Bucha Bio moves to Houston Innovation Hub

New York-based biomaterials company, Bucha Bio, has announced the launch of operations in Houston, citing research that determined the region’s workforce to be “ideally suited to biomaterials.”

Bucha Bio, founded in 2019, specializes in bacterial nanocellulose-based textiles and composite materials that can be used instead of animal leather, polyurethane, latex, vinyl, epoxy, and other materials. The company stated that it will relocate from New York City to the East End Maker Hub to establish a next-generation materials headquarters. Greentown Labs has also recognized Bucha Bio as a member firm.

According to the press announcement, Houston was chosen above 20 other cities because of its hiring potential, nearby institutions, business-friendly regulations, and other factors.

Zimri T. Hinshaw, CEO of Bucha Bio, said that they’ve signed on prominent experts, and their experiences from the oil and plastic industries are perfectly suited to biomaterials.

Alex Kalin, a senior materials scientist from Halliburton, said that this is an exciting time to be part of the development of sustainable materials technologies. Being able to have a beneficial impact on the environment was a major reason for his decision to join Bucha Bio.

Houston’s chemical plant has a carbon footprint of 56 gigatons tonnes of carbon that will be produced between now and 2050; this amount might be reduced if sustainable alternatives like Bucha Bio’s were available. Greentown Labs saw this possibility and decided to pursue it.

Jason Ethier, senior director of memberships at Greentown Houston, said that bringing world-class energy transition companies like Bucha Bio to Houston is a win-win; not only will Bucha be able to tap into a diverse talent pool from universities like Rice, University of Houston, and Texas A&M, but also a wealth of existing talent looking to transition their careers; Zimri and his team bring more than technology to Houston; they bring the knowhow, vigour, and network it takes to build meaningful disruptive technology companies.