Venture Capitalists Bet Houston Is Gateway to Post-Oil World (1)

Veteran Silicon Valley venture capitalists Neal Dikeman and Craig Lawrence plan to accelerate the end of the fossil-fuel era from an unlikely perch: Houston.

The U.S. oil epicenter is lacking in startup talent to match its hoards of investment capital and technical expertise, a gap Dikeman and Lawrence intend to fill. With financial backing from South Korean conglomerate GS Group, Energy Transition Ventures plans to explore post-fossil fuel technologies from electric-vehicle charging to carbon capture and hydrogen fuel.

Craig Lawrence, left, and Neal Dikeman

Source: Energy Transition Ventures

“Eventually we’re going to be using gas for chemicals and not for burning,” said Dikeman, whose previous roles included overseeing ...