Two Houston companies have combined their businesses. Photo by Sergio Trevino

A Houston-based cannabis company has formalized its ongoing relationship with one of the city’s most popular breweries. Bayou City Hemp Company announced that it has purchased 8th Wonder Brewery, Distillery, and Cannabis.

The acquisition deepens a relationship that dates back to 2021, when 8th Wonder and Bayou City Hemp partnered to create Wonder Water, a non-alcoholic beverage available with either CBD or Delta-8 that became the top-selling to-go product at 8th Wonder.

Going forward, the combined company aims to capture a healthy share of the Texas market for adult beverages by offering a full lineup of beer, spirits, and cannabis-infused drinks.

“Our commitment to provide quality products and trusted brands to consumers is strengthened with 8th Wonder, who has been a Texas staple in craft beer and spirits for over a decade,” Bayou City CEO Benjamin Meggs said in a statement. “We look forward to growing market share and distribution to the entire portfolio of products through expanded resources and combined expertise. This is not merely an acquisition; it is a bold declaration of our intent to lead and innovate in the heart of Texas.”

The combined company aims to utilize 8th Wonder’s existing distribution channels to get its products on to as many store shelves as possible, including stores such as H-E-B, Walmart, Kroger, Total Wine, and Spec’s. A capital infusion from Bayou City Hemp will focus on marketing and promotion, helping the company to increase excitement for and awareness of the brand.

“Significant capital will be infused to build out the necessary infrastructure,” Meggs said in response to CultureMap’s request for comment about the combined company’s plans. “This infrastructure will enhance our operational capabilities positioning Bayou City to enter new emerging beverage categories such as Cannabis, NA Beer, and RTD Spirits [ready-to-drink] among others.”

While all those changes will mostly happen behind the scenes, customers will notice upgrades to the current 8th Wonder brewery, taproom, distillery, and beer garden to match the brand’s new look.

Founded in 2011, 8th Wonder Brewery evolved out of the Eatsie Boys food truck. Branded with a nostalgic affection for Houston, it developed a following for beers such as Dome Faux’m (cream ale), Rocket Fuel (Vietnamese coffee porter), and Haterade (gose). Over time, it expanded into spirits with a distillery and cannabis with a dispensary.

Bayou City Hemp Company opened in 2019. It produces edibles, vapes, additives, and seltzers that aim to meet the growing consumer demand for cannabis-based products.

Going forward, Meggs will remain in his role as CEO where he’ll be joined by Bayou City Hemp’s existing chief business officer, Jeromy Sherman, CFO Karen Trotter, chief revenue officer Joel Canada, and chief innovation officer Stephen Horton. 8th Wonder co-founder Ryan Soroka will serve as chief brand and marketing officer, while 8th Wonder co-founder and brewmaster Aaron Corsi will become COO.

“From day one at 8th Wonder, our goal was to build a hundred-year company,” Soroka added. “This transaction will provide the leadership and resources needed to achieve that dream. We look forward to a refreshed and revitalized 8th Wonder as we move forward with Bayou City Hemp into the exciting future of the beverage and cannabis industries.”

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

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Abbott highlights Texas AI boom, with Houston projects on the horizon

AI investments are booming in Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott says. And Houston is poised to benefit from this surge.

At a recent Texas Economic Development Corp. gathering in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Abbott said AI projects on the horizon in the Lone Star State would be bigger than the $500 billion multistate Project Stargate, according to the Dallas Business Journal. So far, Stargate includes three AI data centers in Texas.

Stargate, a new partnership among OpenAI, Oracle, Softbank, and the federal government, is building AI infrastructure around the country. The project’s first data center is in Abilene, and the center’s second phase is underway. Once the second phase is finished, the 875-acre site will host eight buildings totaling about 4 million square feet with a power capacity of 1.2 gigawatts. An additional 600 megawatts of capacity might be added later.

