Jim Sayre is President of Cargill Ventures, and is based in San Mateo, California.

Jim has significant financial advisory experience. Prior to his current position, Jim was the Director of Mergers and Acquisitions for Cargill where he participated in transactions valued at over $5 billion. Key transactions include the acquisition of Continental Grain, Akzo Salt NA and Vandemoortele and the divestitures of Cargill’s seed, rice and North American poultry businesses. Before joining Cargill, Jim was a senior manager with Deloitte & Touche and provided financial advisory services to a range of consumer and agriculture companies including the Northface, Sierra Design, Sunworld, Mrs. Fields and several premium wineries. He also served in various positions in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Jim serves on the Board of Directors of Aspectrics, Demandtec and EcoSynthetix. He served on the Board of iTradeNetwork prior to its acquisition by Accel-KKR.

He holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of California at Davis and an M.B.A from Harvard University.

Jim.Sayre@black-river.com