Israeli ingredients company Equinom announces the appointment of Ephi Eyal as its new North America President and Adi Costa as Chief Science Officer. Eyal and Costa join the company as it prepares to accelerate the commercialization of its minimally-processed plant proteins and continues to develop its Manna™ technology platform.
“We’re rapidly commercializing new, game-changing ingredients”
According to the company, Eyal brings significant leadership experience in the food and nutrition industries, where he helped drive growth and innovation for specialty ingredients companies like J.M. Huber, CP Kelco, and Innovative Food Processors. At Equinom, Eyal will oversee the North American commercial and farming operations as the company scales up its seed, grain and ingredients through different strategic partnerships.
“Equinom is on a quest to become the food industry’s end-to-end ingredient innovation partner starting with better, nutrient-rich crops and I look forward to playing a role in propelling the company’s mission forward,” said Eyal.
Leading R&D
As Chief Science Officer, Costa brings more than two decades of experience as a product and R&D manager, with a deep background in developing hardware, software, systems and algorithms. Costa also specializes in machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques.
At Equinom, Adi Costa will be responsible for the continued development of the company’s proprietary Manna™ technology platform, and building out the company’s plant protein ingredient pipeline, which is optimized for food and beverage applications. He will also oversee the R&D department focusing on activities including Genomics and Validation, Data Science and Engineering, Biochemical Assessments, and Food Science & Functionality.
Previously, Costa served at Medasense Biometrics, where he led the company’s product activities including road-mapping, development, and release to market.
“Equinom deploys highly innovative uses of AI and big data,” shares Costa. “Spearheading the continued development of the company’s technology will allow me to apply my experience to a challenge that has considerable real-world implications to improving the health of people and our planet.”
Growth phase
The new appointments come at a time of significant growth for Equinom, which raised $35M in capital in December. Throughout 2022, the company announced a series of partnerships to help bring its ultra-high protein, non-GMO yellow pea protein to market. It is also collaborating with retail and food service brands, including Black Sheep Foods and Meatless Farms, to trial its ingredients in various applications.
Equinom expects to officially launch products in 2023.
“Growth mindset”
“Equinom is in a unique space in the food industry: on one hand, we’re engaged in some of agriculture’s most cutting-edge use of science and technology, and on the other, we’re rapidly commercializing new, game-changing ingredients,” said Gil Shalev, founder and CEO of Equinom. “Fortunately, Ephi and Adi bring us the expertise needed to achieve both goals simultaneously. The expertise, agility and growth mindset Ephi and Adi bring will be crucial to Equinom as we work to contribute to the solutions that will sustainably feed 10 billion people by 2050.”
