Abernathy – veteran startup entrepreneur and research scientist – to help drive product development and commercialization across Early Charm’s company portfolios
June 12, 2023, Baltimore, MD – Early Charm, a company that creates, owns and operates ventures that convert science to revenue, today welcomed Kelsey Abernathy – a seasoned startup entrepreneur and molecular biologist – as Manager: Commercial Development.
In her professional career, Abernathy, a Maryland native, co-founded AlgenAir, Inc., a living technology company that uses algae to improve indoor air quality. During her time at AlgenAir, Abernathy helped develop and launch three products while scaling its U.S.- based manufacturing processes. 
In her new role, Abernathy will center her work with Early Charm’s operations team to lead development and launch of new products and services across all of Early Charm’s core company portfolios: Blue Economy, Advanced Materials, Engineered Products and Drug Design.
Abernathy also will focus on aligning Early Charm’s portfolio company business objectives to help meet evolving customer industry needs.
“Kelsey brings to her new role valuable skills as an entrepreneur who co-founded and led daily operations to scale a high-growth company,” said Ken Malone, Executive Officer with Early Charm. “She’s also an accomplished research scientist. We’re beyond excited to have Kelsey as part of our growing team and to see her join in further accelerating our dynamic product development work.”
Abernathy earned a BA in Biology with a minor in Neuroscience at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. She also holds a PhD in Marine Estuarine Environmental Sciences from the University of Maryland Baltimore, Institute of Marine Environmental Technology (IMET).
Earlier in her career, Abernathy was a Venture Intern with Early Charm, working on customer discovery and grant writing. Abernathy also was a “TechStars Accelerator Kansas City Startup Founder” and a Ratcliffe Environmental Entrepreneurial Fellow as part of the Philip E. and Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation.
About Early Charm:
Early Charm creates, owns and operates businesses that convert science into revenue. We are the management team, the operators and the entrepreneurs. We don’t write checks and just pop in for board meetings. We show up to our labs, our production facilities and our offices every day to do all the heavy lifting in our portfolio companies. Learn more: www.earlycharm.com
Media Contact:
Ken Berlack
Early Charm
ken.berlack@earlycharm.com
