These are the 10 most promising energy tech startups, according to judges at Rice Alliance forum

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From software and IoT to decarbonization and nanotech, here's what 10 energy tech startups you should look out for. Photo via Getty Images

This week, energy startups pitched virtually for venture capitalists — as well as over 1,000 attendees — as a part of Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship's 18th annual Energy and Clean Tech Venture Forum.

At the close of the three-day event, Rice Alliance announced its 10 most-promising energy tech companies. Here's which companies stood out from the rest.

W7energy

Based in Delaware, W7energy has created a zero-emission fuel cell electric vehicle technology supported by PiperION polymers. The startup's founders aim to provide a more reliable green energy that is 33 percent cheaper to make.

"With ion exchange polymer, we can achieve high ionic conductivity while maintaining mechanical strength," the company's website reads. "Because of the platform nature of the chemistry, the chemical and physical properties of the polymer membranes can be tuned to the desired application."

Modumetal

Modumetal, which has its HQ in Washington and an office locally as well, is a nanotechnology company focused on improving industrial materials. The company was founded in 2006 by Christina Lomasney and John Whitaker and developed a patented electrochemical process to produce nanolaminated metal alloys, according to Modumetal's website.

Tri-D Dynamics

San Francisco-based Tri-D Dynamics has developed a suite of smart metal products. The company's Bytepipe product claims to be the world's first smart casing that can collect key information — such as leak detection, temperatures, and diagnostic indicators — from underground and deliver it to workers.

SeekOps

A drone company based in Austin, SeekOps can quickly retrieve and deliver emissions data for its clients with its advance sensor technology. The company, founded in 2017, uses its drone and sensor pairing can help reduce emissions at a low cost.

Akselos

Switzerland-based Akselos has been using digital twin technology since its founding in 2012 to help energy companies analyze their optimization within their infrastructure.

Osperity

Osperity, based in Houston's Galleria area, is a software company that uses artificial intelligence to analyze and monitor industrial operations to translate the observations into strategic intelligence. The technology allows for cost-effective remote monitoring for its clients.

DroneDeploy

DroneDeploy — based in San Francisco and founded in 2013 — has raised over $92 million (according to Crunchbase) for its cloud-based drone mapping and analytics platform. According to the website, DroneDeploy has over 5,000 clients worldwide across oil and gas, construction, and other industries.

HEBI Robotics

Pittsburgh-based HEBI Robotics gives its clients the tools to build custom robotics. Founded 2014, HEBI has clients — such as NASA, Siemens, Ericsson — across industries.

CarbonFree Chemicals

CarbonFree Chemicals, based in San Antonio and founded in 2016, has created a technology to turn carbon emissions to useable solid carbonates.

SensorUp

Canadian Internet of Things company, SensorUp Inc. is a location intelligence platform founded in 2011. The technology specializes in real-time analysis of industrial operations.

"Whether you are working with legacy systems or new sensors, we provide an innovative platform that brings your IoT together for automated operations and processes," the company's website reads.

The show had to go on at the annual Energy Tech Venture Day, which was put on virtually by the Rice Alliance on May 7. Zukiman Mohamad/Pexels

13 Houston energy tech startups pitch at Rice Alliance's first virtual event

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Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship's annual Energy Tech Venture Day is usually hosted as a part of the Offshore Technology Conference that takes over NRG Center each May. However, when OTC announced its cancelation, Rice Alliance made sure the show would go on.

"We had many startups and corporations reach out to us and ask us if we could go ahead with the event in a virtual format, so that's how we ended up where we are today," says Brad Burke, managing director of the Rice Alliance at the start of the event.

Throughout the two-hour pitch event, 39 startups pitched their companies in two minutes and 30 seconds or less. The companies were selected based on input from the alliance's energy advisory board. The companies, Burke says, represent innovations across the energy industry.

An additional 24 companies participated in virtual office hours with investors through a speed-networking process.

"We know that the needs of startups to raise capital, to find customers, and to find pilots is even greater today than it was several months ago," Burke says. "And we know that the needs of energy companies to find innovative technologies to reduce costs and increase production are even greater as well."

Usually at this event, the advisory board decides on the 10 most promising energy tech startups, however, this list will not be revealed this year.

Of the startups that pitched that represented 11 different states and six different countries, 13 call Houston their HQ. Here's what local startups pitched.

Bluware

Bluware's E&P clients use the startup's cloud computing and deep learning technology to access seismic data. This data is crucial for geoscientists to make faster and smarter decisions to reduce time to oil. Bluware's headquarters is in West Houston, and has an European office in Norway.

DAMorphe

Southwest Houston-based DAMorphe uses nanotechnology to provide solutions within oil and gas — among other sectors, including life sciences, consumer goods, and more. Within O&G specifically, the company has designed dissolvable frac plugs and balls with superior performance and lower cost, as well as a flowable sensor for downhole measurements.

dataVediK

Early-stage Houston startup dataVediK focusing on enterprise digital transformation with a plan to create an artificial intelligence platform for collaboration between data scientists and domain experts to provide tech solutions for oil and gas — such as optimizing operations costs and productivity, enhancing safety, and more.

DelfinSia

Houston-based Delfin specializes in text analytics and is working with two oil supermajors. Sia, Delfin's product, is a virtual adviser, able to reference a client's unstructured data in real-time to ensure that decisions are fully informed. Users can simply ask Sia a question and get the best answers from company data.

Flutura Decision Sciences and Analytics

Flutura's motto is to promote actions — not just insights with data. The company's main product is Cerebra uses artificial intelligence and industrial internet of things to connect the dots within the oil and gas supply chain. Flutura's clients include Shell, Honeywell, Henkel, TechnipFMC, Patterson UTI, ABB, BJ Services, Daimler Benz, and more.

