Energytech Startups

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Aug 2026

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About the show

They say everything's bigger in Texas, including climate change. That's why Houston is leading the energy transition. Here in H-Town, the fourth largest city in the United States, entrepreneurs from across Texas and around the world are gathering to work with titans of industry to build the technology that will reduce emissions and power a low carbon future. Welcome to Energytech Startups with Nada Ahmed and Jason Ethier. We sit down with those change makers and wildcatters who are solving the toughest energy challenges with trillions of dollars on the line. We dig into how Houston will bring technology to market on a massive scale. Join us as we talk with the leaders of the energy capital of the world as they show us how the energy transition gets done.

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60 recent

August 4, 2026Episode 1021 hr 5 min

Jacob Vizinat & Jason Harry from Iron Stag Advisory & Pontem Analytics

Two engineers who spent years driving innovation inside a major oil company get honest about why the offshore world will land a robot at 20,000 psi but won't swap the pen and paper. Jacob Vizinat of Iron Stag Advisory and Jason Harry of Pontem Analytics unpack the corporate immune system, why the real value lives in the rock, the black magic of flow assurance, and how the right advisor can turn a single pilot into a real shot for energy tech founders. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy. Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward. Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 00:00 Intro 00:46 Meet Jacob and Jason 02:34 Life as a petroleum engineer 05:55 Driving innovation inside a major operator 08:26 Trading pen and paper for iPads 11:35 The corporate immune system 16:20 Why the value lives in the rock 26:32 Flow assurance and black magic 32:46 How short-term thinking kills innovation 36:00 Building advisory firms after the merger 38:35 Drones, robots, and the rare orchestrators 46:31 What it takes to go offshore 48:00 Reading the 2025 market 53:25 Why founders avoid the gold mine 56:02 Advice for early stage founders 1:01:12 Where to find them https://twitter.com/collide_ai https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai

July 22, 2026Episode 10150 min

Gabe Cuadra from Powerhouse Ventures

Flat load growth is dead, and AI just flipped the whole power sector on its head. Gabe Cuadra of Powerhouse Ventures gets into what that means for founders chasing capital in climate and energy, why algorithms alone never make a real moat, and how to actually pitch an early stage VC without wasting the room. Plus the messy truth about selling into utilities, spotting founder market fit, and why Houston is quietly turning into a place worth building. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy. Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward. Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 00:00 Intro 00:45 What keeps a climate investor up at night 01:55 How Powerhouse Ventures invests 05:20 AI, load growth, and a changing grid 08:30 What traction looks like at early stage 10:25 Finding founder market fit 12:00 Houston vs the coasts 18:13 How to pitch early stage VCs 19:18 Why algorithms are never the moat 25:04 The reality of selling into utilities 28:17 Gabe's winding road into energy VC 34:40 Inside the investment process 37:02 Founder red flags 42:21 Standing out when you pitch 43:30 What has him excited next 46:27 The case for Houston 48:50 How to reach out https://twitter.com/collide_ai https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai

July 7, 2026Episode 10059 min

Arindam Bhattacharya from Tailwind Futures

Most climate money chases decarbonization while a bigger problem piles up: two thirds of the losses from extreme weather and disasters go completely uninsured. Arindam Bhattacharya spent 30 years at SLB before launching Tailwind Futures to back startups hardening infrastructure, supply chains, and workforce against a changing climate. He argues resilience is a growth story, not just damage control, and walks through a portfolio from corrosion-proof rebar to a material that could replace copper. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy. Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward. Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 0:00 Intro 0:28 Meet Arindam and Tailwind Futures 2:07 30 years at SLB and the jump to venture 4:06 The insurance gap nobody talks about 7:05 Where the capital for resilience isn't going 12:11 Playing offense: resilience as a growth story 15:29 Government pullback and the opening it creates 18:22 The portfolio and how the fund invests 19:02 DexMat and replacing copper 25:20 Allium and solving steel corrosion 29:17 Water, heat, and flooding bets 33:30 Sourcing deals across the US and Europe 35:00 What makes a company worth backing 40:17 Giving founders honest feedback 44:27 How pitching differs around the world 47:36 Finding the best companies theme by theme 50:20 Cooling, wildfire, and parametric insurance 54:11 Pitching Arindam and Houston's role 57:16 Where to find Tailwind Futures https://twitter.com/collide_ai https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai

