CEO of SomaDetect
Bethany Deshpande - CEO of SomaDetect
Bethany Deshpande is the Founder & CEO of SomaDetect. She is a highly motivated, big-picture thinker who has more than a decade of experience in science and entrepreneurship, and is always excited to tackle big problems in big ways. SomaDetect was founded in 2016 with the mission of providing farmers with the information they need to make the best possible milk. The company's core technology is an in-line sensor capable of monitoring critical indicators of reproductive status, health, and milk components from individual cows. SomaDetect’s sensor uses no consumables, is extremely quick, and fits into existing milking equipment. Since its founding, SomaDetect has secured investment from major players in the agtech and dairy industry including Merck Animal Health Ventures, Wilbur-Ellis Nutrition, Dairy Farmers of America, and more. SomaDetect was selected as the recipient of a major grant from Sustainability Development Technology Canada (2019), the Ag Innovation Showcase prize (St. Louis, 2017), Grand Prize winner of $1 M from Buffalo's 43North Competition (2017), and Rabobank's Foodbytes' Judges Choice Award (2018). SomaDetect represents a major innovation in dairy technology, providing quality and health data to farmers when they need it most.
The company’s core technology is an in-line sensor capable of monitoring critical indicators of reproductive status (heat and pregnancy detection), health (mastitis and ketosis) and milk components (fat, protein, somatic cell counts) from individual cows. SomaDetect’s sensor uses no consumables (no chemicals, no cartridges, no lost milk), is extremely quick (seconds, not minutes), and fits into existing milking equipment. With Bethany’s leadership, the company has grown from four people working in a small apartment to now having a team of twenty-six people with offices in both Canada and the United States. SomaDetect was selected as the recipient of the Ag Innovation Showcase prize (St. Louis, 2017), one of the Canadian Innovation Exchange Top 20 companies (Toronto, 2017), Grand Prize winner of $1 M from Buffalo’s 43North Competition (Buffalo, 2017), and Rabobank’s Foodbytes’ Judges Choice Award (NYC, 2018). SomaDetect represents a major innovation in dairy technology, providing better data for farmers when they need it most.