Helix Earth Wins 2025 SXSW Pitch in the Smart Cities, Transportation & Sustainability category

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Helix Earth Wins 2025 SXSW Pitch in the Smart Cities, Transportation & Sustainability category

Media contacts:

Ania Czarnecka, Ward, for Helix Earth
aczarnecka@wardcc.com

Brad Husick
Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer
Helix Earth
info@helixearth.com

Helix Earth Technologies, Inc., (Helix Earth), a Houston-based hardware company at the forefront of clean tech solutions has been named the winner of the 17th annual SXSW Pitch, in the Smart Cities, Transportation & Sustainability category.

Helix Earth’s Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer, Brad Husick, who presented the pitch alongside Blake Mistich, director of business development, said, "We faced impressive competition from a well-chosen set of finalists, and we're honored to be chosen as the winners. One of the judges even commented, ‘Who knew you could make air conditioning sexy.’”

“We are deeply grateful to be recognized as a winner of the SXSW Pitch,” said Rawand Rasheed, CEO and co-founder of Helix Earth. “This win validates our mission to drive sustainable innovation in commercial air conditioning and beyond. We are excited about the future of Helix Earth and the impact we will have in reducing energy consumption and emissions. SXSW has provided an incredible platform to connect with forward-thinking industry leaders, investors, and changemakers.”

Held on March 8 - 9, 2025, SXSW Pitch is the marquee event of South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference & Festivals, where leading startups from around the world showcase some of the most impressive technological innovations to a panel of hand-picked judges and a live audience.

The competition featured 45 finalists, selected from 589 applicants, in nine categories: AgTech & Food; Enterprise, Smart Data, FinTech & Future of Work; Entertainment, Media, Sports & Content; Robotics, Web3, Voice & Extended Reality; HealthTech, MedTech, BioTech & Accessibility; Innovative World Tech; Security, GovTech & Space; Smart Cities, Transportation & Sustainability; and Student Startups. Best of Show award was presented to ADD. For the full list of winners, go to https://www.sxsw.com/interactive/2025/2025-sxsw-pitch-winners-announced.

Spun out of Rice University and incubated at Greentown Labs in Houston since 2022, the company leveraged technology co-developed for NASA by Rasheed, to create groundbreaking hardware technology designed to disrupt a significant portion of the commercial air conditioning market, an industry that is ready for innovation. This cost-effective, commercial air conditioner add-on technology, now in pilot phase, will produce drier air to save up to 50% of the net energy used in commercial air conditioning, a significant impact on both emissions and operating costs. The company has already garnered industry attention and recognition for its transformative approach to accelerating liquid-gas chemical processes. In addition to its commercial air conditioning solution, the company is innovating solutions for commercial humidity control and carbon capture. For more information about Helix Earth, its people, and its innovative hardware solutions, please visit www.helixearth.com.

About SXSW

SXSW dedicates itself to helping creative people achieve their goals. Founded in 1987 in Austin, Texas, SXSW is best known for its conference and festivals that celebrate the convergence of tech, film and television, music, education, and culture. Learn more at sxsw.com. For more information about SXSW Pitch, visit: https://www.sxsw.com/pitch.