Startup World Cup Offers Energy Innovators at CERAWeek 2025 a Shot at $1 Million and Global Recognition

HOUSTON and SILICON VALLEY, Calif., March 10, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Energy startups attending CERAWeek 2025 have a unique opportunity to catapult their innovations onto the global stage. By participating in the Energy Venture Day and Pitch Competition on March 11 and 12, 2025, in Houston, Texas, these startups can compete for a coveted spot at Startup World Cup 2025, the world's #1 startup pitch competition, where they will vie for a $1 million investment prize and unparalleled exposure to international investors, industry leaders, and media.

Pegasus Tech Ventures, the Silicon Valley-based global venture capital firm that hosts Startup World Cup, is partnering with The Rice Alliance, the Houston Energy Transition Initiative (HETI), and TEX-E to bring this opportunity to CERAWeek. More than 40 selected energy startups will pitch their cutting-edge technologies aimed at enhancing energy efficiency, advancing industrial modernization, and driving the global energy transition.

The winner of the Pitch Competition will earn an invitation to the Startup World Cup 2025 Grand Finale in Silicon Valley in October 2025. At the Grand Finale, startups not only compete for substantial funding but also gain access to a vast network of global investors, customers, and media outlets, providing a launchpad for scaling their technologies worldwide.

"Pegasus Tech Ventures is thrilled to bring Startup World Cup to CERAWeek", commented Anis Uzzaman, Founder and CEO of Pegasus Tech Ventures. "We are confident that this collaboration will highlight brilliant entrepreneurs and transformative energy innovations that have the power to change the world."

In 2025, Pegasus will host over 100 regional competitions across more than 60 countries, culminating in the Startup World Cup Grand Finale in Silicon Valley in October 2025, where the world's most innovative startups will compete for the $1 million global investment prize.

Entrepreneurs and investors interested in participating can visit www.startupworldcup.io for more details.

About Pegasus Tech Ventures
Pegasus Tech Ventures is a global venture capital firm headquartered in Silicon Valley with over $2 billion in assets under management. Pegasus provides intellectual and financial capital to emerging technology companies worldwide. In addition to offering institutional investors a top-tier venture capital investment strategy, Pegasus enables global corporations to partner with cutting-edge startups through its Venture Capital-as-a-Service (VCaaS) model.

Pegasus has partnered with 35+ major corporate investors, including Marathon Petroleum Corporation, ASUS, Aisin, SEGA, Niterra, Sojitz, Calbee, and Denka, and has invested in over 270 companies globally, including SpaceX, Airbnb, SoFi, Doordash, and X (formerly Twitter). For more information, visit www.pegasustechventures.com.

About Startup World Cup
Startup World Cup is the #1 startup pitch competition in the world, hosted by Pegasus Tech Ventures. With over 100 regional events spanning 60+ countries, the competition provides a global platform for startups to showcase their innovations and secure funding. Each regional winner advances to the Startup World Cup Grand Finale, where they compete for a $1 million investment prize. The 2025 Grand Finale will take place on October 17 in San Francisco, California. For more details and a full list of regional competitions, visit www.startupworldcup.io.

About The Rice Alliance
The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship (Rice Alliance) is Rice University's nationally recognized initiative devoted to the support of technology commercialization, entrepreneurship education and the launch of startups and tech companies. For more than 20 years, the Rice Alliance has served as a hub for entrepreneurial efforts at the university. We champion the adoption and growth of new programs by weaving an entrepreneurial mindset across campus—from nurturing the formation of new ideas to encouraging engineers, scientists and researchers to turn their work into commercial success to connecting founders with mentors and investors. With backing from former Rice University President, Dr. Malcolm Gillis, the Rice Alliance was founded in 2000 as a catalyst for entrepreneurship at Rice through a strategic alliance of three schools: the George R. Brown School of Engineering, the Wiess School of Natural Sciences and the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business in collaboration with the Vice Provost and the Office of Research. We continue to have close relationships with all three schools and aim to work with groups across campus to elevate Rice's entrepreneurial ecosystem.

About Houston Energy Transition Initiative (HETI)
The Greater Houston Partnership is the Houston region's principal business and economic development organization. The economic vitality of greater Houston's economy is inextricably tied to the energy industry — an industry that is changing rapidly to meet growing global energy demand while simultaneously reducing emissions. The Partnership's Houston Energy Transition Initiative (HETI) builds on the best of traditional energy skills and systems to leverage Houston's industry leadership to accelerate global solutions for an energy-abundant, low-carbon future.

About TEX-E
Based in the world's energy capital, the Texas Exchange for Energy & Climate Entrepreneurship is a thriving ecosystem for student innovation to solve the dual challenge – the world needs more energy and less emissions. It's where students, startups, corporations, universities, and investors come together to passionately collaborate. TEX-E is leading the way nationally for creating climate tech ecosystems, driving innovative thinking about energy—how it's produced, utilized, and stored. How it relates to industrial, transportation, agriculture, water management, and beyond. And because the future is what's at stake, students are naturally at the center of our initiative—undergraduates through postdoc.

SOURCE Pegasus Tech Ventures