Will Taing
SingaporeWill has led key initiatives in the Australian and Asia-Pacific agriculture sector across government strategy, policy, inbound international investment, trade facilitation, industry development and resources management. He led the Victorian State Premier's first official delegation into China, and was China Desk Manager for inbound foreign direct investment.
Will has a Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Economics (Finance and Economics major) from the University of Sydney and a Masters in Philosophy (Farm Systems Economics) from the University of Melbourne. Will also undertook the Foundations of Company Directorship.
He has a passion for the Australia-India bilateral partnership and is on the Committee of the Australia-India Youth Dialogue, the pre-eminent track-two young leaders’ dialogue between Australia and India going into its 10th year. Will is also passionate about the outdoors, most of the time you can find Will in the wilderness around Australia and special parts of the world.
Current projects include low carbon production systems, tech for drought resilience, supply chain traceability, and India market entry projects.
Cal Archibald
Melbourne (Australia)Cal has a background in business and has extended this to deep expertise in agriculture based social enterprise. He founded his passion working across community agriculture projects across South East Asia through an organisation he founded at the age of 21, Upside Nepal.
As a passionate advocate for 'tech-for good', Cal was also previously the Australian Community Manager of Random Hacks of Kindness. A not for profit organisation that coordinates a community of 1,000 technologists to solve challenges for charities through a hackathon model.
Renee Minchin
Melbourne (Australia) Renee is Founder and CEO of 2Account, she is also the founder Washem and founding shareholder of Organique Olinda Spring (Skincare). She was also the past CFO for Sequoia Financial Group, an ASX listed integrated financial services group.
Renee’s secret sauce is in her diverse and deep background across a range of industries including finance, financial products, financial services, alternative food sources, into-home services, technology, hospitality, skincare, aluminum manufacturing, minerals exploration, corporate advisory, fund raising and family office.
Grant Gilmour
Perth (Australia) Grant has deep experience in opportunity identification and evaluation, including in multi-billion dollar due diligence evaluations. He joined Beanstalk after running the Corporate and Customer Strategy team at Bankwest, prior to which he spent six years at the Boston Consulting Group where he worked with some of the world’s most innovative companies in BCG’s Perth, London, Stockholm, Santiago and Sydney offices. Examples of projects include leading one of three vendor-side teams on the successful $12bn sale of an electricity asset in Asia Pacific.
Grant has degrees in Corporate Finance as well as Juris Doctor from the University of Western Australia.
Linley Houwen
Perth (Australia) With a background working for the Commonwealth Banking Group Linley has deep strategy expertise. This includes investment and benefit profiling, quantitative and qualitative market research, customer segmentation and competitor game theory. Prior to banking Linley worked in the Business Development team for Bluescope Steel.
Linley holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) and a Bachelor of Economics (International business economics) from the University of Western Australia. During her time at university she spent a semester studying international business strategy at Maastricht University in
The Netherlands.
Linley has a passion for sustainability and a curiosity for the role technology can play in solving some of the biggest problems facing our food systems.
Justin Ahmed
Melbourne (Australia)Justin is an agribusiness strategy expert and development practitioner who has spent the last decade acting on a commitment to a farmer- and planet-friendly transformation of the global food system. Justin has worked collaboratively with a wide range of food and agriculture focused entrepreneurs and organisations - smallholder farmers, governments, investors, and Fortune 100 companies alike - to develop, refine, and execute strategies.
Before joining Beanstalk, Justin was a project leader within McKinsey & Co.’s Global Agriculture practice. Previous professional experience included time with Enclude (now Palladium), Syngenta Foundation, and CIMMYT. With on-the-ground experience across North America, Africa, South Asia, and Australia, Justin brings a global view to food and agriculture systems development, as well as deep experience in managing programs and technology transfer across borders. Core topical areas of expertise include digital agriculture, climate-smart agriculture, and food security; functional competencies include commercial strategy, corporate strategy, due diligence, and analytics.
Justin holds an M.A. in International Development Economics and Finance from Johns Hopkins University, and a B.A. in Environmental Economics & Policy from University of California-Berkeley.
Phoebe Norman
Melbourne (Australia)Phoebe has had over 20 years in corporate marketing roles and spent 10 years in London leading international teams across three industries: investment banking, law, and technology. Her work and senior management roles provided opportunities to work all over Europe, UK, and the Middle East.
More recently Phoebe has been working in the food innovation and agriculture sector and was appointed as head of programming for Global Table; Asia Pacific's largest agribusiness, sustainability, and food innovation summit that connected global industry leaders, innovators, startups, policymakers, and corporates who are committed to transforming the food industry through innovation, investment, and trade. Anchored by the SDG’s, the content and programming addressed innovation and the longer-term, global issues around the environment, health, supply chain, and sustainability.
