Venkata Subbarao Kolli
Retired in August 2022, currently Subbarao is an advisor and a mentor for senior leadership and startup founders. He is an advisor for textiles, ag inputs, carbon credits businesses. He invests and advises early to late-stage startups in computational biology, vertical farming, farm robotics, SAS for rural distribution. Also advises non-profit organizations engaged in rural development.
Thirty two years in Agriculture in operations, sales, marketing, production, research and development, and business management in Asia Pacific, Africa and Middle East. He has had the honour of working with some of the most talented and capable teams in agriculture industry.
A strategic business leader with extensive experience in agriculture and biosciences, with achievements in charting agribusiness to competitive financial performance, taking it to market leadership in emerging and complex markets.
A seasoned and trusted professional with industry background demonstrated by achievements in establishing strong and capable leadership teams that deliver strategic initiatives, increasing revenue and market share built on offering sustainable solutions to better serve farmers and consumers across markets.
He served as Vice-chair for Federation of Seed Association of India, President of National Seed Association of India from 2011 to 2013; on CII Agriculture council and FICCI Biotechnology committee. He also served as alternate President of Association of Seed Industry.
Subbarao secured his Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture and Master of Science degree in Genetics and Plant Breeding from Banaras Hindu University in India. Subbarao completed his Doctorate in Life Sciences from the University of Hyderabad in India. He also has a Graduate Diploma of Management, (Technology Management) from APESMA – Deakin University of Australia and Certification in Digital Transformation from Columbia University.