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

Houston innovator tackles tire waste with hot new plant launching in 2025

listen in

Vibhu Sharma, founder and CEO of InnoVent Renewables, saw a huge opportunity for cleaner tire waste. Photo via LinkedIn

Vibhu Sharma observed a huge sustainability problem within the automotive industry, and he was tired of no one doing anything about it.

"Globally, humans dispose 1 billion tires every year," Sharma says on the Houston Innovators Podcast. "It's a massive environmental and public health problem because these tires can take hundreds of years to break down, and what they start doing is leaking chemicals into the soil."

Today, 98 percent of all tires end up in landfills, Sharma says, and this waste contributes to a multitude of problems — from mosquito and pest infestation to chemical leaks and fire hazards. That's why he founded InnoVent Renewables, a Houston-based company that uses its proprietary continuous pyrolysis technology to convert waste tires into valuable fuels, steel, and chemicals.

While the process of pyrolysis — decomposing materials using high heat — isn't new, InnoVent's process has a potential to be uniquely impactful. As Sharma explains on the show, he's targeting areas with an existing supply of waste tires. The company's first plant — located in Monterrey, Mexico — is expected to go online early in the new year, an impressive accomplishment considering Sharma started his company just over a year ago and bootstrapped the business with only a friends and family round of funding.

"It's about 16 months or so from start to commercial operations, which is phenomenal when you consider what it takes to build and operate a chemical or petrochemical facility," Sharma says.

Currently, with the facility close to operations, Sharma is looking to secure customers for the plant's products — which includes diesel, steel, and carbon black — and he doesn't have to look too far out of the automotive industry for his potential customer base. Additionally, the plant should be net zero by day one, since Sharma says he will be using the output to fuel operations.

While the first facility is in Mexico, Sharma says they are already looking at potential secondary locations with Texas at the top of his list. Houston, where Sharma has worked for 26 years, has been a strategic headquarters for InnoVent.

"When it came to doing the research and development, we were able to work with experts in the Houston and Texas areas to test out our idea and validate it," Sharma says. "One thing that gets under appreciated about Houston is how well it's connected to the rest of the world. There are so many direct connections between Houston and Latin America, as well as Europe, Middle East, and Asia."

"I also find that the Houston ecosystem is very supportive of new companies and helping them grow," he adds.

———

This article originally ran on InnovationMap.

Tired of slow tire decomposition? This Houston company has a solution. Photo via InnoVentRenewables.com

New Houston company launches to turn recycled materials into fuel

renewables

Every year, over a billion tires are disposed of globally, and, while in use, tires are used to reach maximum speed on the road, their decomposition times are inordinately slow.

Houston-based InnoVent Renewables has a solution. The company launched this week to drive renewable energy forward with its proprietary continuous pyrolysis technology that is able to convert waste tires, plastics, and biomass into fuels and chemicals.

“We are thrilled to formally launch InnoVent Renewables and plan to ramp-up operations into early 2024," InnoVent Renewables CEO Vibhu Sharma says in a news release. “Our investors, strategic advisors, and management team are all fully committed to our success as we address the global challenge of waste tires. We firmly believe our proven process, deployed at scale globally, will have a huge positive impact on our climate and fill a clear environment need.”

While InnoVent Renewables has only just launched, Sharma has worked in the space for years with his company InnoVent Technology, a technology and consulting company working with clients on turnkey process technology and asset management solutions within the process and manufacturing industries.

During InnoVent's unique material breakdown process, its pyrolysis technology recovers chemicals from the products, and produces high-quality fuels — in in a net-zero capacity. The company's products include renewable pyrolysis oil, or PyOil; aromatics; recovered carbon black, or rCB; and steel wire. PyOil, according to InnoVent's website, can be sold as fuel oil, off-road diesel, or used as a feedstock to crude blending.

"The InnoVent team conducted product quality analysis in conjunction with a world renowned research facility and results were further validated and scaled up in 2022, using comprehensive process simulation software and pre-engineering design work for scale-up," reads the InnoVent website.

Headquartered in Houston, the company has operations in Pune, India, and Monterrey, Mexico, with plans for aggressive growth across North America and Latin America. Specifically, InnoVent is planning to open a commercial production plant in Monterrey next year. Down the road, the company's team hopes to expand in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.

Ad Placement 300x100
Ad Placement 300x600

CultureMap Emails are Awesome

Property Showcase

Italian clean energy co. selects The Woodlands for North American HQ

new HQ

An Italian renewable energy company has picked The Woodlands for its North American headquarters.

AB Energy USA will occupy about 11,000 square feet in The Woodlands Towers at The Waterway. The company expects to add about 45 jobs in The Woodlands this year. Beginning in 2027, AB Energy USA will add another 30 jobs over a five-year period.

The new headquarters will be the corporate and governance hub for all of AB Energy’s North American subsidiaries. AB Energy, an arm of Italy-based AB, supplies renewable natural gas systems for industrial, commercial and data center customers. AB has operated in the U.S. since 2014.

“Establishing our North American headquarters in the Energy Capital of the World is a strategic step in AB’s long-term commitment to the U.S. market,” Paolo Ruggeri, North American CEO for AB Energy USA, said in a news release. “Houston gives us access to world-class engineering and energy talent, and strengthens our ability to attract and grow a high-performing team.”

Jevon Gibb, CEO of The Woodlands Area Economic Development Partnership, said several markets competed for AB Energy’s North American headquarters.

“AB’s decision to establish its North American headquarters here demonstrates The Woodlands’ competitiveness for both international companies and energy sector leaders,” Gibb said.

