David Buckeridge

Dr. David James Buckeridge is a British agribusiness and life-science executive, investor, and board director. He has a B.S. and Ph.D. in Genetics and Plant Sciences from the University of Wales. Public UK company filings list his date of birth as February 1960 and show current or recent director appointments including NIAB, Micropropagation Services (E.M.) Limited, and David Buckeridge Investigations Limited.

Buckeridge began his career at AstraZeneca, spending roughly 20 years in management roles globally. His operating experience included about eight years in agrochemicals and crop protection with a European focus, five years in Des Moines running commercial operations for AstraZeneca’s U.S. seeds business, and leadership of Zeneca Plant Science, the company’s plant biotechnology business in the United Kingdom.

He later served as Group CEO of Advanta BV, then one of the largest independent agronomic seed businesses in the world. Paine & Partners acquired Advanta in 2005; Buckeridge joined the Paine predecessor firm in 2006 as an Operating Director and was named a Partner of Paine & Partners in August 2011. At Paine, he focused on new investment opportunities and existing portfolio companies, primarily in agribusiness.

More recently, he has operated as an advisor and board chair/director across agribusiness, biotech, food-chain, pharmaceutical, and public-health companies. NIAB says he was elected Chair of its Board in June 2023. Protealis appointed him chairman in February 2022 after its EUR 12 million Series A, and he has also been listed in board or advisory roles at Cycle Pharmaceuticals, CamOncology, Agriconomie, Seaweed Solutions, Velcourt, ScanBio Marine Group, Rivulis, Spearhead International, Verdesian Life Sciences, and Icicle Seafoods.

• Buckeridge’s clearest personal thesis is in plant genetics and sustainable protein crops. On joining Protealis as chairman and investor, he said he believed there was a need to make “a substantial investment in the quality of genetics available for protein crops and specifically for legume species, especially in Europe.”
• His Paine Schwartz work centers on food and agribusiness companies where operational value creation matters: product/customer expansion, R&D and innovation, operating improvements, talent, sustainability, and M&A.
• Paine Schwartz’s official strategy is thematically focused on two themes: productivity and sustainability across the global food system, and health and wellness.
• The firm is thesis-driven, using research-intensive work in specific segments of the food and agribusiness value chain.
• Paine Schwartz is primarily a control buyout investor, but it can make minority investments with governance rights and growth-equity investments.
• Buckeridge appears most relevant to companies with meaningful technical depth in seeds, crop genetics, biologicals, crop nutrition, agribusiness operations, seafood/aquaculture, and life sciences.