Pivot Bio has hired Corteva’s former head of operations to lead the biofertilizer maker’s supply chain and manufacturing expansion, the company said Wednesday.
Balaji Venkataraman has been named senior vice president of manufacturing and supply chain and will report to Pivot Bio’s President and COO Lisa Safarian. Previously vice president of global operations at Corteva Agriscience, Venkataraman also held various manufacturing leadership roles at Dow companies in the U.S. and India.
In the role, Venkataraman will lead in-house and third-party manufacturing, supply chain and procurement teams and strategies. The new hire comes following a series of investments this year to improve manufacturing, distribution and technical support for the company’s line of biofertilizer products, including a factory in St. Louis and a warehouse in Omaha, Nebraska.
Venkataraman brings to the role years of expertise improving global supply chains and processes in terms of profitability, efficiency and safety, Safarian said in a statement.
“I’m thrilled to welcome him to the team as Pivot Bio embarks on a new phase of growth,” she said.
Pivot Bio has been building out its c-suite after reporting more than $100 million in revenue and sharing expansion plans in early September. The agriculture startup hired Chris Abbott, a former grain-trading insider, to be CEO and hired Debra Frimerman, a former head of legal at Syngenta, to be its chief business development officer.
Venkataraman is based in the San Francisco Bay area and will work from the company’s Berkeley office.