Clean Tech TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield 200

22 Clean Tech and Energy Startups to Watch From TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield 200

Meet 22 clean tech and energy Startup Battlefield 200 selectees, from battery recycling and carbon-negative cement to EV charging and water treatment.

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Illustrations of clean energy solutions: battery recycling, green cement, EV charging, water treatment, from Disrupt Battlefield 200.
Meet the 22 clean tech and energy startups to watch from TechCrunch Disrupt Startup Battlefield 200.
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Clean tech innovation is arriving from every direction: batteries, buildings, industrial chemistry, water, recycling, and even everyday consumer products. At TechCrunch Disrupt’s Startup Battlefield, that breadth is on full display—especially among the companies tackling energy efficiency, electrification, circular manufacturing, and emissions reduction.

Startup Battlefield is built as a high-volume, highly selective funnel. Thousands of companies apply each year; the field is narrowed to 200 “Startup Battlefield 200” selectees, and then the top 20 pitch on the main stage for the Startup Battlefield Cup and a $100,000 cash prize. But the remaining startups don’t disappear—they pitch within their own category competitions, and many are working on foundational problems in climate and energy.

Below is a rewritten overview of the 22 clean tech and energy Startup Battlefield 200 selectees highlighted in the source report, including what each company does and what stood out about their approach.

Why these clean tech and energy Startup Battlefield 200 companies matter

Clean tech is no longer a single sector. It spans:

  • Materials and chemistry (new battery materials, new cement pathways, conversion of waste gases)
  • Energy infrastructure (distributed power, grid optimization, storage)
  • Measurement and accountability (carbon accounting, analytics, tracing)
  • Water quality and treatment (faster testing, affordable filtration, advanced purification)
  • Circular economy (recycling of textiles and batteries, smarter waste sorting)

What connects the companies on this list is a focus on real-world deployment: retrofits for buildings, tools for enterprises, systems meant to plug into existing equipment, and technologies designed to reduce cost barriers rather than raise them.

The 22 top clean tech and energy Startup Battlefield 200 selectees

AraBat

What it does: AraBat has developed a recycling technology that recovers critical metals like nickel, cobalt, and others from spent lithium‑ion batteries.

Why it’s noteworthy: Instead of relying on toxic chemicals, AraBat’s process is bio-based and uses plant waste such as citrus peels.

Aruna Revolution

What it does: Aruna Revolution makes a compostable menstrual pad produced from agricultural by-products using natural fibers.

Why it’s noteworthy: The company redesigned the product to perform well while still breaking down quickly—and to avoid plastic and harmful chemicals.

CarbonBridge

What it does: CarbonBridge builds bioreactors for microbial gas fermentation that turns waste gases—including methane and CO₂—into valuable molecules.

Why it’s noteworthy: CarbonBridge says its approach can synthesize molecules more efficiently than other methods.

Carbon Negative Solutions

What it does: Carbon Negative Solutions uses an AI-powered platform to convert industrial wastes and minerals into cement.

Why it’s noteworthy: The company says its cement works with standard equipment—keeping costs down—while shifting cement production toward a carbon negative process.

COI Energy

What it does: COI Energy operates a marketplace where enterprises can buy and sell excess energy capacity and get predictive insights into future energy needs.

Why it’s noteworthy: By enabling enterprise campuses to share reserved energy allotments, the company aims to optimize grid usage immediately.

Coral

What it does: Coral provides an AI-powered carbon accounting management platform.

Why it’s noteworthy: It automates data collection and reporting related to energy footprint, and uses the blockchain to trace carbon credits and support accountability.

Emobi

What it does: Emobi offers an AI-powered cloud platform for universal electric vehicle charging.

Why it’s noteworthy: The company says its service enables secure automatic charging across EV charging networks, including networks running on legacy hardware.

EnyGy Limited

What it does: EnyGy has developed higher performance ultracapacitors—an energy storage device positioned between a conventional capacitor and a battery.

Why it’s noteworthy: EnyGy combines activated carbon electrodes with what it describes as a state-of-the-art electrolyte, claiming energy densities up to double the capacity of alternatives while staying cost-effective.

Ganiga Innovation

What it does: Ganiga Innovation built “Hoooly,” an AI- and robotics-powered garbage bin designed to recognize and sort recyclables.

Why it’s noteworthy: The company is selling Hoooly into enterprise campuses and industrial sites such as airports to lift recycling rates, with analytics designed to support ESG reporting.

Gemini Energy

What it does: Gemini Energy says it has developed a fuel cell technology capable of generating power on-site by converting gas into electricity without combustion.

