Meet the Houston investor that's bridging the gap between big energy companies and startups

Houston innovators podcast episode 4

Patrick Lewis co-founded BBL Ventures that helps connect energy companies to startups that have innovative technology solutions for their pain points. Courtesy of Patrick Lewis

The energy industry is at an inflection point. In order to compete, oil and gas companies are really focusing on innovation and engaging startups. That's where Patrick Lewis comes in.

Lewis, co-founder of BBL Ventures, has been a tech investor in the Houston innovation ecosystem for about 25 years, and he started seeing an opportunity to help large companies identify their pain points and connect them with startups that have the technology to design solutions. He created BBL Ventures — and an accelerator for its portfolio companies, BBL Labs out of Station Houston — to become a matchmaker of sorts for big corporations and the startups that can help them stay competitive.

"At our core, we're an investment firm, but our mission statement is to be the innovation partner for the energy and natural resources industry," Lewis says on the fourth episode of the Houston Innovators Podcast.

The key element to BBL's model is the reverse-style pitch. Rather than hosting a pitch competition with a wide range of energy tech startups, BBL teamed up with ExxonMobil earlier this year and identified two specific robotics problems and called for startups to pitch solutions.

After the success of the reverse pitch, BBL hosted an Emerging Technology Symposium at The Cannon last month. The event brought together individuals on both sides of the table — the corporates and the startups — further bridging the gap between the two.

Lewis discusses BBL's past success and future plans, as well as what keeps him up at night as a tech investor in Houston on this week's podcast. Check it out below and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.


A new pitch competition with ExxonMobil and BBL Ventures has officially launched. Getty Images

ExxonMobil teams up with new Houston venture capital fund for a different type of pitch competition

Reverse pitch

Most solutions start with identifying a problem, then creating a solution. So, why should a startup work any other way? ExxonMobil and BBL Ventures have teamed up to flip the script on a pitch competition. The ExxonMobil Spring Energy Challenge is asking startups to solve two specific problems for the chance to win $60,000.

The reverse pitch event is focused on robotics technology and will take place the week of April 17. The deadline for startups to enter is March 29. Houston-based BBL Ventures is an early stage venture capital firm based in Station Houston that focuses on startups that are solving the problems of major oil companies. It launched last month and is currently in its first cohort of startups.

"BBL Ventures is excited to be working with a forward-thinking partner like ExxonMobil, engaging the external innovation ecosystem is a key step in advancing the energy industry's continued success," says Patrick Lewis, managing partner of BBL Ventures, in a release.

Not only is the $60,000 prize on the line, but if Exxon likes a pitch, they could select it for a pilot program.

The reverse pitch contest is asking for solutions to two problems ExxonMobil employees actually encounter. The first is regarding the opening process equipment, with the goal being to "create a method to stop exposure to flow or residual material," according to the website. The company needs a device that works remotely, thus reducing the risk of exposure and contact with the material for technicians.

The other problem ExxonMobil is looking to solve has to do with reducing arc flash that result in exposure to electrical charges. The company has "identified the promotion of personal safety as a priority action in addressing and reducing negative events on campuses globally," the website says.

All the specifics for these two issues are available online.

This type of reverse pitch process is exactly what BBL Labs and its venture arm seeks to do. Lewis works with a type of software that allows for energy company employees to flag their pain points on a daily basis. BBL uses this data to identify major problems and seek solutions. Another big part of the energy innovation sector is not having enough funds to cultivate good ideas and solutions.

"Energy tech is a grossly underfunded industry. Venture capitalists hate it — the hyper cyclical industry, extremely long sales cycles, slow adopters — but that creates opportunities," Lewis tells InnovationMap in a previous article.

From a new energy tech accelerator to an oil and gas podcasts, these three entrepreneurs have some names to remember. Courtesy photos

3 Houston energy tech innovators to know this week

Who's who

While Houston has historically been known as an oil and gas town, it's been slow on the uptake for being known for its energy tech — something these three entrepreneurs are looking to change. From a new energy startup accelerator to an oil and gas podcast, these three energy tech innovators are ones to know this week.

Jacob Corley and Collin McClelland, co-hosts of the Oil and Gas Startups Podcast

Courtesy of Oil and Gas Startups Podcast

Despite having experience in the oil and gas field and in entrepreneurship, Jacob Corley and Collin McClelland learn something new each episode of the Oil and Gas Startups Podcast. The show has seen surprising success to the duo and has been attracting around a thousand new listeners each week.

