Dive Brief:
- Pivot Bio is growing its leadership ranks to accelerate the biofertilizer maker's momentum after blazing past $100 million in revenue earlier this month.
- Debra Frimerman, former general counsel for Calyxt and head of legal for Syngenta's U.S. seeds business, has joined as Pivot Bio's chief business development officer.
- The company also named Wendy Watkins as its chief communications officer. Watkins came from Hormel Foods, where she also oversaw communications as a senior vice president.
Dive Insight:
Pivot Bio's alternative to synthetic nitrogen fertilizers has been used on more than 5 million acres of farmland, which the company said is "an unprecedented rate of adoption for new crop nutrition technology.”
An expanded leadership team will help the company grow out of its startup phase and allow it to better compete with traditional fertilizer companies. The company earlier this month tapped Chris Abbott, who led Continental Grain's venture arm Conti, as its CEO.
“As Pivot Bio continues to scale, we are adding exceptional talent to our team to further accelerate momentum and expand our long-term sustainable growth potential,” Abbott said in a release.
As business development officer, Frimerman is tasked with identifying new revenue streams, licensing opportunities and strategic partnerships.
In March, Pivot Bio also named Devang Shah as general counsel, who held similar roles at e-commerce giant Wish and gaming company Zynga. He has experience in brand protection, mergers and acquisitions, and taking companies public.
Pivot Bio creates nitrogen-fixing soil microbes that can be applied directly to the seed. Unlike traditional fertilizer that blocks soil's natural ability to create nitrogen, Pivot Bio's alternative adjusts the DNA of soil microbes to better uptake nutrients.
"Pivot Bio is a breakthrough innovation in agriculture and among the industry’s most promising climate solutions,” Abbott said in the release. “We have much growth and opportunity ahead of us as we build from a strong foundation.”
