Williams is joining Greentown Labs Houston as one of the grand opening partners, launching the city’s first-ever clean energy focused startup incubator.

Greentown Labs Houston will provide more than 40,000-square-feet. of prototyping lab, office and community space for about 50 startup companies.

“Williams is excited to join Greentown Labs as the first midstream corporate partner to support cleantech entrepreneurship that will accelerate the transition to a low carbon future,” said Chad Zamarin, Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategic Development at Williams.

“It is through technology innovation and collaboration with organizations like Greentown Labs that we can develop solutions to reduce emissions and build a clean energy economy on our path to net zero by 2050,” he said.  

Greentown Labs CEO Dr. Emily Reichert said support from corporate partners is key to accelerating technology solutions for a clean energy future.

“These partners—from energy providers to financial services organizations—will play a pivotal role in enabling the success of both our operations and the Houston startup community,” she said.

As a partner, Williams will be able to attend startup pitch days and get a first look at emerging technologies, said Daniel Kim, business development lead on Williams’ renewables team. In some cases, Williams might have the opportunity to invest in or partner with a startup to pilot new technologies.

Kim is a part of a newly formed business development team within Williams focused on identifying emerging opportunities and technologies that can be implemented to reduce emissions and create new business ventures, while leveraging Williams’ industry leading asset footprint. The organization is currently pursuing many innovative opportunities, including solar to power the company’s infrastructure and renewable natural gas to reduce methane emissions from landfills and agricultural waste.

The team also is positioning Williams to be a leader in the future of the clean energy economy, exploring technologies such as hydrogen, carbon capture, and synthetic gas.

“Our partnership with Greentown Labs is a way of showing our commitment to funding future innovation and technologies, while still capitalizing on right here, right now investments,” Kim said.

Last year, Williams was the first midstream company to announce concrete climate goals and actionable steps to reach them. Williams committed to 56% absolute reduction in emissions by 2030 and set an ambitious net zero carbon emissions goal by 2050.