Startups to Watch

New Mexico has a diverse selection of startups making exciting moves in industries like biotechnology, aerospace and hydrogen energy.

And there are a lot of resources available to help these burgeoning young companies throughout the Land of Enchantment grow, whether they come from the south desert near Las Cruces or are tucked under the Jemez Mountains in Los Alamos.

Last year, New Mexico Inno highlighted 10 such companies in its inaugural Startups to Watch List. Now, that List is back, packed with 10 more startups that we think are primed for a big 2023.

Startups to Watch honorees were selected by the Albuquerque Business First editorial team. New Mexico Inno Reporter Jacob Maranda led the search. When considering each honoree, he looked at how the startups performed in 2022, as well as what they have planned in 2023.

All of the startups are featured in a special print edition of Business First published on Feb. 3. In the coming days online, you'll also have a chance to read about each business and learn about the work they are doing to grow their startups in New Mexico and beyond.

Transporting and storing clean energy so that it can be used over long periods of time — and far away from where it's produced — has proven to be a challenge for transitioning to a net-zero fossil fuel emissions future. This New Mexico startup thinks it has a solution.

Breeze Inc. is developing a way to create, transport and store electricity in idle pipelines using compressed air.

The Albuquerque-based startup, which also operates in Alberta, Canada, was incorporated in April 2020.

The idea to use compressed air for clean energy production came from a conversation Mike Orshan, a board member and co-founder of Breeze, had with a scientist from Sandia National Laboratories. He and Chris Connors, a co-founder and manager of operations for Breeze, thought about putting compressed air in pipelines after a meeting with industry experts in Alberta.

"We're reusing infrastructure, so our capital expense is pretty low," Orshan said. "We could store the compressed air in those pipelines for almost as long as you need it, so it's a storage vehicle."

Breeze closed a seed funding round for $200,000 near the end of January. That money will support the development of a compressed air technology prototype. Connors said the prototype would be finished by the end of February.

Once the prototype is ready, Connors said he plans to launch a Series A round for $7 million that he hopes to close by June. The company has already been in talks with possible investors, Orshan said.

And thanks to plenty of existing infrastructure and workers, Orshan sees ample opportunity in New Mexico.

"There's one of the largest workforces here in New Mexico of pipeline workers," Orshan said. "As we implement renewable energy, there's more pipelines available and less being built, so our approach would be a great way to bring that workforce into the renewable world."