BinSentry Leadership
Our success is built on the talent and commitment of our people and on the strong, trusting relationships we build with our partners.
BinSentry Leadership
Ben Allen
Chief Executive Officer
Ben is known for his expertise in leading hardware, software, and agtech companies and for maintaining strong relationships with investors. He has a record of rapidly generating revenue, scaling startup companies for growth, and negotiating strategic partnership deals with Fortune 100 companies.
Ben is an executive leader who is passionate about recruiting, coaching, and retaining top talent to excel in rapidly evolving business and economic environments. He is recognized for building engaged teams who continuously exceed the expectations of investors and customers and achieve personal and professional success.
At a young age, Ben developed a passion for the agriculture industry while working in the family commodity trading business. In the challenging months following 9/11, Ben raised more than $1M in venture funding to create a contract farming offering that grew to manage over 80,000 acres in the Midwest, becoming one of the largest grain-producing operations in the United States.
Nathan Hoel
Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer
Drawing on his specialized skill set in overseeing infrastructure and strategic planning and his practical experience in modeling and scaling systems, Nathan is passionate about the complexity involved in software architecture. With more than two decades of experience leading engineering teams and large-scale architectural projects, Nathan firmly believes that leadership is achieved by influence and respect.
As a CTO with a varied experience in the agricultural, financial, retail, and education industries, Nathan brings a wide range of expertise that he leverages to equip BinSentry clients with the necessary tools to make better decisions. With a singular focus on excellence and a rigorous approach to creative problem-solving, he led his team to build the most accurate feed bin monitoring sensor in the market, the BinSentry 3D sensor.
Nathan received his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science in Mathematics from The University of Waterloo. His passion for developing innovative solutions led BinSentry to win the 2019 THRIVE-Forbes Innovation Icon Award.
Kearney Klein
Chief Operating Officer
As the Chief Operating Officer, Kearney is in charge of BinSentry’s global supply chain, ensuring product quality and overseeing planning, procurement, manufacturing, logistics, and product fulfillment functions.
He brings deep experience in strategy, operations, and technology to drive operational excellence both at the company and at the customers’ organizations we serve with a high-quality, innovative product.
Prior to his role at BinSentry, Kearney held executive positions at Indigo Ag, Air Products and was also a Principal at Marakon Consulting for the agriculture sector.
He earned a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Northeastern University in Boston and a master’s degree in Finance from Vanderbilt University in Nashville. He lives in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, with his wife and three children, and enjoys equities markets, fishing and golf.
Darren Howie
Senior Vice President of Sales
As Senior Vice President of Sales, Darren Howie is leading growth at BinSentry.
With deep experience in agriculture, technology, and a strong focus on building relationships, Darren and his team help producers and feed mills adopt smarter, data-driven feed management solutions.
His leadership ensures customers gain efficiency, reduce waste, and achieve greater visibility in their operations.
Ben Van Straten
Chief Financial Officer
As Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Van Straten leads all aspects of the global finance function for BinSentry.
He brings deep experience in agriculture strategy, venture capital investing, and mergers and acquisitions. Prior to his role at BinSentry, Mr. Van Straten lead venture capital investing for one of the largest farmer-owned cooperatives in the world.
A CPA by trade, he earned a bachelor’s degree in accountancy from the University of Oregon as well as advanced studies in innovation at Wharton University executive education. He lives in Lakeville, Minnesota, with his wife and three children, and enjoys spending time with his family and friends and attending live sporting events.
“Change in agriculture happens at the speed of trust, scaling our business with integrity and transparency is a core mission”
Board of Directors
Dennis Organ
Chairman of the Board
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Dennis Organ is a seasoned food industry executive with more than three decades of leadership experience across protein, logistics, and consumer-packaged goods. He currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Canada Packers Inc., a ~$1.7 billion pork processor and food company undergoing a transformative spin-out into a standalone public enterprise. In this role, Mr. Organ is leading the organization through its separation, stabilization, and growth phases, delivering significant operating improvements, and building a foundation for long-term shareholder value.
Previously, Mr. Organ served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Smithfield Foods, Inc., the world’s largest pork processor, and hog producer. At Smithfield, he oversaw all aspects of global operations, including farming, processing, and international sales, and guided the company through operational enhancements, strategic portfolio alignment, and organizational transformation.
Over the course of his career, Mr. Organ has established a reputation for driving measurable financial performance, building high-engagement leadership teams, and executing complex transformations. He has deep expertise in supply chain management, protein markets, sustainability initiatives, and global trade, as well as significant experience in capital allocation and strategic M&A.
Mr. Organ also serves as the founder and owner of several private ventures in logistics and real estate, reflecting his entrepreneurial approach to value creation. He brings to the boardroom a combination of public-company CEO experience, operational discipline, and long-range strategic vision.
Ben Allen
Chief Executive Officer
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Ben is known for his expertise in leading hardware, software, and agtech companies and for maintaining strong relationships with investors. He has a record of rapidly generating revenue, scaling startup companies for growth, and negotiating strategic partnership deals with Fortune 100 companies.
