This month marks two years since Greentown Houston opened its doors, and we couldn’t be more thrilled with our community’s second year of climate action in Houston! Our 75+ member companies, corporate partner network, and collaborators across the climatetech ecosystem have taken incredible steps together to advance the energy transition in what we’re all proud to call the energy capital of the world. What has that looked like? 

Convening the ecosystem: Our region loves coming together to advance the energy transition, and it’s been a pleasure to connect with y’all at both Greentown and industry events. Some of our favorite moments included welcoming hundreds of you to our annual Climatetech Summit and having the opportunity to host Houston Tech Rodeo’s Energy/Green Tech afternoon! 

Connecting key climate champions: Collaboration among startups, corporates, municipalities, and more is critical to climate action, and this year we were proud to advance these partnerships through Greentown Go Energize 2022: the Low-Carbon Hydrogen Accelerator! Check out how the hydrogen-focused startup cohort worked with the City of Houston and program partners EPRI and Shell here. 

We also made it a priority to bring in climate, business, investor, and governmental leaders who are valuable for our startups to connect with and who were eager to learn how they can support our entrepreneurial community. We had far too many honored guests in the past year to list here, but a big highlight was U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm’s second visit to Greentown Houston! 

Bolstering Texas’s energy innovation: A major focus area for Greentown Houston this past year has been the Texas Entrepreneurship Exchange for Energy (TEX-E), a first-of-its-kind collaboration among The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, University of Houston, Rice University, and Prairie View A&M University—powered by Greentown and MIT’s Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship—to create a powerful, student-driven, energy entrepreneurship ecosystem in Texas. 

Just last month, we closed out the inaugural TEX-E Prize competition and awarded $50,000 to Texas students developing innovative technologies to advance the energy transition. We’re now accepting TEX-E Fellowship applications from students at participating schools; apply by April 23, and sign up for the TEX-E newsletter here! 

Looking back on all of these milestones, we want to acknowledge the importance of celebrating our anniversary on Earth Day. The climate crisis affects everyone—though not equitably—and everyone has a part to play in combating it. Whatever your skills and background, we hope you join us in the fight! Greentown Houston is still growing, and we would be thrilled to have you join our network, whether by becoming a startup member or corporate partner; investing in or working for our startups; or attending an event.

Want to learn more and see what Greentown is all about? We’re hosting our next Transition On Tap networking event on Thursday, April 27; we hope to see you there!

Warmly,
The Greentown Houston Team