The Energy Tech Venture Forum, hosted by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, named 10 energy companies "most promising" by energy investors, highlighting them for driving innovations that shift energy practices toward a more sustainable, reliable and lower carbon future.
For two decades, Rice Alliance's Energy Tech Venture Forum has remained the epicenter for connecting energy pioneers, visionary investors, forward-thinking corporations and the broader energy ecosystem. The Sept. 21 event featured interactive panels, three keynote speakers and more than 50 venture pitches, providing a platform to explore the cutting edge of energy technology.
Fourteen of the venture pitches came from companies presenting their "Demo Day" pitches as part of the culmination of Class 3 of the Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator, whose mission is to support the success of emerging, tech-enabled ventures advancing decarbonization solutions and efficiency strategies that accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy.
This year's forum spotlighted over 90 innovative technology ventures, each on the brink of helping change the energy landscape. These ventures offered a glimpse into the future of clean and renewable energy, underscoring the potential for groundbreaking advancements.
Following nearly 700 one-on-one meetings between investors and startups during the event's "office hours," 10 companies out of the 95 participating were selected by investors as "most promising."
The awards were presented by TC Energy, and the companies awarded include:
- Polystyvert has developed a breakthrough technology for recycling polystyrene using a dissolution process that works on all types of polystyrene: expanded, extruded and injection-molded.
- Mirico helps companies deliver on their net zero journey by measuring the real emissions from their operations using sensors to gather high quality data then providing actionable insights.
- Protein Evolution uses a combination of green chemistry and enzyme technology to break down polyester textile waste into the raw materials of new polyester.
- Ayrton Energy is developing liquid organic hydrogen carrier storage technology to enable safe, scalable distribution of hydrogen without the need for cryogenics and pressure.
- Carbonloop creates a circular economy by converting CO2 into liquid fuel and other high-value products.
- Mobilus Labs' voice first solution empowers frontline workers to communicate, collaborate and enable digital workflows safely and effectively in any environment.
- 1s1 Energy is developing next-generation electrolyzers for low-cost green hydrogen production based on proprietary materials science and engineering innovations.
- Numat is a global leader in the field of precision chemistries designed to reduce the negative impact of chemical products and processes on human health and the environment.
- Mantel is developing thermally efficient and low-cost carbon capture technology to help the world reduce atmospheric CO2 levels.
- Mars Materials sequesters CO2 into acrylonitrile to meet growing feedstock and decarbonization demands in carbon fiber and wastewater treatment chemical markets.
Attendees also selected Galatea Technologies as their favorite of the presenting companies. Galatea is considered one of the energy industry's best technology platforms to digitalize, optimize and automate transportation workflows, enabling businesses with the data and tools necessary to maximize operational, financial and environmental performance.
Past presenting companies at this event have raised over $7.8 billion in funding, and this year's group of companies are poised for similar success.
Reflecting on this milestone, the 20th annual Energy Tech Venture Forum not only celebrated past achievements but also ignited a vision for the innovative energy transition solutions of the future, said Brad Burke, managing director of the Rice Alliance.
"The forum reinforced the need and the commitment of the energy industry to lead the way towards a more sustainable, reliable and lower carbon future," he said. "We are honored to be a part of transition that can benefit Houston and beyond."
