Helix Earth Technologies, founded in 2022 and spun out of Rice University, builds hardware rooted in proprietary liquid-gas chemistry and aerospace technology co-invented at NASA to address energy efficiency and humidity control in commercial HVAC and adjacent markets. The company is developing a retrofit add-on that separates temperature management from moisture control and targets a large portion of the estimated $150 billion commercial air conditioning market. Helix has been incubated at Greentown Labs since 2023 and has received a Phase II SBIR from the NSF plus grants from the U.S. Department of Energy. With $12 million raised in an oversubscribed Seed 2 round led by Veriten, Helix plans to scale manufacturing and accelerate deployment of its first product. The company has attracted industry attention and awards, including Cleantech 50 to Watch and first place in the 2025 SXSW Pitch competition, positioning it to pursue broader industrial filtration and CO2 capture opportunities.

Total raised

$18M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Seed

Latest activity

Mar 2026