Allied Minds bolsters its boardroom roster again
Tech innovation group Allied Minds yesterday appointed venture capital veteran Joe Pignato as chief financial officer, the latest in a series of boardroom hires at the firm.
Pignato joins from US payments data processor Swipely, where he has been CFO since 2010.
Allied Minds chief executive Chris Silva said Pignato offered a “robust track record of managing and fostering early stage companies into financial stability and growth”.
Allied invests in university-based R&D and then commercialises the technology.
Pignato was CFO at US venture capital group Prism Ventures prior to his appointment at Swipely. Before that, he was CFO at Charles River Venture, an early backer of Twitter.
“It’s a privilege to join Allied Minds, a company that brings together a unique mix of entrepreneurial talent and seasoned, global expertise,” he said.
Pignato’s appointment follows the addition of respected former Amgen boss Kevin Sharer to the Allied Mind boardroom in June and recruitment of ex-Bristol-Myers Squibb chief executive Peter Dolan as chairman in April.
The news coincided with an announcement from one of Allied Mind’s 22 subsidiary companies RF Biocidics, that it had inked a deal with Mexican-based food harvester and distribution company Sesajal.
RF Biocidics makes machines which use radio frequencies to kill contaminants in food, which it hopes will replace traditional methods like steam heat or chemical pasteurization.
Sesajal will install the machines at its plant in the Mexican state of Jalisco, where it will be used to treat chia seeds, chickpeas, sesame seeds and peanuts.
Last week Allied Minds released half year results showing lower revenues from RF Biocidics. The drop had contributed to an overall fall in company revenue to $1.48m from $2.9m.