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Dear Friends of Greentown Houston,

It’s been an exciting month of events here at Greentown!

Thank you to the job seekers who joined us and Alberto Treviño III, Commissioner Representing Labor for the Texas Workforce Commission, for a career fair with our startups. We also enjoyed welcoming investors from throughout Greater Houston for the first workshop of our Houston Ion District Investor Activation Program. (If you’re a local investor who’s interested in exploring climatetech investing, it’s not too late to sign up for the program!)

In late March, CCUS experts and innovators gathered for the Go Make 2023 Final Showcase, which featured six carbon-management startups that have spent the past six months working closely with Shell in this startup-corporate partnerships accelerator. Couldn’t make it? Find the recording here!

And just this week, we were honored to host the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Chief Commercialization Officer and Director of the DOE’s Office of Technology Transitions Dr. Vanessa Z. Chan for a roundtable where she connected with Greentown startups and leaders from our corporate, investor, and university networks. The conversation focused on fund theses, investor interests, how startups can work with the DOE, and more.

Looking ahead, our next event is a Transition On Tap networking evening on May 8, which is the week of OTC 2024. We hope to see you there!

Warmly,
The Greentown Houston Team

Member Milestones

CalWave Power Technologies was selected as the technology provider for an Indigenous-led wave energy project in Yuquot, British Columbia with the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation (MMFN).
Element Resources will produce more than 20,000 tons of green hydrogen annually to Chart Industries in Lancaster, CA, making it one of the largest green-hydrogen projects in the state.
Fervo Energy, which is working to deliver next-generation, carbon-free geothermal energy, and Syzygy Plasmonics, which is developing a new type of photocatalytic chemical reactor, were named to Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies in Energy for 2024. Syzygy Plasmonics also won the 2024 Next Gen Award for low-carbon fuels and energy sources from Decarb Connect North America.
Cemvita spun out two of its business units into independent companies: Gold H2, focused on subsurface biomanufacturing of natural hydrogen, and Endolith, dedicated to synthetic biology for sustainable mining.
Greentown members and alumni were selected to join Scale for ClimateTech’s fifth cohort, including Celadyne Technologies, AeroShield Materials, MicroEra Power, Carbon to Stone, Mitico, Clean Crop Technologies, and GenH.

Startup Spotlights

Capwell captures and destroys methane leaked by old oil and gas wells, which emit an estimated 290 kilotons of methane annually in the United States. Learn more about the startup’s modular, transportable, and affordable technology.

Mars Materials is disrupting the $13B+ acrylonitrile market with a carbon-capture-based version of the widely used substance, which is traditionally made from petrochemicals and creates toxic byproducts. Here’s how the startup is working to make everything from computer keyboards to paper-pulp manufacturing more sustainable.

Fun fact: Mars Materials recently hosted Bill Gates for a tour of its lab!

Open Applications

Applications are open for Year 4 of the Carbon to Value Initiative—a collaboration from the Urban Future Lab at NYU Tandon School of Engineering, Greentown, and Fraunhofer USA designed to catalyze a thriving carbontech ecosystem. For this year’s accelerator cohort, we’re looking for startups at TRL 4-7 that are developing carbontech solutions across carbon conversion to added-value products, carbon capture, and carbon sequestration and removal. Read the full request for applications and apply by June 21!

The Texas Exchange for Energy and Climate Entrepreneurship (TEX-E) is seeking applicants for its 2024-2025 fellowship program! Designed for students who are eager to lead on energy and climate entrepreneurship, this fellowship offers access to hands-on experiences including internships, entrepreneurship bootcamps, pitch competitions, courses, and conferences. Applications are due April 22, and the program is open to students at any level enrolled at participating TEX-E schools: The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, University of Houston, Rice University, Prairie View A&M University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Greentown is Hiring!

Vice President of Philanthropy (Houston, TX or Somerville, MA)
Grant Writer (Houston, TX or Somerville, MA)

Thank You to Our Founding + Grand Opening Partners 🌎

Network with the Energy-transition Ecosystem on May 8!

From The Ecosystem

Network with the Energy-transition Ecosystem on May 8!