Meet Natasha Dhayagude, CEO of Chinova Bioworks Inc.

Natasha Dhayagude is the CEO and co-founder of Chinova Bioworks, a food technology company founded in 2016 to develop natural, clean-label preservatives extracted from white button mushrooms for the food and beverage industry. She earned her Bachelor of Science in biochemistry from the University of New Brunswick. The early part of her career was spent immersing herself with entrepreneurs and start-ups at various incubators and accelerator centers. Since then, she has raised $10.5 million in capital investment from prominent food-technology venture capitalists and has formed strategic partnerships with major multinational brands within the food industry. She has acquired multiple entrepreneur awards and is a Canadian Food Innovation Network (CFIN) board member.

My first job ever was… Working at our local bowling alley in Fredericton! I started this job when I was 16 years old and it taught me the important soft skills needed to succeed in future jobs. 

I decided to be an entrepreneur because… I wanted to take my technology to the commercial market to help solve a real world problem the food ingredients industry was facing. 

My boldest move to date was… Starting my own business! It’s a huge risk and faced with many challenges but it has been such a rewarding experience. 

My biggest setback was… Always needing to be in control. 

I overcame it by… Having the right business partner and team in place so I no longer had to do everything on my own but I could rely on them to help support and grow the company 

If you Googled me, you still wouldn’t know… My family owns and operates a glamping business on the largest freshwater lake – Grand Lake – in New Brunswick and I run the social media for it! 

When starting my business, I wish I knew…That everything takes time and patience 

My best advice to people looking to disrupt the status quo is… Have a clear vision and plan of how you want to disrupt your space. Then get out of your comfort zone and go for it!

I stay inspired by… Having the ability to create a diverse team as my company continues to grow and making a real change within the food industry throughout the supply chain from fark-to-fork. 

The future excites me because… I am passionate about what I do and the team we have created around us 

Success to me means… Being able to do what I love everyday