Pilotathon serves as that critical bridge, creating a dynamic platform where established industry leaders and emerging startups collaborate to accelerate the deployment of solutions that will define our energy future."

Companies selected to participate in the Pilotathon and others from Energy Tech Nexus' COPILOT accelerator pitched at the event.

The Pilotathon winners included:

Best Overall Pilot Pitch: New Jersey-based Metal Light Inc., which is building a circular, solid metal fuel that will serve as a replacement for diesel fuel
Best Commercial Readiness Award: Oregon-based Espiku Inc. and Calgary-based Serenity Power. Espiku designs and develops water treatment and mineral extraction technologies that rely on low-pressure evaporative cycles. Serenity Power has developed a cutting-edge solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology.
Corporate Partners Choice Award: California-based Rushnu, which has developed its modular CarbonCatalyze™ units that generate carbon-negative feedstock and is producing valuable chemicals from CO2 and salt at wastewater treatment sites.
People’s Choice Award for Best Startup Showcase: Houston-based Resin8, an AI-powered marketplace for industrial assets and heavy equipment

The COPILOT winners included:

Best Overall Pilot Pitch: Wisconsin-based V-Glass, which has developed a next-generation, vacuum-insulated glass
Energy Resilience Champion Award: Phoenix-based EnKoat, which is creating advanced material solutions to decarbonize buildings
Energy Access Award: Dallas-based Janta Power, which is developing 3D solar towers
Most Impactful Pilot: Houston-based PolyQor, which converts plastic waste into high-performing construction materials

COPILOT partners with Browning the Green Space, a nonprofit that promotes diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the clean energy and climatetech sectors. The Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN²) at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory backs the COPILOT accelerator, where companies are tasked with developing pilot projects for their innovations. Read more about the inaugural cohort here.

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20-plus companies will pitch at Energy Tech Nexus' Pilotathon during Houston Energy & Climate Startup Week. Photo via Getty Images.

Energy Tech Nexus announces international startups to pitch at Pilotathon

Ready, Set, Pitch

Energy Tech Nexus will host its Pilotathon and Showcase as part of Houston Energy & Climate Startup Week next Tuesday, Sept. 16, featuring insightful talks from industry leaders and pitches from an international group of companies in the clean energy space.

This year's event will center around the theme "Energy Access and Resilience." Attendees will hear pitches from nine Pilotathon pitch companies, as well as the 14 companies that were named to Energy Tech Nexus' COPILOT accelerator earlier this year.

The nine Pilotathon pitch companies include:

Ontario-based AlumaPower, which has developed a breakthrough technology that converts the aluminum-air battery into a "galvanic generator," a long-duration energy source that runs on aluminum as a fuel
Calgary-based BioOilSolv, a chemical manufacturing company that has developed cutting-edge biomass-derived solvents
Atlanta-based Cultiv8 Fuels, which creates high-quality renewable fuel products derived from hemp
Newfoundland-based eDNAtec Inc., a leader in environmental genomics that analyzes biodiversity and ecological health
Oregon-based Espiku Inc., which designs and develops water treatment and mineral extraction technologies that rely on low-pressure evaporative cycles
New York-based Fast Metals Inc., which has developed a chemical process to extract valuable metals from complex toxic mine tailings that is capable of producing iron, aluminum, scandium, titanium and other rare earth elements using industrial waste and waste CO2 as inputs
New Jersey-based Metal Light Inc., which is building a circular, solid metal fuel that will serve as a replacement for diesel fuel
Glasgow-based Novosound, which designs and manufactures innovative ultrasound sensors using a thin-film technique to address the limitations of traditional ultrasound with applications in industrial, medical and wearable markets
Calgary-based Serenity Power, which has developed a cutting-edge solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology

The COPILOT accelerator companies include:

Accelerate Wind
Aquora Biosystems Inc.
EarthEn
Electromaim
EnKoat
GeoFuels
Harber Coatings Inc.
Janta Power
NanoSieve
PolyQor Inc.
Popper Power
Siva Powers America
ThermoShade
V-Glass Inc.

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Houston clean energy events announce keynote speakers from Fervo, Phillips 66

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Two Houston energy institutions will host their signature events this September and have named industry leaders as their keynote speakers.

The Rice Alliance Energy Tech Venture Forum and Greentown Lab's Climatetech Summit kick off Sept. 16. The events are part of Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week and Houston Energy and Climate Week.

The two-day Energy Tech Venture Forum will bring together climatech startups and professionals from around the world to hear pitches, participate in one-on-one office hours and connect with energy innovators.

Sean Maher, chief economist at Phillips 66, will open the forum with a keynote address on the macroeconomic forces shaping the energy industry. Maher also serves as vice president of investor relations at Phillips 66. He previously launched Third Gear Investments, a Houston-based energy investment firm.

