First Bight Ventures-Founded Accelerator Adds New Executive Director to its Management Team

HOUSTON, Feb. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- BioWell, a nonprofit accelerator aimed at early-stage synthetic biology startups and the advancement of the bioeconomy, which was founded by Houston-based venture capital group First Bight Ventures, has begun assembling its management team with the appointment of Paul Palmer as Executive Director. Palmer is a former Partner at EY, whose tenure included international cross-border tax planning, business development, assurance, and business consulting. While at EY, he also worked with startups across various sectors, most recently with the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship and Texas Medical Center Innovation (TMCi).

In this role, Palmer will lead BioWell's vision of creating an ecosystem that provides hands-on business education, industry mentorship, research, and pilot infrastructure. He will be tasked with fundraising for the accelerator through both private and public sponsorships and government grant opportunities. Palmer will also play a key role in recruiting the first cohort of startups and working to secure physical lab space in the coming months.

"Paul was a clear choice for BioWell because of his combined experience at EY and engagement with Houston's entrepreneurial community," said First Bight Ventures & BioWell Founder Veronica Wu. "Working with large corporations and startups at all levels, he has successfully delivered value-based results for his clients. Equally important, Paul has an established relationship with the Houston business community and will be able to leverage his existing network to promote BioWell and our participant entrepreneurs in a public-facing role."

BioWell was recently awarded more than $700K by the U.S. Dept. of Commerce's "Build to Scale" program, which will help accelerate the commercialization and scaling of bioindustrial startups.

"Utilizing the resources and expertise of First Bight Ventures, along with our recent EDA grant, BioWell is set to assist with innovation and industrial biology advancements for the United States," said Palmer. "With the formation of our leadership team, we're making significant progress on building out the BioWell platform. We are excited about nurturing solutions in industrial biology and helping to establish Houston's leadership in the global bioeconomy," he emphasized.

More about BioWell First Bight Ventures can be found at biowell.org and firstbight.com. 

SOURCE First Bight Ventures