Portrait No. 001
Nazzy Pakpour
Co-Founder and CEO
Yeast Bay Bio
My two kids often tell me that I always want to “low-key change the world.” Since I was a child, I’ve been an organizer, agitator, defender and adventurer. I am motivated by a sense of justice and desire for connection to support and contribute to my communities through education, inspiration and action. But instead of changing the world one person at a time, I realized Yeast Bay Bio’s nontoxic pest control solution could profoundly help millions of people worldwide and for generations to come by dramatically reducing poison exposure in and around our homes. Our first target is the lowly and reviled cockroach, and then we will go after other pests and species to innovate the way we quash infestations. Kill the cockroach, save the world.
In her words
“But instead of changing the world one person at a time, I realized Yeast Bay Bio’s nontoxic pest control solution could profoundly help millions of people worldwide and for generations to come by dramatically reducing poison exposure in and around our homes.”
Chapter I
The toughest challenges you've faced as a founder.
I am a Iranian immigrant, mother, entomologist, microbiologist, former professor, activist and children’s book author. The sui generis kaleidoscope of my areas of expertise and curiosities, wins and losses, preternaturally qualify me to dream this dream and manifest it. When I identify what I want to do, I don’t accept “No,” but I run harder for it. I am so convinced of the viability and potential of our yeast-based RNAi biopesticide solution that I quit a job that I loved to become a first-time startup founder. We are now pounding the pavement for pre-seed investment as we file our provisional patents, launch our initial efficacy studies, and prepare to build our regulatory dossier. We’re enthusiastically expanding our community – those who believe we can and must build an alternative to toxic chemical insecticides.
Chapter II
Your vision.
Pest infestations threaten human health. But the way we kill pests also threatens human health, as well biodiversity at large. The pest control industry has not changed its methods in over thirty years, and is dominated by toxic, petrochemical pesticides. These poisons bioaccumulate in us, other species and our environment, and also concentrate through runoff in our water sources and aquatic ecosystems. Yeast Bay Bio’s solutions aim to eliminate traditional pesticides, replacing them with nontoxic, non-GMO RNAi biocontrols that are species-specific, localized, and won’t harm other organisms. The science is established and relatively simple, but we have the unique ingenuity and expertise to transform the pest control industry by introducing a safer, more effective way of vanquishing the insects that make us sick.
Chapter III
The impact you want to leave behind — for your industry, your community, and the women who come next.
Pest control is a humble industry. It’s unseen, unsexy, but ubiquitous. Every single home, workplace and community space in the United States has been treated with petrochemical pesticides that affect human health. Although Yeast Bay Bio’s innovation will be invisible to most, it can inconspicuously and profoundly change the world, universally benefiting humans and other species. I hope that my journey from scientist to entrepreneur ultimately proves to future female founders that important, just and inspiring ingenuities are worth pursuing and manifesting for the benefit of everyone.