June 18, 2026Episode 991 hr 14 min

Mitra Miller from Houston Angel Network

Writing the check is the easy part. The marriage that comes after is what nobody warns founders about until they are five years deep. Mitra Miller, President and Board Member of the Houston Angel Network, gets into what actually makes a startup investable, why she hunts for red flags fast, and how being a founder herself rewired the way she writes checks. Plus where Texas capital needs to go next, why AI is quietly soaking up all the oxygen, and how 25 years reshaped the Houston ecosystem. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy. Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward. Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 0:00:00 Intro 0:00:28 Inside the Houston Angel Network at 25 0:02:12 From the dotcom boom to angel investing 0:05:44 Why being a founder makes a better investor 0:09:43 How new angels learn the game 0:13:38 Pitching HARN and what makes a company investable 0:18:18 Why investing is a marriage, not a check 0:27:25 Reading founders and spotting red flags 0:36:48 What has changed in 25 years 0:42:01 When venture money is not the answer 0:46:29 Houston, Texas, and the energy transition 0:51:25 All of the above: data centers, the grid, and fusion 0:58:02 Public vs private capital in Texas 1:02:44 The capital outlook and AI's pull on funding 1:09:16 Secondary markets and finding liquidity https://twitter.com/collide_ai https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai

May 19, 2026Episode 9850 min

Gary Martin from Scan Ninja AI

Cybersecurity is invisible until it isn't, and Gary Martin, CEO and founder of Scan Ninja AI, is on a mission to make continuous vulnerability management affordable for startups and mid-sized companies hackers love to target. Gary walks through SOC 2 readiness without the once-a-year scramble, how AI agents are changing scanning and remediation, why he ditched CapEx pricing to disrupt the market, and the brutal lessons from going all in after two and a half years building on the side. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy. Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward. Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 00:00 Intro 00:28 Meet Gary Martin and Scan Ninja AI 02:03 Vulnerability scanning and AI-driven remediation 05:16 Third-party risk and what enterprises like ExxonMobil require 05:58 What SOC 2 actually is and the 90-day audit 07:33 Continuous compliance vs the once-a-year scramble 08:47 Vibe coding, npm vulnerabilities, and what slips through 11:46 Why Gary finally went full time 13:20 The reality of hacks on small and mid-sized companies 15:05 Where the Scan Ninja name came from 17:33 Detection, remediation, and built-in project management 21:35 Business model, MSPs, and tokenization 23:52 Who actually needs Scan Ninja 26:09 Sponsor break: Saffron 26:46 Lessons from leaving Exxon and starting up 31:32 The pivot from selling product to selling solution 34:48 Pricing, perception of value, and the no-discount rule 39:08 Building a lean company in the age of AI 41:08 Sales outreach with Apollo and token-based economy 43:30 What he loves most about being a founder 45:15 Advice for anyone thinking about taking the leap 47:03 Five-year vision and the Super Bowl commercial 48:13 How to find Scan Ninja AI https://twitter.com/collide_ai https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai

May 5, 2026Episode 9750 min

Mo (Mohammed) Saadat from Stratahub

Pouring billions into AI without first fixing data logistics is exactly why most of those investments stall. Mohammed "Mo" Saadat, CEO of Stratahub, sits down with Jason and Nada to talk about liberating the operational data trapped in legacy historians, PLCs, and acquired-asset patchwork. Mo unpacks two decades of frontline lessons, why digital twins keep falling flat, and his plan to build the industrial data fabric for the entire energy sector. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy. Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward. Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 00:00 Intro 00:55 Meet Mo and Stratahub 02:57 Two decades growing up in oil and gas 06:10 Why operational data stays trapped 11:14 Selling new tech to a skeptical industry 14:08 The digital twin reality check 19:25 Where OEMs fall short 24:24 Sponsor break 25:30 Stratahub's ideal customers and what's under the hood 32:41 The ESP pilot that changed the approach 38:25 The North Dakota moment that sparked it all 42:39 Trading a corporate seat for the founder grind 45:55 Building the industrial data fabric for energy 47:16 How to reach Mo https://twitter.com/collide_ai https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai

April 14, 2026Episode 951 hr 10 min

Eric Rubenstein from New Climate Ventures

Eric Rubenstein, managing partner at New Climate Ventures, joins Jason and Nada live from Ceraweek to make the case that what we're calling an energy transition is actually a new industrial revolution. He breaks down why data centers are only the fifth biggest driver of power demand, how his 35-company portfolio is shifting toward localized production and supply chain resilience, and what founders absolutely need to nail before walking up to an investor at a conference. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy. Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward. Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 00:00 - Intro and Ceraweek impressions 07:11 - What is actually driving power demand growth 13:41 - The all-of-the-above energy reality 19:12 - NCV fund thesis and origin 22:28 - Portfolio breakdown and data center exposure 25:07 - Upcycling waste into value 28:30 - How the portfolio informs investment strategy 34:19 - Is venture capital broken for hard tech? 37:01 - The missing middle and how startups are bridging it 40:11 - Industrial customers funding their own first commercial plants 45:38 - Raising fund two and what LPs want 48:45 - How NCV communicates with investors 56:37 - What founders should know before approaching investors 01:01:09 - Talking valuation with investors https://twitter.com/collide_ai https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai

