Meet the Pluton Biosciences Team

Raised on his family’s Wisconsin farm, Steiner has spent his 40-plus year career in agriculture. At Monsanto he worked in sales, product management, business leadership in the U.S. and Europe, and leadership of Corporate Strategy. He also served as EVP and on the Executive Team responsible for Sustainability and Global External Affairs. After retiring from Monsanto, he co-founded and served as CEO of CoverCress, then led its successful sale in 2022. He also served as Executive Chair of RNAgri through its sale and is now Executive Chair of Stony Creek Colors, and a board member of Albemarle Corporation. Steiner has enhanced industry stewardship through unique collaborations including Field to Market with the Gates Foundation, and CIMMYT for drought-tolerant maize for Africa. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Wisconsin, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Washington University in St. Louis. 

Mitchell is co-founder and Managing Director of Fall Line Capital. He is a fifth-generation Iowa farmer who has spent his entire career becoming one of the most innovative, progressive and respected farmers in the world. He has been featured in many publications, including Time and Wired magazines, for his progressive farming techniques and has participated several times at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Clay earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biomedical Engineering from Harvard College and a Master’s degree in Agronomy from Cornell University, where he was a Saltonstall Fellow in Agronomy.

Gallegos leads Pluton’s team, translating our scientific vision and business strategy into an operational plan for the company. She brings to Pluton extensive experience in finance, business development, and operations, first at Monsanto, then at several successful AgTech startup companies, including as Founder and CFO of Impetus Ag, and Founder, CFO, and COO of Plastomics. Gallegos earned a BA from Washington University in St. Louis, and an MBA from the Olin Business School at Washington University.

Dr. Gutterson is a Partner and CTO of Radicle Growth, an early stage sustainable ag and food venture fund, and former CTO for Corteva Agriscience, where he unified three R&D organizations from the legacy companies. He is committed to helping organizations develop innovations that create value for farmers, their customers and communities, in planet-friendly ways. Dr. Gutterson is currently a System Board member of CGIAR. He also works with several technology-based start-up companies in advisory and board roles, helping to maximize the value of their technology by understanding downstream needs and developing new business models. Dr. Gutterson’s experience includes senior research and development roles at ag biotechnology start-up companies. He served as President, CEO and Board member of Mendel Biotechnology, then joined DuPont Pioneer in 2014. He has a passion for enriching the lives of smallholder farmers through collaborative innovation, and is committed to improving inclusion and diversity.

Dr. Lin is a Principal at Illumina Ventures with 15 years of wide-ranging experience in life science and genomics. Most recently he was Vice President of Business Development and Marketing at startup Element Biosciences, where he helped raise $80M in Series B financing and form foundations for critical supplier relationships, plus go-to-market and partnering strategy. Previously, at Illumina, Inc. Dr. Lin served in several R&D and business roles, including leading cross-functional teams developing microarray and sequencing applications for research and clinical purposes; working in Corporate Development, focusing on M&A, emerging business areas and corporate investment opportunities; and leading the $100M acquisition of Edico Genome. Dr. Lin earned a Bachelor of Science degree from National Taiwan University, and holds a PhD in Chemistry and Chemical Biology from Harvard University. During his postdoctoral training he discovered a new family of arrestin-related ubiquitin-ligase adapters that regulate endocytosis and protein turnover at the cell surface.

Dr. Goldman is a results-driven genomic scientist and entrepreneur with a passion for developing innovative, self-directed people and teams that deliver superior results. Prior to founding Pluton, Dr. Goldman led the microbial testing pipeline for Indigo Ag and served as the Microbial Discovery Lead for Monsanto Company. He has published over 30 peer-reviewed studies and is an inventor on more than 10 patents. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Botany from the University of Washington and holds a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Utah. 

Dr. Gillespie is an Analyst on the Venture Team at RA Capital Management, where he conducts due diligence on biotechnology companies. At RA Capital Management he has also worked closely with the Investment Team to originate conviction in potential investments by identifying breakthroughs and putting data into context, as well as advising portfolio companies on many aspects of program and pipeline strategy. Dr. Gillespie’s previous experience includes venture development at Health Wildcatters Seed Accelerator and product development in various roles at the Institute for Environmental and Exercise Medicine. He has also worked as an Aerospace Medicine Clerk for NASA. Dr. Gillespie earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science from Brigham Young University and holds an MD from the University of Texas Southwestern School of Medicine.

Nanda Kumar Puthucode is the Senior Vice President of Bunge Ventures, Bunge Global SA's investment arm focusing on private companies, startups, and high-growth ventures in the food, feed, and fuel sectors. With a multidisciplinary entrepreneurial background in propelling growth across food, agriculture, financial, and asset management sectors in emerging and developed markets, Nanda brings expertise across all the levers of enterprise value in leading profitable commercial businesses, new growth initiatives, and cost of capital. Prior to Bunge, Nanda held positions at ABN Amro Bank, ITC-ConAgra Foods, and Deloitte.