About the AgriVest 2015 Panelists

Transcription

1 About the AgriVest 2015 Panelists Adam Anders, Managing Partner, Anterra Capital Adam Anders is the managing partner of Anterra Capital, an independent growth capital fund investing in fast-growing companies that transform the way we produce, move, and consume food. Anterra was founded in 2013 as a spin-out of Rabo Ventures, Rabobank s proprietary venture capital fund. The fund is backed by Rabobank, a global leader in food and agriculture financing, and Moonray Investors, the proprietary investment arm of Fidelity International. Adam has over 15 years of private equity and venture capital experience. He grew up in rural South Australia where his interest in food and agriculture innovation was initiated. Adam received an MBA from Cambridge University, England, and holds degrees in law and commerce from the University of Adelaide, Australia. Dror Berman, Founding Managing Partner, Innovation Endeavors As the founding managing partner of Innovation Endeavors, Dror Berman seeks diverse, creative ways to partner with entrepreneurs who are applying emerging technologies to reshape industries globally. Throughout his career, Dror has been passionate about how entrepreneurial ecosystems can give rise to companies that have positive human and financial impact. Prior to joining Innovation Endeavors, Dror worked on global search products with Yahoo, spearheaded an R&D team at NICE Systems, and led business development for an Israeli CE retailer. He also spent three years in an elite unit of the Israeli Defense Forces. Dror received an MBA from Stanford University and graduated (cum laude) in computer science and bioinformatics from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Sam Fiorello, COO, Danforth Plant Science Center; President, Bio-Research & Development Growth Park Sam Fiorello is the COO of the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and president of the Bio-Research and Development Growth Park (BRDG Park). The Danforth Center is the world s largest independent research institute focused on plant science. The BRDG Park helps life science companies bridge research and relationships to achieve commercial success. In 1997, as Monsanto s chief of staff in the office of the president, he helped put together the AgriVest 2015 agrivestisrael.com 1

2 Danforth Center s business plan and initial pool of funding. Previously, Sam was a senior trade and investment policy analyst with Walker/Free Associates in Washington, D.C. Sam received a graduate degree in public administration from the University of Texas and a B.A. in business administration from the University of Wisconsin. Ofer Haviv, President & CEO, Evogene Ofer Haviv has served as Evogene s president and CEO for more than 10 years. Previously, he was the Company s COO and CFO and was involved in Evogene s spin-off from Compugen in At Compugen (Nasdaq: CGEN), Ofer was director of finance and treasurer for four years, during which time the company completed two private placements and an IPO on Nasdaq. Ofer received a B.A. in economics and accounting from Tel Aviv University and is a CPA in Israel. Dan Hodgson, Partner, Linn Grove Growth Funds Dan Hodgson founded Linn Grove Ventures with his partners in 2010 in North Dakota, after previously founding Southern Valley Angel Fun in The network of entrepreneurs in the upper Midwest that are Linn Grove s investors, advisors, and partners, are leaders in ag, animal, and food innovation worldwide. Linn Grove is an early-stage ag, animal, and food technology investor, focused on technologies that improve margins for operating businesses. Dan serves on the board of Virgin Plants, and is president and CEO of FarmQA, a management solutions platform for technologies for large operating farms that was founded by serial entrepreneurs in agriculture technology in partnership with Linn Grove. Arama Kukutai, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Finistere Ventures Arama Kukutai is the co-founder and a managing director of Finistere Ventures, a California-based innovation investment firm. Born and raised in rural New Zealand, Arama s professional career has focused in the finance, trade, and agricultural industries. Finistere Ventures has been a pioneer in agtech investing since its founding in Notable successes include Athenix, sold to Bayer for $400 million (2009), and Sadra, which was sold for $450 million (2011). He has been closely involved in the evolution of the agtech sector and start-up community as chair of the Industry Board for the Ag Innovation Showcase and the new event AgTech Week in San Francisco (June 2015). He founded and served chairman of PKW Farms, a New Zealand-Australia-based dairy agribusiness, which grew to over $250 million in farm assets during his leadership and is one of AgriVest 2015 agrivestisrael.com 2

