Global Corporate Venturing Rising Stars Awards 2018: Kiersten Stead

Kiersten Stead is a serial winner. The investment director for Monsanto Growth Ventures (MGV), the corporate venturing unit of the US-based crops company being acquired by Germany-based peer Bayer, used to be an internationally-ranked alpine ski racer, and competed internationally in Ultimate Frisbee, representing Canada from 1998 to 2011.

That winner’s personality is emphasised by Kiersten’s roles across multiple companies. She sits on the boards of Farmlead, Understory (O), Plant Response, a “stealth” company she co-founded, and formerly sat on the board at Blue River Technology (acquired) and is a past director at VitalFields (acquired).

She is also a co-founder and vice-president of the EULC- a sports non-profit, sits on the investment committee of the Genome Canada GAAP Program, and is a senior advisory board member of the Keystone Symposia.

With more than 15 years in the agriculture-biotechnology space as a scientist and small company operator before then moving into venture capital, Stead has the experience to match her drive.

Stead focuses primarily on investments in technology platforms and services that improve production agriculture and adjacent industries -from biotech to chemistry to automated market platforms. For her, companies may not need to be in agriculture or biotech today, but the future may hold interesting uses. That focus led into MGV’s three deals last year.

In March, MGV led FarmLead’s series A round, which yielded $6.5m for the Canada-based online grain marketplace. The same month, MGV took part in Arvegenix’s funding round that raised $2.4m for the Field Pennycress crop developer.

In July, MGV led NewLeaf Symbiotics’ series C round, worth $24m. The US-based plant bacteria product developer’s round eventually closed at $30m in September after being topped up by venture fund S2G Ventures.

After the agreed purchase of Monsanto by Bayer last summer, which is still subject to regulatory approval, MGV has focused more on selling down its portfolio. September saw MGV exit Blue River Technology, a US-based agriculture technology developer, as the firm was acquired by John Deere for $305m. MGV previously took part in Blue River’s $17m series C round in 2015.

That exit is a feather in her cap, with Stead mentioning it as one of her highlights of the year: “The highly successful exit of Blue River Technology to Deere & Company, the corporate acquisition of two of our portfolio companies, a network of successful collaborations and acquisitions.”

Despite her success, Stead has continued to face challenges familiar to CVC operatives. One of her ongoing issues has been “navigating group development within the corporate parent”.

Continuing in that vein, Stead would like to see more CVC units “develop best practices around longevity of the venture platform within the corporate parent.

“Whether this is a 10-year commitment, or a separate entity, entrepreneurs and co-investors need to know the CVC will stay the course.”

Prior to MGV, Stead was at Burrill & Company, which invested in life sciences, and was a management consultant specialising in early stage company development in nanotechnology. From 1999 to 2006, she was a PhD student at University of Alberta in molecular biology and genetics. She continued as a scientist at University of Alberta/Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. She also holds a MBA in finance from University of Alberta.