By Lynda Kiernan
Advanced Agrilytics, an agronomics service business with cutting-edge precision analytics capabilities and a Paine Schwartz Partners portfolio company, announced the appointment of Kay Kuenker as its new CEO.
In September 2019, the company was the first investment made through Paine Schwartz’ $1.2 billion Paine Schwartz Food Chain Fund V. Launched in May of last year, Fund V concurrently announced a significant commitment of $50 million from the Rhode Island State Investment Commission, Providence, which managed $8.3 billion in assets with a 6 percent allocation to private equity as of April 30, 2019.
“We are pleased with this investment in Advanced Agrilytics through Fund V,” said Kevin Schwartz, CEO and a founding Partner of Paine Schwartz, in September. “The Company’s differentiated platform and high-touch service offering have it positioned to capture growth opportunities by meeting the increasing demand by farmers to apply precision analytics to increase yields.”
Founded in 2013 in Huntington, Indiana, the Advanced Agrilytics’ team of agronomists and scientists have multiple decades of experience in soil science, crop physiology, data science, and prescriptive application development. With this well-established expertise, and using a high-touch approach, the company provides row crop farmers with independent precision farming advice, and helps farmers interpret agronomic data and to manage their input and production strategies for dramatically improved yields.
Leading this team, and succeeding Dr. Kess Berg, Advanced Agrilytics’ co-founder who will remain with the company in the role of chief technical officer, is Kuenker, a seasoned agricultural industry executive. She brings 33 years of experience spanning R&D, innovation, and product line and business unit leadership. She has led international businesses with expansive geographic footprints, resulting in extensive commercial experience and strong financial acumen.
“I am proud of our accomplishments at Advanced Agrilytics,” said Dr. Berg. “During the initial five years, Advanced Agrilytics focused primarily on developing our digital portfolio and methodology as well as extensively evaluating each product.”
“Over the past year, in particular, we have achieved substantial growth, increasing our staff threefold, covering 50 percent more acres and expanding Ag Ingenuity Partners B2B accounts. Now is the opportune time to bring in our next CEO, and Kay’s extensive leadership and industry experience will be instrumental in guidance for our future growth.”
After 30 years with Dow AgroSciences, of which nine were spent as a member of the Corporate Management Team, Kuenker most recently was executive vice president of strategy for biotechnology and precision agricultural gene editing company Cibus.
“It is a privilege to have the opportunity to lead the Advanced Agrilytics team,” said Kuenker. “I am passionate about building and growing ag-focused businesses and have succeeded in doing so throughout my career by collaborating with my colleagues, leveraging science and embracing change.”
Kuenker has also previously brought this drive to Global AgInvesting’s sister event, the Women in Agribusiness Summit, where she shared her interactive “Transitioning to the Front Lines of Leadership” workshop.
“This is an exciting time for Advanced Agrilytics, as its efforts to expand have positioned the company for exponential growth. I look forward to working closely with Kess and the other members of the team to capture the significant opportunities ahead.”
“Since our investment in the Company, Advanced Agrilytics has performed exceptionally well,” said Schwartz. “This success has strengthened our conviction in the potential opportunities ahead in this sector of the agribusiness value chain.”
“We are confident that Kay is the right person to lead the Company forward, working closely with the Advanced Agrilytics Founders and all employees to drive the business forward in delivering cutting-edge innovations to our valued customers. We acknowledge Kess’ major contributions to the Company and look forward to a continuation of the success he has catalyzed as Founding CEO.”
– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to the GAI News and Agtech Intel platforms. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.
The post Paine Schwartz Portfolio Company Advanced Agrilytics Appoints Key Kuenker CEO appeared first on Global AgInvesting.