We opened the doors to Greentown Houston—a former grocery store in the burgeoning Ion Innovation District—on Earth Day 2021, and since then, it’s hard to describe how far Houston’s climate and energy innovation ecosystem has come.
As home to the world’s biggest energy and commodities incumbents, world-class academic institutions, and incredible engineering talent, there’s no question that Houston is central to the energy transition and global climate goals.
In the last five years, we’ve:
- Supported more than 320 startups and are currently supporting 117 member companies
- Connected dozens of corporates with startups—shoutout to Founding and Grand Opening Partners Chevron, Shell, Vinson & Elkins, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas), BHP, Bechtel, Naturgy, Wells Fargo, SCF Partners, and Tudor, Pickering, & Holt for supporting our community for all five years so far (and many more to come!)
- Built out our lab and prototyping capabilities for members, including our Stanley, Black, & Decker tool shops and equipment donations from Emerson and Puffer
- Spun out TEX-E to catalyze the next generation of university entrepreneurial talent
- Hosted dozens of international trade and innovation groups looking to Houston as an example, including our Ecosystem Exchanges with delegations from Norway and Australia with partners Equinor and Woodside Energy
- Hosted annual Climatetech Summits, helped launch Houston Energy and Climate Startup Week, and hosted thousands of attendees at networking events, career fairs, demo days, investor-activation programs, and beyond
But we haven’t done it alone. We’re grateful to our collaborators at the Houston Energy Transition Initiative, Rice Alliance, Ion Houston, Activate, the City of Houston, and so many others whose leadership has catalyzed this ecosystem’s growth and will continue to do so for years to come!
Above all, we’re thankful to the entrepreneurs at the heart of it all whose ideas are already transforming the industries of the future!
Scroll on for a photo gallery from Greentown Houston’s first five years and join us for a trip down memory lane.
