WATTER—a Dallas startup whose high-tech water heaters use wasted heat from compute devices to heat water in homes and businesses, while reducing demand on the grid—has been named as a 2026 BNEF Pioneers finalist. Run by BloombergNEF, the competion identifies and celebrates “standout innovations” that could play an important role in the energy transition.

BloombergNEF, shorthand for Bloomberg New Energy Finance, is a strategic research service within Bloomberg LP. It named WATTER as one of 29 Pioneers finalists to be selected out of over 600 applications for this year’s competition. Winners will be selected from the finalist pool and announced in mid-April. 

WATTER emerged from stealth with $5 million in seed funding last March, as a spinout of Hunt Innovative Technologies, a subsidiary of Dallas-based Hunt Energy. Positioning itself to scale its revolutionary distributed compute model for residences and commercial properties, the company says its breakthrough tech will enable cloud computing to “generate revenue while heating your water, delivering net zero computing.”

Cited for potential in data center infrastructure

WATTER was selected by BloombergNEF in the category of “Technologies for Sustainable, Scalable Data Center Infrastructure.” 

BloombergNEF noted that data center demand has seen “explosive growth,” driven by the surge in the use of AI. That growth is straining power grids, water systems, and materials supply chains, the organization noted. BNEF projects data centers will become a major user of electricity, consuming 1,600 terawatt-hours by 2035—around 4.4% of projected global electricity demand and comparable to some of the world’s largest economies.  

With this challenge category, BNEF was looking for technologies that support this data center growth “while meeting energy and climate goals.”

BNEF said WATTER and the other finalists selected in the category “focus on improving efficiencies in cooling and power for data centers, alongside ways to make data centers better equipped to respond to grid constraints.”

Other finalists include Austin’s BASE Power

Base Power battery connected to a home. [Photo: Base]

Other finalists in this year’s competition include Austin-based BASE Power, selected in the category “Flattening the duck curve.” (As solar and wind installations have grown, BNEF said, many grids have come to face steep midday net-load dips and evening ramps, known as the “duck curve.”)

Aiming to serve as a “virtual power plant” to bolster the Texas grid, Base was co-founded by CEO Zach Dell, son of billionaire Dell founder Michael Dell. The company—which expanded to Dallas last summer—offers residential customers an all-in-one energy plan including a whole-home backup battery that can power homes during a blackout.

You can see all the 2026 BNEF Pioneers categories and finalists by going here. 

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