Houston to welcome national, global energy startups, innovators to showcase region’s leadership at citywide conference, co-hosted by Rice Alliance

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Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week begins Sept. 15 and exemplifies how Houston is developing and scaling real solutions for the challenge of meeting growing global energy demand while reducing carbon emissions. Born out of a mission to showcase the cutting-edge technology development and energy transition leadership happening in Houston across multiple flagship organizations, the second annual week of events and activations runs through Sept. 19.

Rice University’s Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship led the founding of the week last year, alongside other regional leaders, and returns to host events that anchor the week and bring together global energy startups and investors in the Houston energy ecosystem.

Startups and later-stage ventures solving energy and climate challenges will have the opportunity to present their technologies and solutions to top venture capital, private equity and corporate strategic investors. These capital sources are coming to Houston from across the country to engage with startups and take a deeper look at the city’s ecosystem.

Speakers, panels, pitches and discussions will take place across Houston with several hosted at the Ion, the heart of Houston’s innovation corridor in Midtown powered by Rice.

“Last year’s inaugural week was incredible, and we’re excited to build on the momentum this year,” said Brad Burke, associate vice president for industry and new ventures at Rice Innovation and executive director of the Rice Alliance. “We saw more than 125 startups and welcomed more than 1,400 attendees in 2024 throughout 30 individually hosted events — numbers that will only increase as this week becomes a Houston tradition for groundbreaking technologies and innovations.”

The Rice Alliance Energy Tech Venture Forum, in its 22nd year, has grown significantly since its inception and is widely considered the premier venture capital energy tech conference in the region. As an anchor event for the week, 75 investor groups will participate in one-on-one venture office hours and will take more than 650 individual meetings. Spanning nine countries and 19 states and having raised $780 million in funding, nearly 100 energy ventures will participate in this event. More than 40 speakers, from innovation executives at global energy corporations and leading venture capitalists to artificial intelligence experts in energy, will speak during the forum. Registration is currently open for the Sept. 18 conference.

Another featured event hosted by the Rice Alliance is the Ion Open House Sept. 17. Startups, corporates and community spaces will open their doors with tech expos and startup booths in a rare opportunity for guests to experience multiple floors and suites throughout the innovation hub. Registration is limited and open through Sept. 16.

A few of the week’s other events feature the next generation of talent, including the Sept. 16 Activate Houston 2025 Cohort gathering; the Sept. 18 Greentown Labs Accel Showcase with startups led by people of color and other underrepresented founders; and the Sept. 19 Halliburton Labs Finalists Pitch Day which features new energy technology.

This community-led effort is coordinated by a group of regional organizations, academic institutions and corporations in the Houston ecosystem, including Rice Alliance, Halliburton Labs, Greentown Labs, Activate, Collide, New Climate Ventures and the Houston Energy Transition Initiative. Additional leading organizations are hosting events including global trade organizations, deep-tech investors, universities, global corporations and more.

See the full agenda here.