The Carbon & Hydrogen Innovation Learning Incubator (CHILI)
CHILI is a program led by Texas Innovates. The mission is to align and drive innovation to the HyVelocity program and other large-scale decarbonization efforts.
Texas Innovates is a non-profit promoting a science, education, and entrepreneurship “hard-tech” innovation ecosystem in the greater Houston region and Gulf Coast, focusing on solving major industry energy challenges, and paving the way for resilient smart urban neighborhoods.
Collectively, we're a cohort of science and technology focused entrepreneurs, business , and long-time community leaders partnered with a global network of experts. We all have worked on creating solutions to energy, environmental, and commercial challenges in our respective fields.
Our Team
Texas Innovates was launched by a committed team of technology entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, architects, engineers, and community members, partnered with technology incubators and energy technology solution providers throughout the United States. We all have dedicated our careers to expanding opportunities for our communities and bringing novel energy technology and projects to market.
In 2024 we are launching a hybrid pilot for the Greater Houston and Gulf Region. The "Carbon and Hydrogen Innovation & Learning Incubator (CHILI) will identify, screen, and incubate hydrogen ecosystem start-ups, aligning and driving innovation to the HyVelocity program and other large-scale decarbonization initiatives.
Our 2035 Vision is for a future campus near downtown Houston providing 100,000 sq. ft. of laboratory, prototyping, and pilot space with over 70 individual secured labs in 3 dedicated connected buildings focused on different hardware needs. Adjacent to the labs will be the residential and co-working towers, providing 300,000+ sq.ft of living, retail and working space.
Interested in joining Texas Innovates?
Our Challenge
Like many growing cities worldwide, Houston is challenged by a growing population, increased energy and municipal service needs, economical housing shortfalls, and environmental justice and socio-economic issues. This has been heightened by the need to increase resiliency to global-level problems like automation, the energy transition, and climate change-driven weather, water, and energy problems. This has brought Houston to a crossroads, where we can now redefine and prepare our city for the future or wait until it is too late to change.
With Houston as one of the seven winning recipients of the DOE Hydrogen Hub awards, which will be managed through the HyVelocity partnership, now is the time to ensure we design Justice40 benefits for the communities hosting these projects. This must include the development of early-stage innovation that increases efficiency, lowers impact, fosters jobs and growth, and decreases (and ultimately nearly eliminates) environmental impacts.
Now is the time to create a Hydrogen Ecosystem-focused Energy Center of Excellence that brings us together to identify innovative ways to reach net zero.