2045 ventures: Meet the Founders

​About RheaPlant:

​With over a decade of experience in biotech and food tech, including roles at IMPOSSIBLE Foods, BEYOND MEAT, and CLIMAX FOODS, Sowmya brings a wealth of knowledge to her position as co-founder and CEO. Partnering with Derek Scholin, a  plant scientist boasting 25 years of expertise in developing and scaling plant cell cultures, this team is revolutionizing food production. Their mission at RheaPlant focuses on combating malnutrition and enhancing sustainability through an innovative bioreactor design tailored to plant cell culture and a unique platform-as-a-service model for the production of clean and sustainable compounds. Their innovative design reduces production costs by over 90%.

​This biomanufacturing platform will enable RheaPlant to produce a wide range of high-value plant-derived compounds, including natural ingredients, adaptogens, nutraceuticals, and natural sweeteners that currently face demand-supply challenges. Rhea Plant is also working on a rice alternative produced using this technology that would be NON GMO, have superior nutritional value, zero methane emissions, significantly reduce water usage, and produce higher yields.