On Sept. 23, Stargate announced the development of another five AI data centers in the U.S., including a new facility in Shackelford County, Texas, near Abilene. That facility is likely a roughly $25 billion, 1.4-gigawatt AI data center that Vantage Data Centers is building on a 1,200-acre site in Shackelford County.

Another will be in Milam County, between Waco and Austin. In conjunction with Stargate, OpenAI plans to occupy the more than $3 billion center, which will be situated on a nearly 600-acre site, the Austin Business Journal reported. OpenAI has teamed up with Softbank-backed SB Energy Global to build the facility.

Abbott said several unannounced AI projects in Texas — namely, data centers — will be larger than Stargate.

“Bottom line is ... when you look at diversification, the hottest thing going on right now is artificial intelligence,” Abbott said.

The Houston area almost certainly stands to attract some of the projects teased by the governor.

In Houston, Taiwanese tech manufacturer Foxconn already is investing $450 million to make AI servers at the 100-acre Fairbanks Logistics Park, which Foxconn recently purchased for a reported $142 million. The park features four industrial buildings totaling one million square feet. It appears Foxconn will manufacture the servers for Apple and Nvidia, both of which have announced they’ll open server factories in Houston.

The Foxconn, Apple, and Nvidia initiatives are high-profile examples of Houston’s ascent in the AI economy. A report released in July by the Brookings Institution identified Houston as one of the country’s 28 “star” hubs for AI.

The Greater Houston Partnership says the Houston area is undergoing an "AI-driven data revolution."

“As Houston rapidly evolves into a hub for AI, cloud computing, and data infrastructure, the city is experiencing a surge in data center investments driven by its unique position at the intersection of energy, technology, and innovation,” the partnership says.

Houston native picked for 2025 class of NASA astronaut candidates

space crew

NASA has selected 10 new astronaut candidates, including one whose hometown is Houston, for its 2025 training class. The candidates will undergo nearly two years of training before they can assume flight assignments.

The 10 future astronauts were introduced during a recent ceremony at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, whose facilities include an astronaut training center. NASA received more than 8,000 applications for the 10 slots.

“Representing America’s best and brightest, this astronaut candidate class will usher in the Golden Age of innovation and exploration as we push toward the moon and Mars,” said Vanessa Wyche, director of NASA Johnson.

NASA’s 24th astronaut class reported for duty in mid-September at Johnson Space Center. Their training will prepare them for missions to the International Space Station and the moon, among other activities. Graduates will become members of NASA’s astronaut corps.

Among the recently selected candidates is Anna Menon, who was born in Houston and considers it her hometown. She’s married to NASA astronaut Dr. Anil Menon, a flight surgeon who completed his training in 2022.

Most recently, Anna Menon was a senior engineer at Elon Musk’s SpaceX, where she spent seven years managing crew operations for the Dragon and Starship spacecraft. Previously, Menon worked at NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston, where she supported medical software and hardware aboard the International Space Station.

In 2024, Menon flew into space as a mission specialist and medical officer aboard SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn private spacecraft. A highlight of the low-orbit trip was the first commercial spacewalk.

Texas native Rebecca Lawler, a native of the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Little Elm, is one of Menon’s nine classmates.

Lawler, a former lieutenant commander in the Navy, was a Navy P-3 pilot and experimental test pilot who logged over 2,800 flight hours aboard more than 45 aircraft. At the time she was chosen to be an astronaut candidate, Lawler was a test pilot for United Airlines.

The eight other astronaut candidates in the 2025 class are:

  • Ben Bailey, who was born and raised in Charlottesville, Virginia
  • Lauren Edgar, whose hometown is Sammamish, Washington
  • Adam Fuhrmann, who’s from Leesburg, Virginia
  • Cameron Jones, a native of Savanna, Illinois
  • Yuri Kubo, a native of Columbus, Indiana
  • Imelda Muller, whose hometown is Copake Falls, New York
  • Erin Overcash, who’s from Goshen, Kentucky
  • Katherine Spies, a native of San Diego