What I Do

I design and lead systems that connect strategy, capital, science, and commercialization.

In practice, that means helping companies identify where value is forming outside the enterprise, decide where to learn versus where to commit, and use investments, partnerships, and selective acquisitions to shape future growth.

The Gap I Close

Corporate lifespans have shrunk since mid-century. Markets punish slow reinvention.

Important innovation often emerges outside the company first.

But in science-driven or legacy industries, most corporations struggle to absorb it. Startups move quickly but lack the infrastructure to scale through regulation, manufacturing, and distribution. Corporates have scale, balance sheet, and market access, but often move too slowly or too cautiously. Investors fund innovation, but do not always build the strategic pathways that make adoption possible.

Advantage goes to builders who can link science, capital, and innovation through minority stake investments, strategic partnerships, and elective M&A.

That is the gap I help close.

Why Me

I bring an unusual combination of lenses: operator, investor, scientist, and corporate executive.

Select Board & Observer Roles:

• AgroSpheres (RNAi and encapsulation, US), Micropep (peptide design, France), Niqo Robotics (robotics and automation, India), Premier Crop Systems (analytics, US), Solasta Bio (peptide discovery and design, UK), SP Ventures (early stage VC fund, Brazil), Traive Finance (AI-based credit and finance, Brazil).

Strategic Engagements (Interim):

• Executive in Residence, North Carolina Biotechnology Center

• Commercialization Board, Plant Science Initiative at NC State University

• Venture Partner, LongLeaf Studios

• Reviewer, NCInnovation Grants Program

Education:

• MBA, concentration in entrepreneurship, NC State University

• Graduate Certificate, Entrepreneurship & Technology Commercialization, NC State University

• Graduate coursework in Biotechnology and Business, Harvard University

• B.S. Meteorology, NC State University

I’ve built startups, allocated capital, served on boards, and led in complex global environments. That mix (operator + investor + corporate builder) lets me help organizations orchestrate innovation into repeatable growth across M&A, venture, and strategic partnerships, in regulated, science-driven industries.

See full experience on LinkedIn.

Career Highlights:

• Corporate Venture & Innovation Platforms: Built and scaled three corporate innovation / VC programs across industrial, bio/ag, and financial sectors (including Fortune 500 environments). Deployed $75M+, catalyzed $250M+ in follow-on capital, and delivered 7 exits, including a $200M M&A outcome.

• Corporate Development & Strategic Growth: Designed and executed build/buy/partner strategies, target screening, diligence, structuring, and value capture - helping science-based organizations translate innovation into measurable enterprise outcomes.

• Founder / Operator Perspective: Cofounded and led a climate analytics startup; reached profitability within two years and captured 40% market share in a pilot region by selling decision-support tools to specialty crop growers.

• Scientific Rigor: Former climate scientist with peer-reviewed publications and funded research; built climate-based decision support products used by practitioners and decision-makers.

How I Can Contribute

I work best in senior mandates that require building the next growth engine inside a complex organization.

Types of roles:

• Chief Growth Officer / VP Innovation / Head of Corporate Ventures / VP Strategic Finance (mid to large cap);

• Partner / Operating Partner at a climate, bio, or industrial-tech fund;

• Commercialization / ecosystem leadership at a top-tier research university or regional ecosystem.

Sectors:

• BioTech and Life Sciences • Industrials and infrastructure • AgTech and FoodTech • Energy transition • Climate

North star:

• Build platforms that shape markets and strengthen resilience.

Recent Thought Leadership

A selection of interviews, talks, and writing on corporate ventures, inorganic growth, and building innovation systems in regulated, science-driven industries.

For speaking inquiries, inquire about availability

Interviews

• Featured in the AgTech360 podcast, episode 74, "AgTech at a Crossroads: Capital, Innovation, and Resilience," March 18, 2026. link
  

• Quoted in "It's Time for Big Ag to Embrace Its Big Pharma Moment," AgFunderNews, March 5, 2026. link
  

• Featured in "Behind the Fruit Podcast," Episode 4, February 4, 2026. link
  

• Featured in "10 practical tips for agri-tech start-ups in 2025" by Agri-TechE, September 5, 2025. link
  

• Guest on the Caplander Podcast, August 25, 2025. link
  

• Guest on the Modern Acre, episode 418, July 29, 2025. link
  

• Appeared on the Charles Aris webinar - Seeding the future of Agtech, June 4, 2025. link
  

• Featured in Software is Feeding the World, the strategic role of corporate VC, March 19, 2025. link

Speaking

• Moderator and speaker, "Beyond Haber-Bosch," UNC CleanTech Summit, March 9, 2026.
  

• Speaker in "Inside the Boardroom: What Works, What Breaks in Corporate Venture Capital," hosted by Trampoline VC, September 29, 2025.
  

• Panelist at NY Climate Week, "Cultivating Alignment: Scaling Solutions to Reduce Fertilizer Emissions" hosted by PACT, Vere Initiatives, and the McKnight Foundation, September 24, 2025. link
  

• Panelist and Moderator at the Santa Fe Business Forum, Rosario, Argentina, September 2-3, 2025. link
  

• Speech at the 9th Microbiome AgBioTech Summit, Raleigh, NC, "Fast Capital, Slow Science: Why We’re Starving the Next AgBio Revolution," August 26, 2025.
  

• Panelist in a U.S. Congressional Briefing, hosted by Congresswoman Budzinski (D-IL) and the House Committee on Agriculture, Washington DC, June 25, 2025. link
  

• Spoke at the Bonny Doon Insights Forum, Santa Cruz, “Why CVCs fail,” May 14, 2025. link
  

• Panelist at the Agri-Venture Forum, Toronto, Corporate Strategics in AgTech, May 8, 2025.
  

• Keynote speaker, Africa Agri-Tech Conference, “Funding 2040 and Beyond,” Pretoria, South Africa, March 20, 2025. link

Writing

• "Agriculture's Great Repricing" AgfunderNews, January 16, 2026. link.
  

• "AgTech is Dead. Long Live the System." AgfunderNews, November 5, 2025. link
  

• "When rebuilding the bridge, founders and funders can’t afford the ‘slow maybe’", AgfunderNews, September 22, 2025. link
  

• "Five ways startup investment can bend markets," Global Corporate Venturing, September 19, 2025. link
  

• “The Quiet Trends Reshaping Ag and Food,” AgFunderNews, June 23, 2025. link
  

• “AgTech x AGI: The Convergence That Changes Everything,” AgTechNavigator, June 16, 2025. link
  

• “The end of Corporate Venture Capital as we know it,” Global Corporate Venturing, June 11, 2025. link
  

• "How to unlock trillion-dollar opportunities in agrifood and climate,” AgFunderNews, March 12, 2025. link
  

• “Why agtech needs new capital models… and investors who can keep up,” AgFunderNews, January 7, 2025. link

Get in Touch with Mark

If you’re building in a science-driven industry, I can help.

Advisory • Speaking • Senior Roles