Modern food is built on a foundation of crops—wheat, corn, rice—optimized for yield and scale. They deliver calories and are inherently starch-heavy. The current food system works around these constraints with processing, additives, and formulation complexity.
If we want food that is higher in protein, fiber-rich, cleaner, and better tasting, we have to start with better crops.
NuCicer was spun out of UC Davis with a simple question:
What if we breed crops to make better food?
We started with the chickpea—a naturally nutrient-dense crop with far more potential than what reaches consumers today. Past breeding prioritized yield and size leaving behind much of its nutritional value and creating what some have called “the white bread of chickpeas.”
We’re changing that. We've tapped into wild genetic diversity and breed with purpose to developed a new class of high-protein chickpeas designed to deliver more nutrition from the start.
In the process of unlocking chickpea’s full potential, we developed a new integrated system to design crops—combining predictive breeding, natural diversity, and rapid testing infrastructure.
A platform built not just to improve crops—but to design them for specific outcomes.
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder
Kathryn is a technical and business manager with proven success managing multimillion-dollar programs across industries including materials science, aerospace, and artificial intelligence.
LinkedIn →
Chief Technology Officer
Sean has spent 20 years at the intersection of cutting-edge tech and agriculture - harnessing big data, finding new applications and utilizing advanced analytics to address critical agricultural challenges.
LinkedIn →
Chief Operating Officer
David is a visionary strategist and agtech leader with a demonstrated track record of scaling businesses and driving commercial growth. He excels at engaging stakeholders across the global value chain to position innovative organizations at the forefront of dynamic global markets.
LinkedIn →
Strategic Commercial Advisor
Rick is a transformational business leader with a proven reputation for consistently achieving or exceeding goals, engaging with decision-makers across diverse cultures, and positioning organizations at the forefront of highly competitive markets.
LinkedIn →
Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder
A world-renowned plant and microbial geneticist studying chickpea and nitrogen fixation. Doug is a professor at UC Davis and among the decade's most highly cited researchers.
LinkedIn →
Board Member
Jerry spent his career in science driven ag companies including 30 years with Monsanto, Co-founder/CEO of CoverCress, and is currently an Independent director of several ag tech startups.
LinkedIn →
Board Member
Carsten is the Founder and Managing Partner of Rhapsody Venture Partners, a leading venture fund dedicated to hard science startups.
LinkedIn →
Board Member
As the Sr. Director of Venture Investments for Leaps by Bayer, PJ drives the development and execution of a broad investment strategy to accelerate innovation in agriculture and food.
LinkedIn →Better crops, Better ingredients, Better foods, Starts with us
Let's Talk