Kiwi investment firm Unruly Partners is betting on the scientific expertise of one of New Zealand’s most honoured biologists, Dame Alison Stewart, appointing her as its scientific partner.
“I’m excited to work with the Unruly team to identify breakthrough science that deserves to be
commercialised,” said Dame Stewart.
“Some of the most promising ideas never make it to market — not because the science isn’t sound, but because they lack the right partners to translate them into real-world impact.”
Dame Stewart was promoted to a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her “services to plant science and the arable sector” as part of last month’s King’s Birthday Honours
“Alison is not just an accomplished scientist — she is an innovator,” said Kelvin Keh, Executive Director of Unruly.
“She’s spent her career translating scientific discovery into scalable, global impact.
“Her contribution will be invaluable as we back the next generation of founders and companies driving change at the intersection of biology, sustainability, and food systems.”
Dame Stewart has had a storied career as the first woman to reach professorship at Lincoln University before going on to become the founding director of the Bio-Protection Research Centre.
She then joined Californian biopesticide company Marrone Bio Innovations as its Chief Scientist in 2013.
Now Dame Stewart advises Cellora, an Unruly portfolio company focused on R&D for crop protection. Cellora engineers tricoderma-based seed coatings and foliar sprays in an effort to replace synthetic fungicides.
International markets are pushing toward biological plant protection, with the European Union’s Farm to Fork strategy looking to make at least 25 per cent of the EU’s agricultural land to be organically farmed by 2030.
Dame Steward is also chair of New Zealand’s Environmental Protection Agency.
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