Benson Hill, Inc. (NYSE: BHIL), an ag tech company unlocking the natural genetic diversity of plants, has named agriculture industry leader Dan Cosgrove as Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel, effective May 10, 2024. He will assume responsibility for Benson Hill’s day-to-day operations related to business development, compliance, and legal matters. Chief Legal Officer Yevgeny Fundler is leaving Benson Hill to pursue other opportunities.
Most recently Cosgrove served as Chief Executive Officer of Growers Edge, a company that offers crop plans, finance solutions, land valuation and software and data analytics tools to agriculture. His previous agriculture work also includes key roles at Corteva Agriscience/DuPont Pioneer, where he played an important part in the seed company’s global expansion and licensing approach. Drawing on his deep industry knowledge, Cosgrove will oversee all government affairs and administrative functions at Benson Hill to drive strategic initiatives and support the company’s evolution to an asset-light business model.
“We are thrilled to welcome such a respected and accomplished agriculture leader to our executive leadership team,” said Deanie Elsner, Chief Executive Officer of Benson Hill. “While business development anchors Dan’s impressive skillset, his global intellectual property and licensing expertise will be pivotal as we pursue value-chain partnerships. His appointment is an important step in our strategy to serve large-scale soy markets through seed innovations that deliver better feed, better food and better fuel.”
“We’re grateful to Yevgeny for his contributions to Benson Hill over the past three years,” added Elsner. “He provided essential support during the go-public process, M&A activities, and several business negotiations, and we wish him all the best.”
About Dan Cosgrove
Cosgrove previously served on the Investment Committee of InnoVenture Iowa, the state’s first publicly funded venture capital fund, and is Venture Partner at Radicle Growth, a venture capital fund focused on sustainable, early-stage ag and food tech startups located in San Diego, Calif. He also sits on the Iowa Innovation Council (IIC), an advisory group comprised of business leaders, public universities, representatives and community college officials.
Prior to his tenure at Growers Edge, Cosgrove held leadership positions at Corteva Agriscience, including global lead, corporate development and licensing, vice president of business development, chief patent counsel, and various internal legal team roles. Early in his career, Cosgrove practiced law at Zarley, McKee, Thomte, Voorhees & Sease and focused on patent litigation.
Cosgrove earned his MBA at the MIT Sloan School of Management, J.D. at Drake University, and Bachelor of Science in engineering at Iowa State University. He has also served on many local, industry, and philanthropic boards.
About Benson Hill
Benson Hill moves food forward with the CropOS® platform, a cutting-edge food innovation engine that combines data science and machine learning with biology and genetics. Benson Hill empowers innovators to unlock nature’s genetic diversity from plant to plate, with the purpose of creating nutritious, great-tasting food and ingredient options that are both widely accessible and sustainable. More information can be found at bensonhill.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @bensonhillinc.