Why it’s noteworthy: The company is positioning the system for data centers and says deployments can happen in months—compared with years for conventional power-grid upgrades.

Helix Earth

What it does: Helix Earth develops “products for earth” derived from liquid-gas chemistry originally designed for spacecraft, including ultra-efficient HVAC and carbon capture systems.

Why it’s noteworthy: Helix Earth says its processes are far more energy-efficient while remaining affordable, and can be retrofitted to commercial rooftops.

HKG Energy

What it does: HKG Energy created a next-generation silicon material for lithium-ion batteries.

Why it’s noteworthy: HKG says its technology increases battery performance by 80% and costs up to 40% less than batteries using conventional materials.

HomeBoost

What it does: HomeBoost offers a do-it-yourself energy assessment system that helps homeowners spot leaky windows, identify rebate opportunities, and find other ways to lower energy bills.

Why it’s noteworthy: HomeBoost ships custom hardware to homeowners; combined with a smartphone app, the system scans the home. Then home energy experts review the data and produce the final report.

HyWatts

What it does: HyWatts supplies modular systems to generate on-site energy for industrial applications.

Why it’s noteworthy: Marketed as “Power-Plant-in-a-Box,” the system integrates hydrogen storage with reversible fuel cells to deliver, it says, zero-emission off-grid electricity at much lower cost than battery storage.

Kaio Labs

What it does: Kaio Labs is developing CO2 conversion technologies that transform waste carbon dioxide into chemicals such as carbon monoxide, formic acid, and ethylene.

Why it’s noteworthy: Kaio uses an AI-powered workflow to automate discovery, aiming to produce these outputs in a cost-competitive way.

MacroCycle Technologies

What it does: MacroCycle Technologies created a patented recycling technology for polyester textiles.

Why it’s noteworthy: The company says it can make recycled plastic as cheap as virgin material by separating desirable synthetic fibers from waste textiles.

Namu Robotics Corporation

What it does: Namu Robotics Corporation builds tree-planting robots for re-forestry projects.

Why it’s noteworthy: With limited labor and challenging terrain slowing replanting efforts, Namu’s automation approach is positioned as a way to increase the pace of reforestation.

Naware

What it does: Naware offers an AI-powered robotic weed killer that attaches to lawn-mowing equipment and eliminates weeds while mowing.

Why it’s noteworthy: It detects weeds automatically and uses hot steam to kill them rather than relying on toxic herbicides.

Segura

What it does: Segura developed a proprietary method for water-quality testing designed to deliver nearly instant results without hiring testing experts.

Why it’s noteworthy: The company created a test strip—similar in concept to diabetes monitoring strips—intended to be simple to use.

ShellVive

What it does: ShellVive filters water by repurposing oyster shells.

Why it’s noteworthy: The company turns a common agricultural waste stream—discarded oyster shells—into what it describes as an affordable, eco-friendly filtration material.

Whisper Energy

What it does: Whisper Energy is developing an AI-native sensor aimed at improving energy efficiency in commercial buildings.

Why it’s noteworthy: The company targets small to midsized buildings with sensors designed to be easy to install, positioning the system as a more affordable alternative to large-scale building automation.

Xatoms

What it does: Xatoms created a photocatalyst—a light-activated chemical—that can remove bacteria, viruses, chemicals, and heavy metals from polluted water.

Why it’s noteworthy: The company applies AI and quantum chemistry to discover new chemicals for water treatment.

Big themes across the list: what to watch

Even with only short descriptions, several patterns emerge across these Startup Battlefield 200 clean tech and energy companies:

  • Low-tox, low-waste processes: AraBat’s plant-waste approach and ShellVive’s reuse of oyster shells point to a broader push for “greener” inputs, not just greener outputs.
  • AI as an accelerator: Multiple teams—Carbon Negative Solutions, Coral, Kaio Labs, Whisper Energy, and others—use AI to automate analysis, discovery, or operations, especially where data handling traditionally slows adoption.
  • Deployment without rebuilding everything: COI Energy’s enterprise marketplace, Emobi’s compatibility with legacy hardware, and Helix Earth’s retrofit story all emphasize working within existing constraints.
  • Industrial decarbonization beyond renewables: Cement and chemicals remain huge climate challenges; several startups here target those hard-to-abate areas by changing how materials are made.

Conclusion

The clean tech and energy Startup Battlefield 200 selectees span everything from battery recycling and ultracapacitors to water purification and carbon accounting. Taken together, they reflect a practical shift in climate innovation: solutions that can plug into current infrastructure, reduce toxic inputs, and bring measurable efficiency gains to homes, campuses, factories, and data centers.

Based on reporting originally published by TechCrunch. See the sources section below.

Sources

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