A field pilot is often the difference between a promising prototype and a purchase order. The Texas Proving Ground is our program to make that pilot faster and simpler to arrange, for the companies we back and for the sites that host them.
What it is
We intend to sign master pilot agreements with host sites across Texas. Each host accepts one set of terms with Dark Ice Ventures, covering safety, insurance, data, confidentiality and removal. After that, each pilot uses a short schedule on terms the host has already approved. One agreement, many pilots.
The program is in formation. Hosts are named only when signed, and only with each host’s consent, so you will not see a list of sites here until hosts agree to be named.
Where pilots run
Our host types span the industries our hardware verticals sell into:
- Electric cooperatives and municipal utilities
- Water districts
- Farms and agricultural cooperatives
- Independent test labs and universities
- Well sites (oil, gas and geothermal)
- Mines and mineral processing plants
- Industrial and cooling sites
The fit often follows the vertical. For example, grid equipment belongs at a utility or cooperative, irrigation and crop sensing at a farm, water treatment at a water district, production equipment at a well site, and processing equipment at a mine.
Why Texas
Texas puts nearly every kind of host site we need inside one state: utilities and cooperatives, water districts, farms, research universities, oil, gas and geothermal wells, mines and a large industrial base. It is also where we work. Our headquarters is in Dallas, which runs our Grid & Power Equipment, AgTech, Sensing & Measurement and Telecom & Networking verticals, and our Houston office runs six more of our twelve hardware verticals.
Who it is for
The Proving Ground is for companies we invest in, mainly in our hardware verticals, where a field record is what stands between a working product and a first order. After we invest, we work on your first field test, your first buyer conversations and, where it applies, a warranty buyers can trust.
It is also for hosts. Utilities, cooperatives, water districts, farms, test labs, universities, energy producers, mines and industrial plants need better hardware but cannot take unlimited risk on young suppliers. The program is designed to make that first step safer and simpler.
Your site. Your rules.
How a company gets in
- Pitch us. Tell us what you are building and what it replaces. We answer on fit within five business days.
- Diligence. A technical adviser reviews your approach, and we look for a named customer signal.
- Before we invest, we tell you if your pilot is likely to need utility or state approvals that would take longer than our target.
- After we invest, we work with you to match the pilot to host sites. Every host chooses which pilots to accept.
- You sign a short schedule under terms the host has already accepted. Our target is a field deployment within about 60 days of our investment.
A pilot is most likely to be accepted when it asks a clear question. Hosts tend to say yes to a defined scope, measurable success criteria agreed in advance, safety and installation plans ready for review, and a company that has done its homework on approvals.
Who pays, and who controls what
- Costs. You pay your pilot costs: equipment, installation, insurance and any host fees. We pay to run the program. Hosts pay nothing.
- Control. The host gets no equity and no exclusivity. You own your product, your intellectual property and your product data.
- Insurance. Each company carries its own insurance and names the host as an additional insured.
- Safety. Hosts set their own site rules and can stop any pilot for safety at any time.
- No guarantees. We cannot promise a slot or a result. Our funds are not parties to pilot agreements and do not guarantee any company.
For a founder’s checklist of what hosts ask for, and how to be ready on the first day, read Your first field pilot, step by step.
Dark Ice Ventures · Oct 11, 2026
This note is for information only and is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security or fund interest.
