# Benjamin Cook

> Benjamin Cook is the founder, CEO and board chairman of Zirconia Inc., a Tukwila, Washington advanced-materials company building water-borne ceramic coatings that chemically bond to concrete and steel at room temperature - effectively turning aging infrastructure into something close to liquid granite. A self-described green technologist with three decades of cleantech ventures behind him, Cook trades on a single conviction: the cheapest and greenest building is the one you never have to tear down. Before Zirconia he founded GeoTree Technologies, an underground-pipe restoration firm sold for a 5x investor return, and earlier still he traded a planned career in pediatric medicine for a life spent removing toxins from the built environment.

- **Role:** Founder, CEO, President & Board Chairman at Zirconia Inc.
- **Organizations:** Zirconia Inc., GeoTree Technologies Inc., Adaptive Symbiotic Technologies
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.A. Conservation and Resource Studies, University of California, Berkeley, MBA, Sustainable Business, Pinchot University (Bainbridge Graduate Institute)
- **Known for:** Founded GeoTree Technologies and exited at a 5x return to investors (acquired by Milliken), Pioneered an underground pipe restoration process producing roughly half the CO2 of conventional repair at about 10% of the cost of digging, Commercialized the first ceramic coating to chemically bond to concrete and steel and cure at room temperature, no kiln required

## Career timeline

- **1993** — Graduates from UC Berkeley with a degree in Conservation and Resource Studies after volunteering in Oakland Children's Hospital's ER
- **1990s-2000s** — Founds and runs an environmental laboratory, environmental consultancies, and a green building materials import business
- **2000s** — Builds Seattle's largest green building program at a regional hardware chain
- **2010s** — Founds GeoTree Technologies, a green-cement infrastructure restoration company; later sold for a 5x investor return (acquired by Milliken)
- **2017** — Incorporates Zirconia Inc. to commercialize room-temperature ceramic surface treatments based on Rutgers University research
- **2022** — Raises seed funding (reported ~$560,000) to scale CeramycGuard and TruComposite systems

## Achievements

- Founded GeoTree Technologies and exited at a 5x return to investors (acquired by Milliken)
- Pioneered an underground pipe restoration process producing roughly half the CO2 of conventional repair at about 10% of the cost of digging
- Commercialized the first ceramic coating to chemically bond to concrete and steel and cure at room temperature, no kiln required
- Built Seattle's largest green building program at a regional hardware chain
- Developed antibody tests to help protect migrant women and children from agricultural pesticide exposure

## Latest updates

- **2022-09** — Closed a reported seed round of roughly $560,000 to scale Zirconia's CeramycGuard and TruComposite ceramic surface treatment systems

## Links

- Website: https://zirconiainc.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-cook-05853612

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/benjamin-cook
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-25