TechAccel Names Tina Youngblood, Ph.D., as Chief Finance & Administrative Officer

Experienced executive named to support TechAccel’s business growth in providing sustainable solutions to agriculture, animal health, food technology.

KANSAS CITY, Mo.—Jan. 25, 2020—TechAccel LLC, the private venture development organization investing in scientific breakthroughs to help solve the global food crisis, today welcomed Tina Youngblood, Ph.D., who joins the company as Chief Finance & Administrative Officer.

Dr. Youngblood comes to TechAccel from Pathfinder Health Innovations, a software startup in Kansas City, where she served as CEO. She has also served as CEO at Spencer Re and Cunningham Lindsey; earlier she spent 10 years in a variety of global leadership positions with Zurich Insurance Group, including as chief of staff to the chief administrative officer of the corporate center in Zurich, Switzerland, as well as CAO of the North American division in Chicago.

“We see Tina as a team player who brings deep strategic leadership, process discipline, and exceptional empathy and passion to the role,” said Michael Helmstetter, Ph.D., president and chief executive of TechAccel. “We’re counting on Tina’s expertise to help manage our business growth, build value and drive sustainable results.”

In 2020, TechAccel’s subsidiary RNAissance Ag completed an acquisition of RNAgri, which launched new business opportunities in biomanufacturing while advancing its biopesticide development. The TechAccel portfolio has a number of agtech and animal health ventures in field trials and advanced stages of preparation for market.

“I am thrilled to be joining such a talented team of people with a mission to change the way we feed the world,” Dr. Youngblood said. “When science meets investment, the impact can be tremendous, and I am excited to be a part of it.”

In addition to Dr. Youngblood’s leadership roles in finance, equity and risk management, she brings experience as a tenured associate professor of accounting at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She received undergraduate and master’s degrees from Tennessee Technological University and a Ph.D. in accounting with a minor in cognitive psychology from the University of Tennessee.