Team

Management Team

Jerry A. Vergeer, President, Animal Health

Jerry A. Vergeer is the President, Animal Health at Midori. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer of Animal Nutrition at Nutreco N.V. and also served as Executive Board Member. Nutreco is a leading global Animal Nutrition and Aquaculture company, with 100 production facilities in 30 countries, including 8 R&D facilities and 10,000 employees. Prior to this role, he served as President of Maple Leaf Animal Nutrition at Maple Leaf Foods, a leading Canadian Food Processing company. He led the sale of Animal Nutrition to Nutreco in 2007. Jerry graduated from the University of Guelph (Canada) Agricultural Business Program and from the Agri-Food Executive Development Program.

J.M. Geremia, Ph.D,, Founder, Head of Science and Technology Development

J.M. Geremia has over 15 years experience in research, innovation, and technology development, including inventing Midori’s core catalyst technology and leading the development of its Glycaogen™ platform for the production of novel carbohydrates. Prior to co-founding Midori, Dr. Geremia worked on the sustainable production of bio-based chemicals with Boston-area start-up Codon Devices, Inc., and served on the faculty of the University of New Mexico, where he lead an internationally-recognized research group and received multiple awards, including a young investigator (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation and commendations for excellence in teaching. Dr. Geremia received a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Princeton University as a Hugh Scott Taylor Distinguished Fellow, an honors B.S. in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of Delaware as a Eugene du Pont Distinguished Scholar. He is named as an author or inventor on over 80 scientific manuscripts, book chapters, patents, and patent applications.

Board of Directors

Brian Baynes, PhD, Chairman, Founder

Brian is a founder of Midori and co-inventor of its core technology. He is a Partner at Flagship Ventures, which he joined in 2004, and is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for creating new ventures at the intersection of innovative science and problems of global scale. Previously, he co-founded bioengineering companies Celexion and Codon Devices, and worked closely with portfolio companies Adnexus, BG Medicine, and Epitome Biosystems. He also worked as an engineer at Mobil and ExxonMobil, and was a Lecturer in the MIT School of Chemical Engineering Practice at Mitsubishi Chemicals and General Mills. Brian holds a BChE from the University of Delaware, and received his PhD in chemical engineering from MIT, both in chemical engineering.

Ignacio Martinez, Partner at Flagship Ventures

Ignacio Martinez joined Flagship Ventures in 2013 and focuses on sustainability and life sciences investments with a special interest in the agricultural sector. Ignacio holds a BS in Economics and Business Administration from Deusto University in Spain, and an International MBA from Instituto de Empresa in Spain and WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management in Germany. Prior to joining Flagship, Ignacio was the Managing Director of Syngenta Ventures, where he was directly involved in investments in the agribusiness, biotechnology and cleantech industries in Europe, North America and Latin America. Syngenta Ventures is the venture capital arm of Syngenta International AG, the world’s largest agrochemical business with more than $13 billion in revenue. Prior to Syngenta, Ignacio was the Chief Financial Officer of Progenika Group, where he was responsible for financial systems controls, transactions and processes (GAAP/IFRS) reporting to the investors. He also oversaw spinoffs and M&A activity, participated in raising more than $50 million in funding and actively participated in the expansion of the company to the US and Latin American markets. Before Progenika, Ignacio spent several years working for Najeti Ventures Fund investing in IT and biotech companies in Europe.

William J. Brady, Jr. President & CEO at Enchi Corporation

William J. Brady, Jr. is an executive and entrepreneur in the sustainable energy and advanced materials industries. He has successfully led large complex global organizations, and has created value in building emerging technology businesses. Most recently, Mr. Brady served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Mascoma Corporation, a leading industrial biotechnology company. Mascoma’s bioconversion products have been used to produce over 3 billion gallons of biofuels. Mascoma was successfully sold to Lallemand Corporation in November 2014. He is currently CEO, Director and Co-Founder of Enchi Corporation, an industrial biotechnology company developing advanced organisms to convert cellulosic biomass to fuels. Previously, Mr. Brady was Executive Vice President of Cabot Corporation, a $3 BN specialty chemical company. Throughout his twenty-three year experience, Mr. Brady held numerous positions at Cabot in the United States and Asia, including General Manager of the $2 Billion Carbon Black business which operated 23 manufacturing plants in 17 countries. Under his leadership, the business completed significant expansions in China and Brazil, and executed a major global initiative in energy efficiency. In addition, he led the commercialization of two start-up businesses at Cabot in ink jet colorants and elastomer composites.