Sujala Balaji, CFS

Sujala Balaji has a diverse and extensive work experience. Sujala is currently the Founder and CEO of Rainfed Foods, a position they have held since November 2020. Sujala is also an Expert at The Protein Directory, starting in January 2020. In 2021, they became an Entrepreneur In Residence at Elements Ventures Accelerator.

From 2018 to 2021, Sujala served as a UNleash Fellow at UNLEASH - Innovation lab for SDGs, focusing on SDG 2-Zero Hunger. Sujala founded Kosha Foods in October 2015 and held the position until January 2021. Prior to that, they worked as a Regional Coordinator - North America at Thought For Food from January 2019 to December 2020.

Sujala has experience as an independent consultant, specializing in plant-based foods innovation and product development, from September 2014 to August 2020. Sujala also participated in the Founder Institute as a founder graduate from September 2017 to January 2018.

Earlier in their career, Sujala worked as an R&D Project Manager and Product Development & Formulations at Parmalat Canada from September 2010 to September 2017. Sujala briefly served as a Professor at Loyalist College from January 2015 to December 2015.

Sujala Balaji holds a Master's Degree in Biosystems Engineering (Ag & Food Sciences) from the University of Manitoba. In 2015, they attended the Center for Social Innovation, where they pursued studies in Social Entrepreneurship. Prior to that, they obtained a Bachelor's Degree in Food Process Engineering from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University. Additionally, in April 2013, they obtained the Certified Food Scientist (CFS) certification from the Institute of Food Technologists.