"You think thing not many people would listen to a podcast that's so focused on something they do for their job, but that's completely wrong," Corley says.

The primary goal for the pair is to share the stories of entrepreneurs who are revolutionizing an industry that tends to be known as a slow adaptor or conservative. Great startups exist here in Houston, and McClelland and Corley want to tell you about them.

"We kind of wanted to bridge the gap between Silicon Valley and oil and gas and show the world what was going on in the industry — and specifically in Houston," McLelland says. Click here to read more.

Patrick Lewis, managing partner of BBL Ventures

Patrick Lewis has worked for years trying to rethink how energy companies and private equity interact with startups. Startups have trouble proving themselves to big oil and gas companies and private equity things energy tech is more trouble than its worth.

"Energy tech is a grossly underfunded industry. Venture capitalists hate it — the hyper cyclical industry, extremely long sales cycles, slow adopters — but that creates opportunities," Lewis says.

But Lewis, managing partner of BBL Ventures, has created a software that tracks oil companies' pain points and then allows him to tap startups that are solving those issues. Now, with BBL Labs, Lewis and his team will help to accelerate these energy tech startups into the market. Click here to read more.

A new energy-focused startup accelerator hopes to better connect the dots between big companies and tech startups. Getty Images

Houston venture capital fund launches energy-focused startup accelerator program

hi, tech

While being renown as the energy capital of the world, Houston doesn't have an active oil and gas-focused accelerator program for the various startups rising in the energy industry. That is, until now.

Houston-based BBL Ventures, an early stage capital fund for energy startups, has announced BBL Labs, a new accelerator is based in Station Houston. BBLL is accepting applications for its inaugural cohort by February 22.

"BBLV looks forward to engaging in this partnership to drive entrepreneurial innovation focused on identified challenges and technology gaps in the global energy and natural resources industry," says Patrick Lewis, managing partner at BBLVentures, in a release.

BBLL will use BBLV's data on what the oil and gas industry needs from new tech startups as well as its connections to big energy companies to better connect the dots within the accelerator program.

Historically, tech startups focused on oil and gas solutions have a lot of trouble finding funding and validation in the industry — for a few reasons, Lewis says. On one hand, there's a disconnect between oil and gas companies and the startups that have solutions to industry problems, and on the other, the VC funds aren't there.

"Energy tech is a grossly underfunded industry. Venture capitalists hate it — the hyper cyclical industry, extremely long sales cycles, slow adopters — but that creates opportunities," Lewis says.

So what BBL's venture arm has done is flip the script on this way energy startups and big oil companies have traditionally functioned. Currently, it's up to the energy startups to tell large energy companies why their company or industry needs new technology to solve a problem. But what BBL has realized with it's venture arm is that it's much more efficient if the industry figures out its greatest technology needs and then looks for companies solving that problem. To do that, BBL's Innovation Navigator Software acts as a tool for energy employees to identify pain points.

"We've built software that's meant to be used pervasively across the organization — from the drilling engineer out in the field to the global office manager to the CTO," Lewis says.

These employees can log their daily pain points in the system, categorize them, and flag their priority. BBL takes that information, develop a reverse pitch, and market it to the startup ecosystem globally to identify companies that are addressing the problems of these energy employees.

BBL will use this proprietary pain point data to drive the new accelerator to produce a cohort of 10 startups creating technology that oil and gas companies have already indicated they need. Each cohort will go through six months of programing located in Station Houston. The two entities will collaborate on resources including lab space, investment, advisory services, mentorship, and more.

"Station Houston exists to support startups and with BBL Labs now inside our four walls, we can offer the Houston startup community access to even more resources and support," says Station CEO Gabriella Rowe. "At the same time, our 130 mentors are ready to roll up their sleeves and help these businesses get off the ground and start making an impact."

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Houston edtech company closes oversubscribed $3M seed round

fresh funding

Houston-based edtech company TrueLeap Inc. closed an oversubscribed seed round last month.

The $3.3 million round was led by Joe Swinbank Family Limited Partnership, a venture capital firm based in Houston. Gamper Ventures, another Houston firm, also participated with additional strategic partners.

TrueLeap reports that the funding will support the large-scale rollout of its "edge AI, integrated learning systems and last-mile broadband across underserved communities."

“The last mile is where most digital transformation efforts break down,” Sandip Bordoloi, CEO and president of TrueLeap, said in a news release. “TrueLeap was built to operate where bandwidth is limited, power is unreliable, and institutions need real systems—not pilots. This round allows us to scale infrastructure that actually works on the ground.”

