EarthX Announces 10 Semi-Finalists for Climate Tech Prize

Insider Brief

• EarthX has announced ten semi-finalists for the 2025 EarthX Climate Tech Prize, selected from over 200 applicants worldwide, to pitch for a $15,000 award at the EarthX E-Capital Summit in Dallas this April.
• Finalists span sectors including clean energy, AI-enabled infrastructure, agtech, and the circular economy, with innovations ranging from EV battery reuse and regenerative ranching to eFuel production and carbon-free power generation.
• EarthX will also host the Ocean Exchange Pitch Competition during the Brave New Ocean conference, awarding $25,000 to one of seven blue economy startups working on ocean modeling, pollution cleanup, and marine data analytics.

PRESS RELEASE – EarthX has announced the ten semi-finalists for the 2025 EarthX Climate Tech Prize, selected from more than 200 global applicants. These early-stage startup companies span industry sectors including heavy industry/manufacturing, energy, agtech/food, and the circular economy — and will compete for a $15,000 non-dilutive cash prize and the opportunity to pitch before leading global investment, industry, and innovation leaders at the 9^th Annual EarthX E-Capital Summit taking place Tuesday, April 22 through Thursday, April 24^th in Dallas, Texas.

The 2025 EarthX Climate Tech Prize, powered by Climate Solutions Prize in Montreal, is awarded annually to early-stage ventures with less than $250,000 in revenue and under $500,000 in dilutive funding. Semi-finalists were selected by EarthX and innovation leaders from Austin Technology Incubator, Capital Factory, Greentown Labs, and Unreasonable Group. Last year’s winner was En Solucion, co-founded by Alex Athey, a Texas-based agtech company that produces chemical-free food sanitation. Winners from previous years include an agtech business in Kenya, a materials science business in New York, and an industrial innovator in Texas.

This year’s Semi-Finals will feature 3-minute lightning pitches on Wednesday, April 23 on the E-Capital Summit Investment Forum Stage, with audience members voting live to determine which 3–4 companies will advance to the Finals on Thursday, April 24 at 1:30 p.m. on The TV Stage at Earthx2025.

2025 EarthX Climate Tech Prize Semi-Finalists Include:

• Aeon Blue (Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada) – Produces sustainable eFuels by combining hydrogen generation with direct air capture of CO₂ in a single clean-tech process.
• EnnoFlow Technologies (Austin, TX, USA) – Merges edge AI with energy infrastructure to create automated, flexible, and efficient virtual power networks.
• HighGround Ranch Developers (Plano, TX, USA) – Funds and connects regenerative ranches with tech platforms to scale climate-friendly agriculture.
• OptiCloud (Jackson, WY, USA) – Optimizes digital infrastructure with AI tools that reduce cloud waste, energy use, and operational costs.
• Mithril Minerals (Austin, TX, USA) – Develops advanced robotics for low-cost extraction of critical minerals from ocean polymetallic nodules.
• Petra Power (Solon, OH, USA) – Develops compact, fuel-flexible solid oxide fuel cells that deliver high-efficiency, zero-emission electricity for vehicles.
• PowerBox Technology (Champaign, IL, USA) – Provides integrated solar and storage systems that ensure uninterrupted industrial power and lower energy expenses.
• ResonanceX (Santiago de Chile, Chile) – Designs resonant electromagnetic circuits for carbon-free power generation.
• Venki Energy (Silver Spring, MD, USA) – Creates removable rooftop solar racking to enable a subscription-based solar model and expand rooftop access.
• Zero Electric (Austin, TX, USA) – Repurposes EV batteries into storage systems to support fast EV charging and enhance grid resiliency.

“EarthX is proud to platform and support early-stage sustainability-focused innovators,” said Vikram Agrawal, Senior Director of EarthxCapital, who helps EarthX curate the event. “These entrepreneurs aren’t just imagining a cleaner, more sustainable future — they’re building it with breakthrough technologies that tackle real-world challenges across energy, industry, agriculture, and infrastructure. We need more leaders like them who are developing pragmatic solutions that benefit industry, our people, and our planet.”

Ocean Exchange Blue Economy Pitch Showcase Returns to Earthx2025
For the second year, EarthX is proud to host the Ocean Exchange Pitch Competition, held as part of the “Brave New Ocean” conference at EarthX 2025. Building on the success and best practices of the E-Capital Summit, Ocean Exchange will spotlight seven cutting-edge blue economy startups working at the intersection of data science, clean water, and ocean intelligence.

Startups participating in the Ocean Exchange Pitch Showcase include:

• Actea: Applies machine learning to ocean climate modeling to provide insights into the future of ocean climate that will enable long term investment.
• Atdepth: Provides advanced ocean assessment tools, including their Ocean Digital Twin (ODT) Ari, which enables real-time, high-resolution simulations of ocean processes that maximize operational efficiency and value for maritime industries.
• Ceretune: Their biodegradable, self-buoyant fabric supports seed-based plant growth on water, converting excess ocean phosphorus and nitrogen into biomass to combat nutrient pollution.
• Fathom Science: Provides ultra-high-resolution ocean, wave, and weather analytics to enhance safety and efficiency for maritime industries, including ports, shipping, and offshore platforms.
• Nucleic Sensing Systems: Develops autonomous, field-deployable monitoring tools, such as the “Tracker,” which continuously analyze environmental DNA and RNA to provide real-time data on biological activity, aiding in the detection and mitigation of pathogens and invasive species in aquaculture and other environments.
• Onvector: Develops a technology that destroys per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) using its proprietary Plasma Vortex innovation, which breaks down PFAS molecules into measurable, harmless components and addresses contamination in groundwater, soil, landfill leachate, and industrial wastewater.
• Salient Predictions: Salient Predictions leverages ocean and land-surface data, combined with machine learning and climate expertise, to deliver highly accurate subseasonal-to-seasonal weather forecasts ranging from 2 to 52 weeks in advance.

The Ocean Exchange pitch event will take place on Thursday, April 24, during the Brave New Ocean program, which focuses on accelerating ocean enterprise and sustainability innovation. The winner of the competition will be awarded a $25,000 grant to help accelerate their commercialization.

“We’re excited to partner again with EarthX to help spotlight the incredible entrepreneurs who are driving tangible progress on protecting our oceans and untapping the blue economy,” says Millicent Pitts, CEO of Ocean Exchange. “The blue economy represents one of the greatest opportunities of our time—not just for coastal resilience and marine conservation, but for sustainable innovation that fuels economic growth and community prosperity.”