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HETI Pitch Competition Shines Light on Houston’s Energy Transition Ecosystem

Published Mar 09, 2023 by Brina Morales

HETI Pitch Competition CERAWeek 2023

Startups focused on trying to solve one of the biggest challenges of our times presented their business concepts during the annual Houston Energy Transition Initiative Energy Ventures Pitch Competition at CERAWeek, the world’s premiere energy conference.  

“Energy and climatetech innovation have most definitely found a home in Houston – and I have been amazed by the speed of growth we’ve seen here in just the last year,” said Jane Stricker, Executive Director of HETI.  “More and more founders and investors are seeing Houston as the place to develop and grow energy transition technologies and businesses to scale.” 

RedShift Energy, which is this year's recipient of the "Chevron Favorite" award, uses plasma energy to produce hydrogen from hydrogen sulfide without emitting carbon. The company is currently participating in Halliburton Labs' Clean Energy Accelerator, allowing them to identify opportunities and challenges as they work to scale their technologies. Howard Nelson, CEO of RedShift Energy, said the company's participation in programs like Halliburton Labs is key for success.

"As Houston is the Energy Transition Hub, if not just for the U.S., probably the entire world, having a sophisticated network and environment for advancing new ideas to fruition is a key reason to participate," Nelson said.

A total of 16 startups serving the energy transition participated in the competition. The startups were grouped to compete across four categories: Seed/Pre-Seed, Series A, Series B/Project Financing and Texas Entrepreneurship Exchange for Energy (TEX-E). A panel of judges selected the top pitch in each category. Here are the winners that were recognized in each category:

Most Promising Startups

Pre-Seed/Seed (Sponsored by Alchemy Industrial) - early-stage startups at the beginning of their journey

Series A (Sponsored by SLB) - startups with a proven product or market fit seeking expansion 

Series B (Sponsored by Pana LCE Investments) - more established startups with strong growth opportunities. 

Chevron Favorite – The Chevron Tech Ventures Catalyst Program evaluated all 16 startups to choose a favorite for an opportunity to participate in the program.  

TEX-E awarded funding to the top three startups: 

 

 

To learn more about HETI and the global energy transition, click here.

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