SOURCE Pivot Bio

Appointments Strengthen Growth, People Strategy, Manufacturing and Environmental Leadership

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Pivot Bio, one of the world's leading innovative agtech companies, today announced senior leadership advancements that reinforce the company's focus on scaling impact for farmers and accelerating long-term growth. The leadership advancements are:

  • Ryan Degnan, chief growth officer
  • Laureen Thompson, chief human resources officer
  • Balaji Venkataraman, chief supply chain officer

Each of these leaders reports to Chris Abbott, chief executive officer, Pivot Bio and are members of the executive leadership team.

"These leadership advancements reflect the momentum Pivot Bio is building and our continued commitment to putting farmers first," said Chris Abbott, CEO, Pivot Bio. "Ryan, Laureen and Balaji have brought exceptional experience to Pivot Bio and have demonstrated a deep dedication to our mission. Their experience in these roles will help us continue to strengthen our technology, culture and operational foundation as we accelerate our growth to deliver products farmers can rely on."

Additionally, the company announced that it has appointed Marty Muenzmaier to a new role as director of environmental policy and programs. This new position is part of the corporate communications, government affairs and global impact team at Pivot Bio, and will report to Wendy Watkins, chief communications officer.

"Marty brings more than three decades of exceptional leadership to this new role at Pivot Bio," said Wendy Watkins, chief communications officer. "He is well-known in the industry for his leadership at the intersection of agriculture, sustainability, and public policy, shaping some of the most credible and impactful environmental programs in our industry. We are excited to have his leadership at Pivot Bio as we continue to scale meaningful impact for farmers and the environment."

The company's advancements and appointments are effective immediately.

About Ryan Degnan

As the chief growth officer, Ryan Degnan will continue to lead strategy, corporate development and digital for Pivot Bio, with a focus on expanding the company's market opportunities, including partnerships and international expansion, and furthering its overall mission.

Degnan joined Pivot Bio in 2025 as head of growth from McKinsey & Company, where he worked across the firm's chemicals and agriculture, sustainability, and growth marketing and sales practices. While there, he succeeded in launching new ventures and driving growth in a variety of agriculture and agtech-focused businesses spanning inputs, distribution, digital software, hardware and data.

Prior to joining McKinsey, Degnan served in the U.S. Army as a military intelligence officer, holding leadership positions across a variety of strategic and tactical units in the United States and Afghanistan.

He has an MBA from Yale School of Management and a BBA from the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business.

About Laureen Thompson

Laureen Thompson has been promoted to chief human resources officer. In this position, she will continue to focus on the company's overall people and human resources strategy, working with Pivot Bio's team members, who are based in Missouri, Minnesota and Brazil. She oversees all aspects of human resources management: recruitment, talent development, team member engagement, compensation and benefits, and organizational culture.

Thompson joined Pivot Bio in 2022 as senior director of total rewards, and advanced to head of people and human resources for the company in April 2025.

Her career began at Prudential. During her time there, she was selected to serve in its rotational leadership program. She went on to spend more than a decade at Willis Towers Watson as a consultant and 16 years at VWR/Avantor, where she served as global vice president of total rewards and played a key role in executing two IPOs.

Thompson earned a Bachelor of Arts in education from Arcadia University and an MBA from LaSalle University. She is active in the human resources field and serves on several nonprofit boards.

About Balaji Venkataraman

Balaji Venkataraman has been promoted to chief supply chain officer, with continuing responsibility for leading efforts to expand Pivot Bio's production capabilities and optimizing supply chain performance to meet growing demand. In this role, he is responsible for ensuring Pivot Bio's industry-leading products are produced and delivered to farmers at the right time and with best-in-class quality.

Venkataraman joined Pivot Bio in 2023 to lead the company's in-house and third-party manufacturing, supply chain and procurement functions. He oversees Pivot Bio's relationships with contract manufacturers; the company's St. Louis facility, which is focused on formulation and freeze-drying for the on-seed product; and packaging and distribution centers. He was the company's first senior vice president of manufacturing and supply chain.

Venkataraman brings decades of expertise as a global operations leader transforming supply chains, working with his teams to deliver operational excellence, and optimizing processes to improve safety and profitability. Before joining Pivot Bio, he served as vice president of global operations at Corteva Agriscience. Prior to that, he held a variety of manufacturing leadership roles across Dow companies, including the agriculture division of DowDuPont and Dow Chemical in the U.S. and India.

About Marty Muenzmaier

Marty Muenzmaier has been hired into the new enterprise-wide role of director of environmental policy and programs, where he will guide Pivot Bio's environmental policy, engagement and strategy across the organization. In this role, Muenzmaier will help strengthen the company's leadership and collaboration on environmental policy priorities and advance programs that align with Pivot Bio's mission and long-term impact.

He brings more than two decades of sustainability, policy and regulatory leadership experience from Cargill, most recently as renewable fuels sustainability lead, building low-carbon pathways across agriculture and alternative feedstock supply chains. He has also held senior sustainability, issues management and government relations roles at Cargill and previously served as state government affairs director for Kimberly-Clark.

In his new role, Muenzmaier will help ensure Pivot Bio remains proactive and responsible in how it engages on environmental issues relevant to farmers, partners and the agricultural industry.

About Pivot Bio

Pivot Bio, one of the world's leading innovative agtech companies, delivers to farmers patented crop nutrition technologies that harness the power of nature to reliably and productively grow the food the world needs in the face of increasing volatility.

Currently available in North America and soon in Brazil, the company's products are a breakthrough innovation and one of the agriculture industry's most promising climate solutions. Pivot Bio has been recognized three times by TIME magazine on its annual list of Best Inventions, by Fast Company on its World Changing Ideas and World's 50 Most Innovative Companies lists, by CNBC on its Disruptor 50 list of private companies, by Fortune on its Impact 20 list of startups driving social good, and by MIT Technology Review as one of 15 climate tech companies to watch.

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