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Dear Friends of Greentown Houston,

Happy CERAWeek! It was delightful to see so many of you at our Transition On Tap event last night, and we were excited to have our CEO Kevin Knobloch speak at a panel yesterday as well on university and incubator support for early-stage startups.

Yesterday was also the second annual TEX-E Prize pitch competition, hosted in partnership with the Houston Energy Transition Initiative (HETI) and the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship. Learn about the winners of this student business prize—a key initiative of the Texas Exchange for Energy and Climate Entrepreneurship (TEX-E)—who took home a total of $50k in cash prizes:

First place — Solidec: Solidec extracts the most sought-after molecules from the most sustainable sources. It upgrades molecular building blocks from water and air into pure chemicals and fuels, without any fossil-fuel emissions. Its team is from Rice University.
Second place — Coflux Purification: Coflux uses an in-stream module to break down PFAS using a novel foam for chemical-free water. By using Coflux, customers can avoid energy use (and emissions), using significantly less energy per gallon of water processed. Its team is from Rice University.
Third place — AirMax: AirMax is an HVAC retrofit system designed to materially increase efficiency of existing commercial air-conditioning equipment. Its proprietary system is engineered to reduce ongoing utility expenses and lower greenhouse gas emissions for grocers and big box retailers. Its team is from The University of Texas at Austin.

CERAWeek always showcases the vibrancy of Houston’s energy-transition ecosystem, and we’re excited to keep the momentum going long after this week’s events draw to a close. We hope you’ll join us at an event soon to engage with our community of world-changing entrepreneurs!

Warmly,
The Greentown Houston Team

Meet Our Newest Members

Decimetrix specializes in providing sustainability and energy-efficiency solutions for the energy industry, using data-driven, cloud-based, and AI-powered platforms to help its clients measure, manage, and reduce their carbon footprints.

Smartpipe Technologies’ high-pressure, reinforced-thermoplastic pipeline replacement has a low carbon footprint and built-in leak detection, health monitoring, and intrusion monitoring.

Member Milestones

Fervo Energy, which is working to deliver next-generation, carbon-free geothermal energy, raised $244M—including from Greentown partner Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Additionally, a Fervo Energy pilot was selected by the Biden-Harris Administration as one of three projects to receive up to $60M in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy to scale enhanced geothermal systems.
Syzygy Plasmonics, which is developing a new type of photocatalytic chemical reactor, signed a strategic investment agreement with Zeon Corporation to develop new methods for manufacturing materials.
Haffner Energy entered an MOU with Hexas Biomass to offer an integrated solution for producing renewable energy from biomass.
Solidec, a startup that upgrades molecular building blocks into pure chemicals and fuels without fossil-fuel emissions, received the One Small Step $100k Grant from The Office of Innovation at Rice University in support of lab-stage projects.
More than a dozen Greentown members and alumni were named to TIME's list of Top Greentech Companies 2024—including Advanced Ionics, Cleartrace, Ebb Carbon, Fervo Energy, Renewell, Syzygy Plasmonics, and more.

Mark Your Calendars for These Upcoming Events

March 27: Accelerating Net-Zero Solutions: CCUS Innovation and Startup Showcase [Greentown Houston]
Watch the Go Make 2023 cohort pitch their innovations in carbon utilization, storage, and traceability; hear about their work with Shell throughout the startup-corporate-partnerships accelerator; and learn from CCUS industry experts at this program showcase.

March 28: Houston Ion District Investor Activation Program Workshop 1 [Greentown Houston]
The Houston Ion District Investor Activation Program—a collaboration between Greentown and The Ion to educate and activate the region’s investor community to catalyze climatetech solutions—is hosting its first workshop, in partnership with the Houston Angel Network. Join the Investor Activation Program here!

April 2: Cleantech Open Houston Kickoff Event [Greentown Houston]
Join this kickoff to learn about Cleantech Open’s 2024 Accelerator Program, which will run from June through August.

April 11: Greentown Houston Career Fair [Greentown Houston]
Calling all professionals, students, and soon-to-be graduates! Join us for the Greentown Houston Career Fair, which focuses on connecting professionals directly with Greentown Houston’s network of founders, CEOs, and cutting-edge climatetech startups looking for bright and eager talent. This event is sponsored by ITExperience, which will lead a career workshop.

April 19: TEX-E Conference [Ecosystem Event]
The inaugural, student-led TEX-E Conference aims to provide a platform for students from top Texas universities and business leaders to come together and share their insights, experiences, and cutting-edge energy innovations.

May 1-3: NREL Industry Growth Forum [Ecosystem Event]
The Industry Growth Forum is a leading event for climatetech entrepreneurs, investors, and other industry experts to build relationships, showcase innovative technologies, and identify disruptive business solutions. Greentown members and alumni Capro-X, CERT Systems, Celadyne, Osmoses, Teknobuilt, Carbonova, and Maple Materials will be presenting at this year’s event!

Greentown is Hiring!

Nonprofit Chief Financial and Administrative Officer (Houston, TX or Somerville, MA)
Facilities Manager (Houston, TX)

Thank You to Our Founding + Grand Opening Partners 🌎

Meet the TEX-E Prize Winners

From The Ecosystem

Meet the TEX-E Prize Winners