True Leap works to address the digital divide in education through its AI-powered education, workforce systems and digital services that are designed for underserved and low-connectivity communities.

The company has created infrastructure in Africa, India and rural America. Just this week, it announced an agreement with the City of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo to deploy a digital twin platform for its public education system that will allow provincial leaders to manage enrollment, staffing, infrastructure and performance with live data.

“What sets TrueLeap apart is their infrastructure mindset,” Joe Swinbank, General Partner at Joe Swinbank Family Limited Partnership, added in the news release. “They are building the physical and digital rails that allow entire ecosystems to function. The convergence of edge compute, connectivity, and services makes this a compelling global infrastructure opportunity.”

TrueLeap was founded by Bordoloi and Sunny Zhang and developed out of Born Global Ventures, a Houston venture studio focused on advancing immigrant-founded technology. It closed an oversubscribed pre-seed in 2024.

Texas space co. takes giant step toward lunar excavator deployment

Out of this world

Lunar exploration and development are currently hampered by the fact that the moon is largely devoid of necessary infrastructure, like spaceports. Such amenities need to be constructed remotely by autonomous vehicles, and making effective devices that can survive the harsh lunar surface long enough to complete construction projects is daunting.

Enter San Antonio-based Astroport Space Technologies. Founded in San Antonio in 2020, the company has become a major part of building plans beyond Earth, via its prototype excavator, and in early February, it completed an important field test of its new lunar excavator.

The new excavator is designed to function with California-based Astrolab's Flexible Logistics and Exploration (FLEX) rover, a highly modular vehicle that will perform a variety of functions on the surface of the moon.

In a recent demo, the Astroport prototype excavator successfully integrated with FLEX and proceeded to dig in a simulated lunar surface. The excavator collected an average of 207 lbs (94kg) of regolith (lunar surface dust) in just 3.5 minutes. It will need that speed to move the estimated 3,723 tons (3,378 tonnes) of regolith needed for a lunar spaceport.

After the successful test, both Astroport and Astrolab expressed confidence that the excavator was ready for deployment. "Leading with this successful excavator demo proves that our technology is no longer theoretical—it is operational," said Sam Ximenes, CEO of Astroport.

"This is the first of many implements in development that will turn Astrolab's FLEX rover into the 'Swiss Army Knife' of lunar construction. To meet the infrastructure needs of the emerging lunar economy, we must build the 'Port' before the 'Ship' arrives. By leveraging the FLEX platform, we are providing the Space Force, NASA, and commercial partners with a 'Shovel-Ready' construction capability to secure the lunar high ground."

"We are excited to provide the mobility backbone for Astroport's groundbreaking construction technology," said Jaret Matthews, CEO of Astrolab, in a release. "Astrolab is dedicated to establishing a viable lunar ecosystem. By combining our FLEX rover's versatility with Astroport's civil engineering expertise, we are delivering the essential capabilities required for a sustainable lunar economy."

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

Houston biotech co. raises $11M to advance ALS drug development

drug money

Houston-based clinical-stage biotechnology company Coya Therapeutics (NASDAQ: COYA) has raised $11.1 million in a private investment round.

India-based pharmaceuticals company Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Inc. led the round with a $10 million investment, according to a news release. New York-based investment firm Greenlight Capital, Coya’s largest institutional shareholder, contributed $1.1 million.

The funding was raised through a definitive securities purchase agreement for the purchase and sale of more than 2.5 million shares of Coya's common stock in a private placement at $4.40 per share.

Coya reports that it plans to use the proceeds to scale up manufacturing of low-dose interleukin-2 (IL-2), which is a component of its COYA 302 and will support the commercial readiness of the drug. COYA 302 enhances anti-inflammatory T cell function and suppresses harmful immune activity for treatment of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease.

The company received FDA acceptance for its investigational new drug application for COYA 302 for treating ALS and FTD this summer. Its ALSTARS Phase 2 clinical trial for ALS treatment launched this fall in the U.S. and Canada and has begun enrolling and dosing patients. Coya CEO Arun Swaminathan said in a letter to investors that the company also plans to advance its clinical programs for the drug for FTD therapy in 2026.

Coya was founded in 2021. The company merged with Nicoya Health Inc. in 2020 and raised $10 million in its series A the same year. It closed its IPO in January 2023 for more than $15 million. Its therapeutics uses innovative work from Houston Methodist's Dr. Stanley H. Appel.

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