top of page

Built for Resilience. Backed by Science.

Examining Crops

OUR STORY

Bringing Advanced Plant Science to the Field

EliCeres began as a scientific breakthrough developed to grow food in space. After years of research, testing, and field validation, we transformed that innovation into a practical, scalable platform for Earth’s most pressing agricultural challenges. Today, EliCeres works with farmers across the U.S., Latin America, and Asia - helping increase yields, improve crop quality, and build more resilient systems.

Crops under heat stress responding to EliCeres priming technology
Crops under heat stress responding to EliCeres priming technology

OUR PURPOSE

Reinventing Agriculture Through Plant Intelligence

We help crops protect themselves — no genetic modification, no toxic residues, no guesswork. Our plant priming technology unlocks the natural intelligence within every plant to resist stress, thrive under pressure, and deliver stronger results for growers. We’re here to align agriculture with biology and scale solutions that actually work in the field.

WHAT WE DO

Priming Crops for a Changing World

Our platform uses specialized elicitors to activate a plant’s immune system — like a vaccine for crops. This triggers faster, stronger responses to stress like heat, drought, and disease, while improving growth and nutrient efficiency.

We offer targeted product lines for:

  • Commercial agriculture (soy, wheat, rice)
     

  • Specialty crops (citrus, berries, agave)

  • Home gardening (through Gardener’s Choice® retail)

Happy Gardener

TEAM

Our Passionate Innovators

john.jpeg

John McLean

CEO

John is an agriculture industry executive with 40 years of diverse industry experience including as COO of Monsanto Growth Ventures and as President of Intrexon Crop Protection

ravi.jpg

Ravi Pottathil

CTO

Ravi is an entrepreneur with a 40-year history spanning industry & academia, covering biochemistry, molecular biology, mammalian genetics, medical virology, tumor biology, and diagnostics.

kathy.jpg

Kathy Conway

VP Operations

Kathy is an agriculture biotech leader with 35 years of experience in strategic operations, driving companies the next stage of growth from product development through commercialization.

matt.jpg

Matt Cleaver

Business Development

Business development and strategy leader with over a decade of experience driving growth and performance across multiple businesses in the food and agriculture industry

Fernando.png

Fernando Gallegos Sola

Business Development

Fernando is a biotechnology professional, specializing in Business Development. For more than 25 years, he has been ushering emerging biotechnology into the Latin American region, as a leader within venture-backed startups and the Fortune 500. 

TEAM

Our Senior Advisors

brad.jpg

Brad Shurdut

Regulatory Affairs

Brad is an attorney and senior life sciences, biotechnology, and ag industry executive with 30+ years of experience in government affairs, regulatory affairs, public policy, environmental health & safety, and risk assessment

rik.jpg

Rik Miller

Commercial Advisor

Rik has 40+ years of experience in production agriculture including as President of Crop Protection at Dupont and senior leadership positions in sales, marketing, portfolio management, and business operations.

kiran.jpg

Kiran Kharat

Research Advisor

Kiran has more than two decades of experience in biotechnology, including the development of nano-devices for humans and plants and the regulation of gene expression in plants and cancer cells.

PRESS

Media Highlights

bottom of page