Company appoints Shirley Versen as first Chief Revenue Officer, Damien Fuentes as first Chief Operating Officer, and Syed Usamah as first Head of Engineering
SAN FRANCISCO, February 11, 2021 — Full HarvestⓇ, the leading business-to-business online marketplace for surplus and imperfect produce, today announced the addition of the company’s first Chief Revenue Officer and Chief Operating Officer, as well as a Head of Engineering. With executive technology leadership, Full Harvest will accelerate its goal of digitizing the produce supply chain to reduce waste, and enable growers and CPGs to capture more of the $20B surplus and imperfect produce market opportunity.
“We’re on a mission to modernize the produce supply chain through technology that enables farmers and CPGs to connect and reduce food waste, while simultaneously improving their bottom lines and sustainability impact,” said Christine Moseley, founder and CEO for Full Harvest. “We’re thrilled to have new leaders onboard with deep experience at the intersection of marketplaces, technology, and agriculture that will propel our growth and continue our march toward a world with one-hundred percent full harvests.”
Full Harvest’s executive team hires include leadership from prominent ecommerce and agtech companies:
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Shirley Versen (Chief Revenue Officer). Shirley brings 20+ years of digital media and B2B marketplace sales leadership experience with a very successful track record in building and scaling revenue for private and public companies. Prior to Full Harvest, Shirley served in VP positions at Walmart Marketplace, Yelp, and was the President of Travelzoo where she was part of the executive team which led the company from 10 employees through its IPO, growing the company to a $450M market cap.
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Damien Fuentes (Chief Operating Officer). Damien brings 20+ years of experience helping early stage agriculture and technology companies commercialize and reach valuations exceeding $1B. Prior to Full Harvest, Damien served as Chief Product Officer at Agent IQ, Chief Product Officer at TIPBx, and as Vice President of Product & Services Development for Redspin (acquired by Cynergistek), where he helped grow revenues by 350 percent. Damien also served as the Chief Operating Officer for Grower’s Secret, a crop sciences and technology company, where he transformed the company from an R&D focus to a commercial entity with global sourcing, supply and distribution.
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Syed Usamah (Head of Engineering). Syed has joined the team to lead the development of Full Harvest’s B2B marketplace experience and technology infrastructure. Syed was formerly the Director of Engineering at thredUP.com, helping them scale to the world’s largest online marketplace for second-hand apparel. He brings almost a decade of experience in engineering and product, with a focus on leveraging data technologies to fuel profitable marketplace growth.
Consumers are increasingly demanding sustainability, and the opportunity for product innovation – and differentiation – has never been greater. Sustainability-marketed products represent more than 50% of total CPG market growth and command a sizeable price premium of 39% higher than their conventionally marketed counterparts. With the produce supply chain operating largely offline with pen and paper and phone calls, the Full Harvest marketplace enables farms to seamlessly sell excess produce so buyers get sustainable, affordable produce delivered with the click of a few buttons.
Full Harvest is a World Economic Forum Tech Pioneer, the 2020 Fast Company World Changing Ideas In Food, and one of Forbes’ Most Innovative Agtech Startups. For more information, visit www.fullharvest.com.
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About Full Harvest
Full Harvest is solving the massive food waste problem as the first business-to-business online marketplace for imperfect and surplus produce. The company connects food and beverage brands and processors directly to farms online to buy surplus and imperfect produce. They are creating value along the entire supply chain by lowering healthy food production costs, significantly reducing wasted food and resources, while also bringing farmers an additional revenue stream. A win-win-win for farmers, food companies and the planet. Full Harvest is backed by a group of top investors, including Spark Capital and Cultivian Sandbox Ventures. Learn more at www.fullharvest.com.
Sources: NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business & IRI. July 2020.