Ira Ehrenpreis, founder and managing partner of DBL Partner, which manages more than $1 billion of capital and invests in companies driving social change, will present the keynote on the second day of the forum, Sept. 17. Ehrenpreis is a board member of Tesla and an investor of SpaceX. He will share insights on commercializing breakthrough technologies and what investors are looking for in today's energy innovations.

Applications for the Energy Tech Venture Forum close July 17. Register for the event here.

Fresh off a landmark IPO, Tim Latimer, co-founder and CEO of Houston-based Fervo Energy, will present the keynote at Greentown's Climatetech Summit. Latimer was recently named one of Fast Company's 2026 Visionaries of the Year.

He will be joined by Houston-based SCF Partners' David Baldwin, who will moderate the discussion. The conversation will focus on the timing of Fervo's IPO, what Latimer would have done differently at the early stages of the business, and why the company chose Houston as its headquarters.

The Climatetech Summit will bring together philanthropists, executives and innovators in the energy transition space. Greentown member startups will also present their pitches at the event. Learn more and secure tickets here.

13 Houston energy sector companies make U.S. News' best places to work

where to work

A new U.S. News & World Report ranking of the best employers has named two dozen Houston-based companies among the best companies to work in the South, and more than half are part of the region's booming energy sector.

U.S. News' prestigious "2026-2027 Best Companies to Work For" ratings examine 3,900 public and privately owned companies across 14 industries to help employees and job seekers make decisions about workplaces that may be a good fit.

Each company is rated on a scale of 1-5 across six metrics: quality of pay and benefits; work-life balance and flexibility; job and company stability; physical and psychological comfort; belongingness and esteem; and career opportunities and professional development.

"Job seekers' definitions of 'best' evolve with their needs," said Carly Chase, vice president of Careers at U.S. News. "From new grads in the AI era and seasoned pros seeking a career change, to HR leaders researching organizational trends, the ratings are a central hub that highlights businesses that U.S. News found effectively support their staff."

The number of employers headquartered in the Houston area that made the cut for 2026-2027 has skyrocketed over previous years. A total of 24 local public and private companies made the list this year, up from 16 companies in 2024 and 11 in 2025.

The highest concentration of top employers is located in Houston proper (20), followed by two companies in The Woodlands and one each in Kingwood and Spring.

Several leading Houston energy powerhouses on the list include petroleum corporation Occidental (Oxy) and oil and gas giants Chevron and Phillips 66.

Other energy sector companies on the list are:

EOG Resources, Houston
Targa Resources, Houston
TechnipFMC, Houston
Cheniere, Houston
Baker Hughes, Houston
KBR, Houston
CenterPoint Energy, Houston
Powell Industries
S&B, Houston
DXP, Houston

Here are the remaining best Houston-based companies to work for:

David Weekley Homes
Comfort Systems USA, Houston
Corebridge, Houston
Cornerstone Home Lending, Houston
Farouk, Houston
Hines, Houston
Insperity, Kingwood
HPE, Spring
Sterling Infrastructure, The Woodlands
LGI Homes, The Woodlands
PROS, Houston

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A version of this article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Texas City ammonia plant acquired by Yara in $1.3 billion deal

Ammonia Acquisition

Yara North America, a subsidiary of Norwegian fertilizer and ammonia producer Yara International, has agreed to buy an ammonia production plant in Texas City for $1.3 billion.

The seller is GCA Holdings, an affiliate of Texas City-based chemical manufacturer Gulf Coast Ammonia, which is owned by private equity firms Lotus Infrastructure Partners and MB Energy.

The Texas City plant, with an eventual annual capacity of 1.3 million metric tons, is expected to start full production by the end of this year. Yara says the ammonia produced by the plant will serve its own fertilizer production system and its key customers.

During a recent call with analysts and investors, Magnus Ankarstrand, executive vice president and CFO of Yara International, said the plant holds the potential to become one of the company’s most profitable plants. The $1.3 billion purchase price, he added, “is a very attractive entry ticket to ammonia production in the U.S. at a very attractive cost.”

The Texas City plant will add to Yara’s holdings in the Lone Star State, as Yara is the majority owner of an ammonia, hydrogen and nitrogen production plant in Freeport.

Construction of the ammonia plant began in 2020, but technical and infrastructure issues delayed the project. On its website, Gulf Coast Ammonia says the plant represented a $600 million investment.

“Gulf Coast Ammonia is a world-class asset that required disciplined execution across development, financing, construction, and commercial structuring,” Philipp Pletka, managing director of Lotus Infrastructure Partners, says in a news release.

Trexlertown, Pennsylvania-based Air Products, which owns and operates the country’s largest hydrogen pipeline network, will continue to supply hydrogen and nitrogen for the plant under a long-term deal with Yara, according to the release.

However, the news comes two days after Yara International announced that it would no longer be purchasing ammonia assets in the Louisiana Clean Energy Complex (LCEC) from Air Products. In a separate release, Yara said it planned to reallocate funds toward "alternative mature U.S. ammonia investment opportunities with more competitive returns."

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