Ben is an executive leader passionate about recruiting, coaching, and retaining top talent to excel in rapidly evolving business and economic environments. He is recognized for building engaged teams who continuously exceed the expectations of investors and customers and achieve personal and professional success.
Ben joined BinSentry after his successful run as Head of Global Market Development at Indigo Ag, an agtech startup that he helped grow from $300M in 2017 to $3B in 2021. Prior to that role, Ben led efforts to scale Agri-Trend’s Agri-Data software organization in preparation for a transaction. Due to his efforts, Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) acquired Agri-Trend in 2015.
At a young age, Ben developed a passion for the agriculture industry while working in the family commodity trading business. In the challenging months following 9/11, Ben raised more than $1M in venture funding to create a contract farming offering that grew to manage over 80,000 acres in the Midwest, becoming one of the largest grain-producing operations in the United States.
Paul Bell
Member of the Board of Directors
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Paul is an Operating Partner responsible for assisting portfolio companies improve all aspects of their business. Paul has served on the Boards of Lead Edge portfolio companies including Arrive Logistics, GlobalVetLink, Kapost, Revenue Analytics, Spreadfast, Toast and Xamarin. He is an independent board member of SourceDay and ZenHR.
Prior to joining Lead Edge in 2013, Paul served on the Executive Committee at Dell for 15 years. His positions included President of Europe, Middle East & Africa, President of the Global Home & Small Business unit, and President of the Global Corporate & Public Sector unit. Prior to Dell, Paul was a consultant at Bain & Company and worked in technology corporate finance at Morgan Stanley.
Paul received an MBA from the Yale School of Management, and a B.S. in Economics and B.A. in Fine Art from Penn State University.
Paul is based in Austin, Texas.
Jamie Weston
Member of the Board of Directors
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Jamie is a Managing Director at Spring Mountain Capital, co-managing its Growth Capital Partners investment funds. The investment focus is on enterprise B-to-B technology companies driving improved workflows and data collection in the industries in which they serve. During his tenure, SMC funds have made over 40 portfolio company investments. Jamie is serving or has served on the boards of Maven, Yunu, Keen Decision Systems and Aware, among others,
Prior to joining Spring Mountain Capital in 2011, Jamie spent 15 years at the Wicks Group of Companies, most recently as a Partner. Wicks manages a series of middle-market focused private equity funds with over $1B in AUM.
Jamie received an MBA from the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University, and a B.A. in Economics from Drew University.
Chuck Warta
Member of the Board of Directors
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Chuck brings 30+ years of international experience in agriculture, animal nutrition and food industry leadership to his current role as an Operating Partner at Lewis & Clark AgriFood. Before retiring and joining Lewis & Clark, he spent 3 decades leading
businesses at Cargill, most recently as the President of Cargill Health Technologies and Cargill Premix and Nutrition.
His experiences included serving animal nutrition and feed customers in over 100
markets, with +7000 employees and 50 facilities across 26 countries. Chuck was
directly involved in over a dozen M&A transactions, led multiple minority investments and was a member of the investment board of Cargill’s Venture Capital team.
He currently sits on the board of multiple Lewis & Clark portfolio companies and is a
member of the investment team. In addition, he is on the board of the Kansas State
University Foundation and is an Associated Faculty in the Staley School of Leadership
at Kansas State University, where he holds a bachelor’s degree in agriculture
economics.
Edmund O’Keeffe
Member of the Board of Directors
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Edmund O’Keeffe has over 30 years’ experience in management and board roles in the food and beverage sector in both North America and Europe.
He is Chair of O’Keeffes, an Irish retail and hospitality group and a director of Bay State Milling, a leading North American flour & grain miller. Prior Board roles included a number of private equity ventures including Sweetmore Bakery, Liberte brands and Pineridge Bakery. Edmund is a Harvard University Senior Fellow and a member of the Private and Public, Scientific, Academic, and Consumer (PAPSAC) Food Policy Group.
Prior to 2019, Edmund served in a variety of roles for Cott Corporation, the world’s largest producer of beverages on behalf of retailers, brand owners and distributors. Joining Cott in its early growth phase in 1994 he progressed into positions in Product Management, Strategy, Corporate Development, Investor Relations, Communications and Strategic Planning. He was President of Cott Beverages LLC, an $80 MM 130 employee business unit that provided global R&D, product development, technical services, concentrates and sales to 67 countries. Prior to this role, Edmund served as President of Royal Crown Cola International, a branded franchise beverage portfolio with bottlers across 64 countries.
Edmund has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Commerce from University College Dublin.
Jonathan Goodkey, CPA, CFA
Member of the Board of Directors
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Jonathan is a Partner with the BDC Industrial Innovation Fund based in Toronto. He has spent the last decade investing in agriculture and food technology companies across the Farm to Fork value chain.
He was previously a Principal with Avrio Capital and is dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs solving the global challenges of health, wellness and sustainability from Farm to Fork.
Media Relations
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