Phoebe is on the Australian Advisory Council for Thankful4Farmers, an organisation that aims to bridge the gap between consumers, brands, and agricultural communities and to raise funds to create a sustainable transformational impact for the agricultural and food security industries.
Phoebe has a Bachelor’s degree in Transport & Logistics Management from RMIT, a Masters in Environment and Sustainability from Monash University, and completed the Business Sustainability Management course at Cambridge Institute of Sustainability Leadership.
Katerina Kotenko
SingaporeKaterina is an investment and innovation professional, specializing in impact investments with a focus on creating impact at scale in the emerging Asian markets. She is deeply passionate about solving the world’s most pressing problems and building a sustainable and inclusive future for everybody.
Before joining Beanstalk, Katerina was an associate in an impact venture capital fund, working with global sustainability startups on promoting the concept of Circular Economy in various industries, including agriculture, water, and waste. Her main areas of expertise include emerging technologies assessment, impact and ESG monitoring, market research, valuation, and due diligence.
During her professional experience, Katerina developed a deep understanding of various environmental problems and the technologies aimed at solving them, as well as the challenges that come with implementing sustainable practices.
Katerina holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics (Applied Microeconomics) from the National Research University Higher School of Economics in Moscow and a Master's in Applied Finance from Singapore Management University.
Lily Tao
SydneyBefore joining Beanstalk, Lily worked as a management consultant at Bain & Company and various boutiques. She has supported multiple ASX 100 companies across a range of industries including Energy, Construction, Financial Services tackling areas such as strategy, revenue, and cost transformation.
More recently Lily’s experience involved government policy advisory, working closely with ACIAR and Indonesia’s Ministry of National Development Planning to develop a national roadmap aimed at accelerating the impact of Agriculture technologies on farmer livelihoods and agri-value chains in Indonesia.
Lily holds a Bachelor of Actuarial Studies with a minor in Business Economics from the University of New South Wales. Lily is deeply interested in agriculture and food systems, and how innovation will unlock our ability to move the needle in reaching net zero emissions for a more sustainable future.
Andrea Coello
SingaporeAndrea is a dedicated food professional who is passionate about leveraging technology to solve complex problems. With over 10 years of experience inthe private and public sectors, Andrea has worked on a wide range of projects related to food security, agricultural digitalization, and corporate governance. She has held positions such as a corporate strategy and development intern at Visa,and a corporate governance senior consultant at Deloitte Risk Advisory. Currently, Andrea serves as an external consultant at Beanstalk Agtech, where she conducts research and analysis on the digital agricultural landscape and food security assessment. She also evaluates project progress, assesses regulatory initiatives, and provides recommendations for process improvement.
Originally from Latin America, she has spent the past years living and working in Asia, currently holdinga Master of Business Administration from the National University of Singapore and a Bachelor of Science in Food Engineering from the Universidad Iberoamericana.Andrea is driven by a genuine desire to make a positive impact in the world. She collaborates with stakeholders from both the public and private sectors to develop innovative solutions for the challenges facing the food system.
Mariel Caballero
PhilippinesMariel is an enthusiastic advocate for continuous learning, driven by her passion for literature, history, and philosophy. She possesses a strong desire to share her knowledge and love for learning with others. She is also adaptable and can quickly learn new skills, which has helped her succeed in a variety of industries.
Mariel has over six years of experience in the BPO industry, she has held various positions, including sales team leader and customer service representative. While working as a scholar in the university's HR department, Mariel managed to earn a Bachelor's degree in Secondary Education with a major in Literature from the University of Cebu. Currently, at Beanstalk, she efficiently handles administrative tasks and activities for the directors and the entire team.
Niharika Chauhan
MelbourneNiharika is a Marketing and Communications professional with a five-year background in the tech industry, having worked in both India and Australia. Her experience spans various sectors such as fintech, healthcare, and social impact organizations. Her core strengths lie in managing relationships with stakeholders, handling cross-border media interactions, and nurturing brands through marketing and CRM efforts. Niharika is proficient in creating content, managing websites, and handling social media channels to enhance communication effectiveness.
Niharika is currently completing master’s in strategic communication management from Monash University and holds a Master of Media and Communication from Manipal University, India. Prior to her role at Beanstalk, she served as a consultant for global corporate communications agencies, where she assisted startups and organizations across diverse industries in increasing their visibility and expanding their customer base through public relation and marketing campaigns.