DURHAM, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Elo Life Systems, a company that is empowering the future of sustainable and healthy food, announced that Todd Rands has been appointed as its new Chief Executive Officer. Rands is a seasoned agriculture and life sciences industry executive with over 25 years of combined business, legal, and scientific experience, driving development of new technologies and innovative commercial solutions at Fortune 500 companies and venture-backed start-ups.
“Todd brings decades of experience across the food, agriculture, and biotechnology industries,” said Elo’s Chairman and lead investor at AccelR8, Justin Kern. “He is uniquely positioned to lead Elo as it accelerates commercial product development and solidifies commercial partnerships to deliver the company’s products to market.”
A leading innovator in plant-based solutions, Elo deploys proprietary algorithms to gain deeper insights across native genomes, genes and traits to identify natural targets that can improve human nutrition and health, while requiring less from our planet.
With a product-ready genome editing platform, world-class expertise in target discovery, and an end-to-end infrastructure that enables expedited trait validation, the company is creating novel plant-based products that empower the future of healthy foods.
“Elo is solving the most critical problems of our time, by creating plant-based products that improve human health and bolster the resiliency of our food against the changing climate,” remarked Todd. “Innovation with healthy and sustainable food is desperately needed. And our collective future depends on companies like Elo creating new solutions that do not exist today,” said Todd. “I am thrilled to join Elo’s incredibly talented team as we strive to better our society and succeed in this high-impact mission.”
Elo’s first product, currently advancing into field trials, is a natural plant-based sweetener that provides consumers with all the sweetness of sugar, without the calories. In addition, Elo is developing a variety of banana that is resistant to the devastating Banana Fusarium wilt disease that is destroying the entire global production of this important crop.
By working with its commercial partners, Elo is catalyzing the adoption of its innovative, healthy and sustainable products into the global food, beverage and ingredient industries.
About Elo Life Systems
Elo creates innovative plant-based foods that are good for you and good for the planet. Elo’s products address problems associated with chronic human diseases and climate change. The Company is privately-held and venture-backed, with its latest funding round led by AccelR8, DCVC Bio, and Novo Holdings.
To learn more about Elo Life Systems and its mission, please visit www.elolife.ag