MyPass Global

A workforce management system, MyPass Global is putting the power of data into the hands of the individual workers at oil and gas companies and is creating digital work skills passport for each employee. The startup has developed a network of over 180 business partners across Australia, New Zealand, and the United States, which includes more than 27,000 registered workers.

Nomad Proppant Services

For E&P companies, Nomad is revolutionizing the way sand is delivered and used by wells. The average well uses 10,000 tons of sand, and that means trucking that volume via long hauls. However, Nomad has created a new, mobile mine that can save 25 percent of the company's spend on sand.

Osperity

Houston-based Osperity's technology provides AI-driven intelligent visual monitoring for industrial operations that can result in improved safety, reduced carbon footprints, and more. The company has more than 40 industrial customers using its monitoring services. Osperity offices in the Galleria area and has a location in Calgary.

PhDsoft Technology

PhDsoft, an engineering technology company, has created a technology specializing in industrial digital twins. The company's 4D software, PhDC4D®, can predict the effect of time and elements on equipment and facilities, which can save its industrial clients money and downtime of its machinery, as well as improve safety conditions.

Quidnet Energy

Clean energy tech company, Quidnet Energy, is providing electricity storage solutions that are cost effective and are able to be used long term. Quidnet uses traditional pumped hydro storage that, before the company, was restricted to specific terrains. The company offices out of downtown Houston.

SOTAOG

Data analytics company SOTAOG wants to be one-stop shop for its energy clients' data needs. SOTAOG's proprietary algorithms can provide real-time data that can improve operations and create cost-saving initiatives. The company works out of The Cannon's West Houston campus.

Voyager

Houston-based software startup Voyager is making waves in the maritime bulk-shipping industry. Whether shipping plans are transporting crude oil and LNG or complex offshore rig movements, Voyager can replace the thousands of logistics emails shared across several companies and bring communications and data onto one platform. The company's main office is in downtown Houston, but also has an office in Brazil.

WellNoz

WellNoz creates inflow control devices, or ICDs, for its oil and gas industry clients. The downhole devices are crucial for controlling the opening and closing of the well. WellNoz's device is made from a proprietary metal alloy that remains strong to remain closed when required, and then dissolves after a certain time to open up the valve. The startup's first client is Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, which will will purchase 10,000 ICDs each year for the next five years.

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Ty Audronis and his company, Tempest Droneworx, made a splash at SXSW Interactive 2025, winning the Best Speed Pitch award at the annual festival. The company is known for it flagship product, Harbinger, a software solution that agnostically gathers data at virtually any scale and presents that data in easy-to-understand visualizations using a video game engine. Audronis says his company won based on its merits and the impact it’s making and will make on the world, beginning with agriculture. Learn more.

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Houston-based Persona AI and CEO Nicolaus Radford continue to make steps toward deploying a rugged humanoid robot, and with that comes the expansion of its operations at Houston's Ion. Radford and company will establish a state-of-the-art development center in the prominent corner suite on the first floor of the building, with the expansion slated to begin in June. “We chose the Ion because it’s more than just a building — it’s a thriving innovation ecosystem,” Radford says. Learn more.

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Editor's note: It's time to look back at the top Houston innovation news from the second half of May 2025. From exciting VC raises to major manufacturing facilities in the works, here are the most-read InnovationMap stories from May 16-30.

1. Pharmaceutical giant looks to bring $5.9 billion facility to Houston

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2. Houston VC firm closes $21M fund for underrepresented founders

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Houston-based South Loop Ventures recently closed its debut fund for more than $21 million, led by investments from Rice Management Company and Chevron Technology Ventures.

The funds will go toward teams with at least one underrepresented founder of color working in the energy, health, space, sports and fintech sectors. Additional investments came from The Great Commission Foundation of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, Texas CapitalBank and others organizations. Continue reading.

3. Houston-founded startup raises $1.2M and moves headquarters to Detroit

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The new degree program will be part of the university's department of computer science in the George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing and is one of only a few like it in the country. It aims to focus on "responsible and interdisciplinary approaches to AI," according to a news release from the university.

“We are in a moment of rapid transformation driven by AI, and Rice is committed to preparing students not just to participate in that future but to shape it responsibly,” Amy Dittmar, the Howard R. Hughes Provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said in the release. “This new major builds on our strengths in computing and education and is a vital part of our broader vision to lead in ethical AI and deliver real-world solutions across health, sustainability and resilient communities.”

John Greiner, an assistant teaching professor of computer science in Rice's online Master of Computer Science program, will serve as the new program's director. Vicente Ordóñez-Román, an associate professor of computer science, was also instrumental in developing and approving the new major.

Until now, Rice students could study AI through elective courses and an advanced degree. The new bachelor's degree program opens up deeper learning opportunities to undergrads by blending traditional engineering and math requirements with other courses on ethics and philosophy as they relate to AI.

“With the major, we’re really setting out a curriculum that makes sense as a whole,” Greiner said in the release. “We are not simply taking a collection of courses that have been created already and putting a new wrapper around them. We’re actually creating a brand new curriculum. Most of the required courses are brand new courses designed for this major.”

Students in the program will also benefit from resources through Rice’s growing AI ecosystem, like the Ken Kennedy Institute, which focuses on AI solutions and ethical AI. The university also opened its new AI-focused "innovation factory," Rice Nexus, earlier this year.

“We have been building expertise in artificial intelligence,” Ordóñez-Román added in the release. “There are people working here on natural language processing, information retrieval systems for machine learning, more theoretical machine learning, quantum machine learning. We have a lot of expertise in these areas, and I think we’re trying to leverage that strength we’re building.”

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