Solis Agrosciences Names Crystal Winkeler Chief Business Officer to Drive Commercial Growth
ST. LOUIS, April 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Solis Agrosciences, the trusted partner for high-quality AgTech research services, announced that it has hired Crystal Winkeler as Chief Business Officer. Winkeler will join Solis on May 1 to drive the company's commercial team and help lead efforts to develop and acquire new offerings.
"Solis has assembled an impressive team, offerings, and customer base," said Winkeler. "I am thrilled to join the business at this important growth stage."
"Crystal is a proven talent who is confident, capable, and credible in front of customers and stakeholders," said Charlie Bolten, CEO of Solis Agrosciences. "She is a huge addition and will help drive our commercial growth."
As Managing Director of BioGenerator Ventures, Winkeler led investments, sat on portfolio company boards of directors, and built new companies. She managed investments including Panome Bio, a private-equity-backed multi-omics startup, RevivBio, leveraging protein engineering and advanced microfluidics for applications in agriculture and other industries, and Pairidex, using novel droplet digital PCR technology to improve cancer outcomes.
"Crystal possesses a rare combination of scientific depth with the ability to build meaningful business relationships," said Edward Weinstein, CEO of Panome Bio. "Her talents have been instrumental to the success of multiple startups."
Prior to BioGenerator Ventures, Winkeler was Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of R&D of Canopy Biosciences, acquired by Bruker (NASDAQ:BRKR), where it now operates as Bruker Spatial Biology. Winkeler co-founded Canopy Biosciences and was instrumental in the growth of the company, including multiple PE-backed acquisitions. She led efforts in fundraising, technology sourcing and licensing, commercialization, operations, and business development. At the time that she left Bruker, Winkeler led an international team of over 40 people across sites in St. Louis, Leipzig and Hannover in Germany, and the Bay Area.
"As Canopy's Board Chairman, I witnessed Crystal's leadership of the Canopy team through critical product launches and business development milestones," said Frank Witney, Operating Partner at Ampersand Capital Partners.
Prior to Canopy, Winkeler spent four years at BioGenerator Ventures where she led due diligence for seed investments in companies such as Benson Hill, CoverCress, and Confluence Life Sciences.
Winkeler completed a Ph.D. in Molecular Cell Biology at Washington University.
Solis has demonstrated significant traction across start-ups to large multinational agriculture companies, recruited and grown a team of industry-experienced scientists, and launched product offerings in plant transformation and gene editing. The company expanded its management team, secured a license to the Pairwise Fulcrum™ Platform, entered the whole-genome-sequencing space through the acquisition of Ferris Genomics, secured new investment from Cultivation Capital, and dramatically increased sales.
Solis' major investors are Hermann Companies, Cultivation Capital, Jim McKelvey's Saloniki Investments, BioGenerator Ventures, and QRM Capital. Additional investors include St. Louis Arch Angels, Missouri Technology Corporation, Helix Fund, CIG Spectrum, Hypha Life Sciences, and various angel investors.
About Solis Agrosciences
Solis Agrosciences is the trusted partner for high-quality AgTech research services. We generate gene-edited and transgenic crops, plant phenotype and efficacy data, end-to-end genomics sequencing services, and individually tailored research solutions for our startup and corporate customers. Solis' highly trained and industry-experienced scientists operate in the 39 North AgTech Innovation District of St. Louis, Missouri. Visit solisagrosciences.com to learn more.
About Cultivation Capital
Cultivation Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in software technology, life sciences, agriculture technology, and geospatial technology companies. Since its founding in 2012, the firm has invested in over 150 companies and is recognized as one of the most active early-stage investors in the United States. For more information, visit cultivationcapital.com
About Hermann Companies
Founded in 1956, Hermann Companies combines three generations of experience to make investments across a spectrum of asset classes and industries. Hermann offers a variety of capital solutions to accomplish its goal of partnering with strong, entrepreneurial teams through meaningful direct investments. Visit hermcos.com to learn more.
39 North AgTech Innovation District, St. Louis, Missouri is a vibrant innovation district cultivating the infrastructure, talent, and access to capital to facilitate agrifood tech innovation and to advance ideas from lab to market. Visit 39northstl.org to learn more.
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