Seven Houston startups are among the newest members of a climate tech incubator.
Somerville, Massachusetts-based Greentown Labs, which also has a location at 4200 San Jacinto St. in Houston, named 17 new startups as members of both locations in a June 21 announcement wrapping up its activities in the second quarter of 2023. The companies specialize in technologies ranging from agriculture and carbon footprint reduction to manufacturing.
Here are the seven new Greentown Houston members:
- Eologix is developing a monitoring platform for wind turbine operators that allows measurement of blade angle and ice as well as temperature.
- Kauel is working with artificial intelligence for threat detection and monitoring, including the forecasting of natural disasters.
- NW NA is an operator of high-power electric charging stations, distributed electricity storage units, and micro-electricity production units. The company is affiliated with the France-based NW Groupe.
- H2Pro is reworking traditional green hydrogen production through electrolysis by introducing an additional chemical step to produce the hydrogen and oxygen separately.
- Helix Earth Technologies uses technology developed at NASA to improve air conditioning energy efficiency and carbon capture and storage. The company won the first TEX-E Prize, a startup competition born out of a collaboration between the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, the University of Houston, Rice University and Prairie View A&M University.
- Imperium Technology’s product reduces greenhouse gas emissions from industrial heating by correcting failures in steam systems.
- SkyH20 generates and scales water production from the atmosphere for use in commercial and industrial settings.
In addition to the Houston memberships, Greentown Labs also introduced six new members participating in the Carbon to Value Initiative, an accelerator that drives carbon tech innovation. Greentown officials confirmed these companies are not tied to a specific location but rotate between Boston, New York and Houston as part of the program.
Greentown Labs Houston opened on Earth Day 2021. The Houston location is at the site of a former Fiesta grocery store that closed in July 2020 amid declining sales and increasing competition around Midtown. Rice University had owned the property since October 2017, Harris Central Appraisal District records show. Rice Management Co. is developing the Greentown Labs site as part of the 16-acre Midtown Innovation District, which also includes the Ion on Main Street.
Also recently, Greentown Labs partnered with Boston-based nonprofit Browning the Green Space to launch an accelerator called Advancing Climatetech and Clean Energy Leaders, or ACCEL, aimed at diversifying entrepreneurs in the climate tech space. ACCEL’s first cohort was announced in February 2023 and included two Houston-based companies.
Turmoil in the venture ecosystem, including a funding downturn at the end of 2022 and the collapse of startup-friendly Silicon Valley Bank in the first quarter of 2023, led to investment in the climate tech field dropping by 36% from Q4 2022 to Q1 2023, according to Pitchbook.
However, Pitchbook also found that carbon and emissions tech remained resilient in venture capital deals, logging 212 venture capital deals totaling $3.6 billion in the first quarter nationwide.
Two Greentown Labs Houston members have seen sizable investments in the first quarter. Ohmium received a $250 million Series C round from Houston-based Energy Transition Ventures and Fort Worth-based TPG Capital, which the company will use to open its first Houston office.
Meanwhile, Ambient Fuels received a $250 million commitment from Generate Capital for its green hydrogen projects in May. Ambient CEO Jacob Susman told the Houston Business Journal the company hoped to have clients for its hydrogen electrolyzers signed by the end of 2023.
