We’re Shiru

Jasmin is Shiru’s CEO and Founder, ex-JUST and Y Combinator grad, and Partner at XFactor Ventures. She’s an inspirational and operational genius, recruiter extraordinaire, and corporate customer whisperer. Jasmin founded Shiru to make delicious, nutritious, sustainable, and scalable ingredients so that all food companies on Earth — from hot new brands to multinational incumbents — can quickly develop awesome plant-based products. Jasmin’s track record in the alt protein space is unique, spanning more than a decade straddling both R&D and commercialization at world-class institutions. Outside of work you can find Jasmin hanging out with her family and her dog exploring fun spots in the Bay Area, traveling to family in NYC or Spain, or baking cardamom-loaded Swedish pastries.

Ranjani is a scientist and leader with expertise in alternative proteins – all the way from discovery, screening & characterization to process scale up and application in food products. Formerly at Impossible Foods, she joined Shiru to help accelerate the creation of next generation protein ingredients for a sustainable food system. Outside of work she enjoys nature, travel, being at her son’s soccer games and hiking with her family and friends.

Jason is a product wizard, with deep experience leading biotech products to market in personal care, performance chemicals, and food during his time at Amyris, Ferrero, and now Shiru. Always inspired to make it real, Jason came to Shiru intrigued by the digital approach to ingredient innovation and the chance to help bring the insights to market to create the change we need in our food system. He loves to spend time with his family outside – anytime, anywhere – hiking, biking, camping, golfing, running, and cooking or traveling to find something good to eat.

Megan, a devoted dog mom and wine drinker – joined Shiru as our VP of People in an effort to leave a mark bigger than herself on this planet, and to build one of the most talented and innovative teams in the biotech space. Prior to Shiru, she led the people function at the industry leading fintech Policygenius, scaled e-commerce company Stitch Fix just post-IPO and helped establish the values-driven people function at Blue Bottle Coffee (whilst perpetually caffeinated). Professionally, she’s passionate about scaling & prioritizing equity, owning your voice & being authentic, and empowering employees to grow in the career that brings them the most happiness. Personally, you can find her & Rubes (aka Ruby or the Rubinator, a 15 year old Australian Shepherd) road tripping through National Parks or drinking exceptional bottles of wine with friends.

Jay is a startup scaling expert who has led operations and analytics functions at early-stage companies which grew by hundreds of employees. Previously the head of BizOps at electric vehicle charging network Volta, he is motivated to build lasting businesses that can meaningfully address climate change and improve societal well-being. When not nerding out on spreadsheets and presentations, you’re likely to find Jay writing and performing standup or sketch comedy, backpacking through wilderness, or making progress on his goal of attending a game at every Major League Baseball stadium.

Chuck is a self-described knucklehead who happens to love entrepreneurship. He was one for a while and now does his best to help them as a partner at S2G Ventures, where he tries to help them make fewer, or at least different mistakes than he made. But not just any entrepreneur will do – he wants to work with people who are making the world a better place with their business models, product offerings, and impact solutions. He knows that in order to build a competitive world-class organization, impact has to be built into the DNA. Human capital, natural capital, financial capital, government regulations and today’s consumer all favor businesses that improve human health, planet health, and are financially viable. Chuck is lucky enough to have two amazing daughters, is adopting a 10 year old boy, and has an amazing wife. To relax, he loves to run.

Deena is a non-linear venture capitalist, with deep experience building partnerships in government, technology, and early stage investing. Intrigued by Jasmin’s passion and experience and inspired by the innovative business model applying computation to develop novel plant-based ingredients, Deena has been a proud investor and board member since Shiru’s earliest days. She loves to spend time going on adventures with her husband and two young children, especially visiting the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland!).

Mary is a senior executive in the specialty ingredients industry, with expertise in the food, nutrition, cosmetic and pharmaceutical sectors, currently SVP Innovation at Firmenich, following prior roles at Naturex, FMC, Lubrizol and Croda. Interest in sharing insights on path to success in the space combined with a passion to foster talent attracted Mary to Shiru. She enjoys exploring new places, any opportunity to spend time with family, and time spent in the garden and at the beach.

Jasmin is Shiru’s CEO and Founder, ex-JUST and Y Combinator grad, and Partner at XFactor Ventures. She’s an inspirational and operational genius, recruiter extraordinaire, and corporate customer whisperer. Jasmin founded Shiru to make delicious, nutritious, sustainable, and scalable ingredients so that all food companies on Earth — from hot new brands to multinational incumbents — can quickly develop awesome plant-based products. Jasmin’s track record in the alt protein space is unique, spanning more than a decade straddling both R&D and commercialization at world-class institutions. Outside of work you can find Jasmin hanging out with her family and her dog exploring fun spots in the Bay Area, traveling to family in NYC or Spain, or baking cardamom-loaded Swedish pastries.

Aaron loves building technology solutions to complex problems with software and hardware. At Zymergen, Aaron led the Technology department building a modular lab automation platform and end-to-end software stack for data capture, analysis, and machine learning. Aaron believes firmly in the potential for automation & AI to transform biology, and is excited at Shiru’s direction, inspired by both the technical vision and the leadership team. Outside of work, he is happiest when sailing on the bay, or cooking something delicious.

Blaine supports game-changing companies and their leaders in reaching their goals. Blaine spent more than 20 years as outside counsel for clients in biotech and has held roles including Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Legal Officer at Aduro Biotech, having oversight of Legal, HR, IT, Facilities, Quality, Corporate Development and Strategic Alliances. He especially enjoys negotiating and structuring complex partnerships and helping solve manufacturing and logistical challenges. Blaine has a strong belief that our food systems are under pressure – and Shiru is a key innovator whose technological advances are essential to empowering companies to produce products that can deliver on improved food supply, safety and security. In his free time, he likes to spend it with his husband at the pool or in the ocean, and healthy satisfying dinners.

Dean is an impact-driven leader who loves working with and building teams to tackle anything that has previously been considered impossible. Previously, he was the President, CEO and Board Member at Tyson Foods, and before that co-founded and led many innovation projects at Google [x], including Tidal (a food supply chain innovation project) and Intrinsic (an Alphabet company focused on accelerating the adoption of industrial robotic manufacturing). Dean serves on the Boards of Vergent Bioscience (which he co-founded and led), Omeat, and Indigo Ag. When not supporting exciting innovative and growing companies, Dean enjoys spending time with his kids, exercising, skiing, and exploring new mountains, beaches, cultures, food, arts and more.