Nine companies were named most promising at the annual Rice Alliance Energy Venture Day and Pitch Competition at CERAWeek March 12, co-hosted with the Houston Energy Transition Initiative and TEX-E. The event showcases energy ventures driving efficiency and advancements toward the energy transition through fields such as carbon management, advanced manufacturing, hydrogen, grid technology and more. This year’s competition was a qualifying event for the Startup World Cup, powered by Pegasus Ventures. The top-scoring venture is invited to compete in the grand finale for a $1 million investment prize.
The fast-paced competition is designed to connect energy startups with venture capitalists, corporate innovation groups, industry leaders, academics and service providers. Prior to the competition, energy ventures participated in one-on-one meetings with investors. Close to 50 investor groups participated in over 450 meetings with the companies.
Three tracks of competition featured 36 industry startups, and one track, the TEX-E Prize, featured five university startups. The companies pitched in the Innovation Agora at CERAWeek in front of a full crowd of industry leaders.
The startups represented five countries and 15 states and have collectively raised $435 million in funding. A panel of judges consisting of industry experts and investors named the top three ventures from each track.
Track A: Hydrogen, Fuel Cells, Buildings, Water and Other Energy Solutions
- Arculus Solutions
- Drishya AI Labs
- espiku
Track B: Advanced Manufacturing, Materials, Fossil Energy and Carbon Management
- Disa Technologies
- MITICO
- OXCCU
Track C: Industrial Efficiency, Decarbonization, Electricity and the Grid
- NearStar Fusion
- Carbon Negative Solutions
- Quino Energy
The overall winner is Arculus Solutions, which received an invitation to compete in the Startup World Cup.
Additionally, Venture Builder offered a “golden ticket” to Membravo to participate in the NOV Supernova Accelerator program.
The TEX-E Prize highlighted the innovation of five Texas student-led energy startups that competed for $50,000 in cash prizes where the top three were selected by the judges.
First place, $25,000:
- HEXASpec — Rice University: HEXASpec unlocks future computing power by enhancing semiconductor chips’ thermal conductivity.
Second place, $15,000:
- Nanoborne — University of Texas McCombs School of Business: Nanoborne is a petroleum and geosystems engineering company focusing on research and development in applied nanotechnology.
Third place, $10,000:
- Pattern Materials – Rice University: Pattern Materials transforms the production of graphene and carbon nanotubelike patterns through their propriety laser induced graphene and laser induced flash graphene technology.
Learn more about the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship here.