March 31, 2026Episode 9453 min

Donald Kendall from New Climate Ventures

Venture capital in the energy transition is getting more complicated, but Donald R. Kendall Jr., General Partner at New Climate Ventures, says the multi-trillion dollar opportunity isn't going anywhere. We get into how they find picks and shovels plays in crowded markets, what $100 oil means for climate startups, why management teams matter more than technology, and what it actually takes to get a first-of-a-kind project financed. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy. Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward. Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 0:00 New Climate Ventures and Investment Thesis 8:00 Data Centers, Cooling, and Energy Independence 10:00 $100 Oil and What It Means for the Energy Transition 14:00 SAF, Carbon Alternatives, and Portfolio Companies 21:00 Don's Background in Project Finance and Early Renewables 26:00 SolarCity, Financial Engineering, and Residential Solar 32:00 What Makes a Fundable Team 38:00 The State of Venture Capital for Climate 42:00 Why Invest in Climate Over AI 43:00 Houston's Role in the Energy Transition 49:00 Most Exciting Technologies Right Now 51:00 Wildlife Conservation and Closing https://twitter.com/collide_ai https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai

March 17, 2026Episode 9347 min

Ashish Gupta & Siddhartha (Sid) Paul from KonsciousPlanet/KP Labs

Critical metals like nickel and cobalt are slipping through the cracks and into landfills, and KP Labs is on a mission to get them back. Dr. Ashish Gupta and Siddhartha Paul, CEO and CTO and co-founders of KonsciousPlanet/KP Labs, break down how bacteria can pull valuable metals from e-waste, why recycling is really just energy independence in disguise, and why they're calling it urban mining. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy. Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward. Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 0:00 - Intro and KP Labs origin story 3:26 - How the e-waste recycling technology works 8:39 - Black mass, battery chemistry, and the logistics problem 11:00 - America's recycling problem 14:40 - Democratizing the recycling process 18:29 - Commercialization plans and funding 24:02 - Founders' backgrounds and how they met 30:00 - Challenges in energy transition investing 35:39 - Houston ecosystem and helpful resources 38:07 - Investor misconceptions and how to pitch it right 42:58 - Reframing the business as urban mining 44:13 - What KP Labs is looking for right now https://twitter.com/collide_ai https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai

March 3, 2026Episode 921 hr 9 min

Imran Kizilbash & Abhinav Jain from Titanium Innovation Investments

The industrial world is still running on manual processes and siloed data while our phones got smarter ten times over, and that gap is exactly where Titanium Innovation Investments is placing its bets. Abhinav Jain and Imran Kizilbash, co-founders and managing partners at Titanium Innovation Investments, break down what it actually takes to sell tech into enterprises that move slow by design, why product market fit is something you can lose just as fast as you find it, and how they evaluate founding teams when the revenue is basically zero. Plus some real talk on Houston's startup ecosystem and whether the city has the deal flow to back up the ambition. Click here to watch a video of this episode. Join the conversation shaping the future of energy. Collide is the community where oil & gas professionals connect, share insights, and solve real-world problems together. No noise. No fluff. Just the discussions that move our industry forward. Apply today at collide.io Click here to view the episode transcript. 0:00 Introduction 1:00 Titanium Innovation Investments thesis and origin story 4:17 Why industrial tech adoption lags behind consumer tech 7:01 Data as an asset in M&A and enterprise transactions 10:23 Imran and Abhinav's career journeys from field to finance 15:04 What product market fit actually looks like at seed stage 19:24 Unit economics and business models in hard tech vs software 29:56 Cutting through the AI hype in industrial applications 34:23 Data ownership, legal challenges, and enterprise selling 40:16 Change management and why adoption cycles are longer 43:21 Portfolio construction and sector diversification 50:13 Houston's startup ecosystem and deal sourcing nationally 1:04:18 Advice for founders on fundraising and building trust https://twitter.com/collide_ai https://www.tiktok.com/@collide.io https://www.facebook.com/collide.io https://www.instagram.com/collide.io https://www.youtube.com/@collide_io https://bsky.app/profile/collide-ai.bsky.social https://www.linkedin.com/company/collideai