3 the largest dairy operators in Australasia. He remains personally engaged in farming as a private investor in dairy in the United States, developing grass-fed free range operations. Michael Lee, Managing Director, Syngenta Ventures Michael Lee joined Syngenta Ventures in Previously, he spent several years at Unilever s corporate venturing group based in the United States and the UK, investing in early-stage companies. Before this he worked at Unilever s R&D center in the Netherlands. He serves as a director on the boards of Brandtone and PGT. Michael worked as a postdoc at the University of London. He holds a Ph.D. in insect biochemistry and B.Sc. in zoology from the University of Durham, UK, and MBA from RSM Erasmus University, Netherlands. He is a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society and a Kauffman Fellow. His published scientific papers focus on either caterpillar digestive enzymes or peptide hormones involved in energy mobilization for insect flight. Eyal Lipetz-Eliassi, Israel Country Manager & Innovation-Based Growth Leader, DuPont Eyal Lipetz-Eliassi serves as DuPont's Israeli country manager and innovation growth leader. Since joining DuPont in 2006, he has led DuPont's business and technology growth initiatives in Israel. Prior to joining DuPont, Eyal led a variety of commercial transactions and international business development activities within the financial, high-tech, and aerospace sectors. Eyal received an M.A. in business administration from Manchester University and holds a B.Sc. in aerospace engineering from the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology. Pam Marrone, CEO & Founder, Marrone Bio Innovations Pamela Marrone is the CEO and founder of Marrone Bio Innovations (MBI), a company with over 110 employees she started in 2006 to discover and develop bio-based products for pest management and plant health (Nasdaq: MBII). The company s award-winning Regalia biofungicide and award-winning Grandevo bioinsecticide are rapidly being adopted in the fruit, nut, vegetable, and row crop markets in the United States and internationally. MBI has also launched Zequanox for invasive zebra and quagga mussels. Its EPA-approved Venerate bioinsecticide was launched into the U.S. fruit and vegetable market in The company has screened 18,000 microbes and has a pipeline of bioherbicide, fungicide, and nematicide candidates in development. AgriVest 2015 agrivestisrael.com 3

4 Pam holds a Ph.D. in entomology from North Carolina State University and a B.Sc. (with honors and distinction) in entomology from Cornell University. Jinesh Shah, Founding Partner, Omnivore Partners Jinesh Shah has a background in fund management in addition to his experience working with Indian start-ups on operational and financial issues. Prior to co-founding Omnivore Partners, he served as CFO and VP at Nexus Venture Partners, a leading Indian early-stage venture capital firm. Earlier, he worked as AGM (Finance) at Datamatics, where he was responsible for M&A, treasury and MIS functions. Jinesh has also worked as a finance manager at Patni Computers, where he served as finance team leader for Patni s IPO, and at HCL Technologies. Jinesh serves on the board of a number of Omnivore Partners portfolio companies. He is a chartered accountant (ICAI) and holds an MMS (finance) degree from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, India. Barry J. Schindler, Co-Chair Global Patent Prosecution Group, GreenbergTraurig Barry J. Schindler, Co-Chair of Greenberg Traurig s Global Patent Prosecution Group and a shareholder in the Intellectual Property & Technology Practice, has more than 25 years of legal experience in intellectual property law. He helps companies of all sizes build and manage significant patent portfolios, develop in-house procedure, and formulate intellectual property strategies. He positions clients to gain a competitive advantage by identifying patentable subject matter and drafting claims in such a way that infringement becomes possible to prove. Barry is a member of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers, Institute of Food Technologists, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, and the American Intellectual Property Law Association. AgriVest 2015 agrivestisrael.com 4

5 Gideon Soesman, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, GreenSoil Investments Before co-founding GreenSoil, Gideon Soesman founded and managed GMS Capital, a boutique investment bank, where he assisted companies with global business development strategy and fund-raising, and managed several mergers and acquisitions for European, American, and Israeli companies. Prior to GMS, Gideon was responsible for global M&A activities for a major division of Royal Philips Electronics, managing deals valued at over $1.5 billion. At Philips, Gideon served as director of corporate strategy and venturing, with overall responsibility for deal flow management, due diligence, deal negotiations, and portfolio management in Israel. Gideon holds an M.A. in business administration from Boston University/Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and a B.A. in economics from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Alexander Wiegelmann, VP M&A/Head of Transactions, KWS SAAT AG Alexander Wiegelmann is VP M&A/head of transactions at KWS SAAT AG. He has more than eight years of international investment and corporate finance experience in various industries, especially focusing on small and medium-sized companies. Previously, Alexander was a VP in investment banking for German, British, and multinational institutions managing cross-border and regional investments and corporate transactions. He was a postdoctoral visiting scholar at Columbia University, New York, and holds a Ph.D. in financial economics from the University of Potsdam (Germany), a diploma and B.A. (with honors) in business administration (Germany and UK). AgriVest 2015 agrivestisrael.com 5