The Go Make 2026 challenge, the open-innovation program from climatetech and energy incubator Greentown Labs, supported by Technip Energies and Shell Catalysts & Technologies, held a special event in Houston, Texas on June 9.
Five startups were selected as finalists in the program and presented their ideas to an audience of around 200 people, including representatives from the program and its supporters.
The event on June 9 saw each of the five finalists in the open-innovation program from climatetech and energy incubator Greentown Labs offer a two-minute pitch to the audience, which included representatives from program supporters Technip Energies and Shell Catalysts & Technologies, as well as from the local energy sector and state political figures and universities.
Selected from 148 candidates across 35 countries, the five final startups are:
- Biosimo from Houston, Texas, making scalable biochemicals from ethanol that match petrochemical cost, performance, and industrial manufacturing scale.
- Catalyxx from Chesterfield, Missouri, transforming bioethanol into drop-in, cost-competitive, carbon-negative chemicals.
- HydGene Renewables from Sydney, Australia, producing low-carbon hydrogen and industrial chemicals from waste biomass using a modular biocatalyst platform designed for distributed deployment.
- TreaTech from Lonay, Switzerland, turning waste into renewable gas, water, and minerals through catalytic hydrothermal gasification.
- Unifuel from Los Altos, California, developing a chemical technology for profitable decarbonization of fuels and chemicals based on a multifunctional catalyst.
After the event on June 9, the startups visited the Technip Energies head office and the Shell Technology Center Houston on June 10. They will then take part in a six-month accelerator program, during which they will collaborate with teams from both companies, exploring and developing potential partnerships.
“Kudos to the team members at Technip Energies, who worked hard to help screen and select finalists from the 148 original candidates”, said Wei Cai, Technip Energies’ Chief Technology Officer."This is an exciting group of innovators with whom we will continue to work to create sustainable and practical solutions to accelerate industrial decarbonization.”