40+ teams to pitch at annual CERAWeek clean energy competition

energy venture day

The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, the Houston Energy Transition Initiative (HETI), the Texas Entrepreneurship Exchange for Energy (TEX-E) and the Ion have named the 30-plus energy ventures and teams that will pitch at the 2026 Energy Venture Day and Pitch Competition during CERAWeek this month.

The selected ventures are "driving efficiency and advancements toward the energy transition," according to the Rice Alliance. Each will each present a 3.5-minute pitch before a network of investors and industry partners during CERAWeek's Agora program on Wednesday, March 25, from noon-5:30 p.m.

The competition is divided up into the TEX-E university track, in which Texas student-led energy startups compete for $50,000 in cash prizes, and the industry ventures track.

Teams competing in the TEX-E Prize track include:

  • GOES
  • Quantum Power System
  • Quas
  • Resonant Thermal Systems
  • Srijan

The industry track is subdivided into three additional tracks, spanning materials to clean energy and will feature 37 companies. A group of expert judges will name the top three companies from each industry track. The winner of the CERAWeek competition will also have the chance to advance and compete for the $1 million investment prize at the Startup World Cup in November 2026.

Teams come from around the world, including several Houston-based ventures, such as Agellus Tank Robotics, Capwell Services and Corrolytics.

The full list of companies pitching at CERAWeek includes:

  • Agellus Tank Robotics
  • Airovation Technologies
  • Anax Power
  • Armeta
  • ATS Energy
  • Capwell Services
  • CarbonLume
  • Cogniprise
  • Corrolytics
  • Daphne Technology
  • Gemini Energy
  • Grid8
  • H Quest Vanguard
  • intcom
  • Ionada Canada
  • Junipix
  • Kunin Technologies
  • LAVA Power
  • Licube
  • LNK Energies
  • Maverick X
  • Membravo
  • Mirico
  • Mocean Energy
  • Monitorai
  • OCOchem
  • Oleo
  • Pix Force
  • PolyJoule
  • Power to Hydrogen
  • Sotaog
  • Spotlight
  • Tierra Climate
  • Verdagy
  • Via Separations
  • Vycarb
  • ZettaJoule

Those not attending CERAWeek can catch these companies and more than a dozen others at a pitch preview at the Ion. The free Pitch Preview will be held Tuesday, March 24, from 9 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Click here to register.

Additional companies pitching during the free preview include:

  • Ammobia
  • Arolytics
  • Ayrton Energy
  • ChainWeave
  • Cybereum
  • Energytech
  • ENP Technologies
  • KP Labs
  • Mcatalysis
  • Mitico
  • Mote
  • Nanos
  • New Horizon Oil and Gas
  • Predyct
  • Salem Robotics
  • Toluai

Two Rice University student teams took home top prizes during last year's TEX-E competition, while ventures from New Jersey, Wyoming and Virgina won in their respective industry tracks. See the full list of last year's winners here.

ExxonMobil to move legal home to Texas, citing business-friendliness

ExxonMobil is poised to move its legal headquarters from New Jersey to Texas in search of a more friendly business environment, the company announced March 10.

The board of directors for the largest U.S.-based oil producing company, which already runs its operations from the Houston suburb of Spring, unanimously recommended to its shareholders that they vote to redomicile the company in Texas.

Shareholders will vote on the change at the company’s annual meeting on May 27. If successful, it will move Exxon’s legal home for the first time since it registered in New Jersey in 1882 as Standard Oil Company — the company later changed its name to Exxon, then merged with Mobil Oil Corp.

“Over the past several years, Texas has made a noticeable effort to embrace the business community,” ExxonMobil Chair and CEO Darren Woods wrote in a statement Tuesday. “In doing so, it has created a policy and regulatory environment that can allow the company to maximize shareholder value. Aligning our legal home with our operating home, in a state that understands our business and has a stake in the company’s success, is important.”

The proposed move will not affect the company’s business operations or employee locations, the company said.

ExxonMobil has been headquartered in Texas since 1989, and about 30% of its employees currently work in the state.

The location of a company’s incorporation dictates the legal, tax and regulatory landscape for the business.

Exxon would join Tesla, Space X and Coinbase as major U.S. companies to redomicile in Texas in recent years as the state moves to become more business friendly.

In 2023, the Legislature passed and Gov. Greg Abbott signed a law that created the Texas Business Court and the 15th Court of Appeals, specialized legal venues designed to handle business and commercial disputes. Those courts began operating in 2024.

Last year, the Legislature also approved a law that made it more difficult to sue board members of companies incorporated in Texas.

“Freed from the stranglehold of over-regulation, Texas is where global brand leaders thrive and jobs for hardworking Texans grow,” Abbott wrote in a Tuesday statement. “I thank ExxonMobil for their decision to redomicile in Texas and for their long-standing partnership with our state. With this decision, Texas will further dominate the corporate landscape and ensure our economic growth reaches new heights.”

Exxon noted the creation of the business courts and other recent legal reforms made by Texas in its statement announcing the decision.

“In making its recommendation, the Board considered Texas’ legal and regulatory environment, including its modernized business statutes and the Texas Business Court, which is designed to resolve complex disputes efficiently,” the statement said.

Texas has benefited from growing frustration among company executives with traditional corporate havens of New Jersey and Delaware. New Jersey sued Exxon in 2022, alleging the company contributed to climate change, which forced the state to pay for cleanup after natural disasters. The lawsuit was dismissed last year.

Delaware remains the nation’s top state for U.S. companies’ legal home.

Coinbase’s CEO wrote last year that the company was reincorporating from Delaware to Texas because the Lone Star State’s legal framework is more predictable and efficient. Tesla reincorporated from Delaware to Texas after a 2024 court ruling ordered CEO Elon Musk to give up a compensation package, finding that the package’s shareholder approval process was “deeply flawed.”

___

This story was originally published by The Texas Tribune and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.

View All Listings