Halliburton Co. unveiled the creation of Halliburton Labs—a collaborative environment where entrepreneurs, academics, investors, and industrial labs come together to advance cleaner, affordable energy—on July 30. Halliburton Labs will accelerate the growth of innovative, early-stage companies by providing access to Halliburton’s lab facilities, technical expertise and business network.

Located at the company’s Houston headquarters, Halliburton Labs adds unique support to the flourishing innovation community and fosters an open environment where participating companies can collaborate to solve current and future clean-energy challenges. Accepted applicants will work with Halliburton Labs advisors to advance their products, secure needed financing and prepare for further scale.

“Halliburton Labs reflects our commitment to the science and continued evolution of sustainable, reliable energy,” Jeff Miller, chairman, president and CEO, Halliburton, said. “We firmly believe that oil and gas will remain an affordable and reliable energy resource for decades to come. At the same time, we recognize the importance of developing alternative energy sources. We are excited to help advance solutions that have the potential for a long term, meaningful impact and that align well with our sustainability objectives.”

Nanotech Inc. is a leading-edge materials science innovator transforming the fireproofing and insulation markets. Its breakthrough technologies significantly reduce global energy consumption, while improving energy efficiency, fireproofing capabilities, and safety.

“We are incredibly excited to have been selected as an anchor for Halliburton Labs and help drive meaningful change and innovation in the energy sector,” Mike Francis, CEO of Nanotech, said. “Access to Halliburton Labs’ resources and world-class facilities will help accelerate our growth and deliver our transformative line of products. Through this collaboration, we intend to fundamentally shift the fireproofing and thermal insulation markets towards more effective and environmentally friendly solutions.”

Nanotech has already moved into Halliburton Labs and their work is underway. Additional companies will join in the coming months as the formal application process goes live in September. Interested companies must have progressed their technology beyond the proof-of-concept phase.