Our Team
Our Journey
The co-founders of Plantee share a common passion of protecting environment and were fortunate enough to have crossed paths at the right time. Praphulla met Richard while they were both were pursuing their master’s degrees at the University of Guelph. Praphulla went on to complete his PhD at Queen’s University where he met Prashant. The two ventured on several fishing trips together in which they encountered several issues associated with marine plastics pollution all over Canada. A catalytic moment came from an Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Plastic Challenge competition which made Praphulla, Prashant, and Richard form a team to combat plastic pollution in oceans.
Our Mission
To promote a sustainable biodegradable plastics economy through research and development work and creation of intellectual property for use by Plantee or for Plantee’s customers. Plantee promotes the biodegradable plastics industry through our products and services that can be readily commercialized
Our Vision
To create a circular biodegradable plastics sustainable economy in Canada
Richard Chen: Chief Executive Officer
Richard obtained a Master of Applied Science in Biological Engineering from University of Guelph and Bachelor of Applied Science in Chemical and Biological Engineering from The University of British Columbia. Richard brings around seven years of product development, commercialization and scale-up experience to Plantee.
Praphulla - Chief Operating Officer
Praphulla holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Queen's University, a MSc in Biological Engineering from University of Guelph and B.E. in Polymer Engineering from BIT, India. Praphulla’s expertise lies in scale up and process troubleshooting, polymer processing and characterization, and new product development. Praphulla has three years of experience working with various plastic convertors and marketing of the plastic products.
Prashant Agrawal: Chief Scientific Officer
Prashant holds a PhD and MSc in analytical and material sciences from Queen’s University, Canada. He did his undergraduate (Dual BS-MS) from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, India in Chemistry. His expertise lies in Scientific chemical formulation, experimental design, chemical analysis, engineering analysis, and product design and development.
Gena Meaney: Business Development Manager
Gena is the newest addition to the Plantee team and is the company’s first employee! Gena holds a BCOMM from the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University. She brings knowledge in project management, entrepreneurship, and business strategy, in addition to extensive experience working with social enterprises.