Rice University's technology and entrepreneurship initiative was selected for an award from the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator.
The Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator's sixth round of Channel Partner Strategic Awards includes the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and six other winners.
The Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator, or IN², is administered with the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. The awards are intended to address gaps in the clean technology ecosystem and to assist startups as they work to commercialize their technologies. The seven winners will receive between $100,000 and $175,000 for projects helping companies focused on net-zero operations, electrification, sustainable agriculture and the circular economy.
The Rice Alliance's programs will work with historically Black colleges and universities and other diverse universities and colleges, their entrepreneurship centers, STEM departments and student entrepreneurship organizations to support clean tech startups. The programs aim to provide cash awards, travel stipends and participation in Rice events, including the Rice Business Plan Competition and the Energy Tech Venture Forum.
Last year, the Rice Alliance showcased more than a dozen clean technology companies during the Rice Alliance Energy Venture Day at the Offshore Technology Conference.
"Our Channel Partner network consists of more than 60 accelerators, incubators and universities that refer companies to the IN² program and provide mentoring and advice along the way," said Trish Cozart, incubator program manager at the DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory. "IN² de-risks investment and aims to act as a catalyst for each startup’s success. The Channel Partner Awards are a unique opportunity for the program to extend its reach and resources."
The other sixth-round Channel Partner winners are:
- BioGenerator (St. Louis)
- Browning the Green Space (Boston)
- Forge (Somerville, Massachusetts)
- Innosphere Ventures (Fort Collins, Colorado)
- Wilton E. Scott Institute for Energy Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh)
- Wisconsin Energy Institute at the University of Wisconsin (Madison)
The IN² program's Channel Partner network is made up of 63 clean tech and agriculture tech incubators, accelerators, universities and industry experts. The awards program has disbursed $6 million in competitive and non-competitive awards since it was launched in 2017.
Houston has seen a surge in interest in clean tech in the past few years. Houston-based oil field services giant Halliburton Co. (NYSE: HAL) launched Halliburton Labs in 2020, and Massachusetts-based Greentown Labs, North America’s largest climate-tech incubator, opened its Houston facility in April 2021. It's Greentown Labs' only facility outside of the Boston area.
Ahmad Atwan, founder and CEO of Houston-based clean tech investment firm VC Fuel, told the Houston Business Journal in November that his firm sees opportunity for renewable energy service companies in the new green economy. So VC Fuel is incubating a company to provide some of the services that have the highest value-add to renewable energy companies.
