Origin Materials appoints Matt Plavan as chief financial officer

Origin Materials, Inc. announced the appointment of Matt Plavan as chief financial officer, effective Oct. 30, 2023.

Plavan succeeds Pam Haley, who has served as interim chief financial officer since Sept. 1, 2023. Haley will continue in her role as senior vice-president of accounting and finance.

Plavan brings 16 years of public company executive experience at technology-driven companies operating in complex businesses environments and a proven track record of leading initiatives to fund the commercial scale up of disruptive technologies. As a CFO, Plavan successfully led all finance functions including equity, debt and strategic partner capital acquisition, long-range project budgeting, forecasting and progress reporting, and has been integrally involved in closing strategic transactions valued at approximately $1B. In his role at Origin, he will work closely with Origin’s co-CEOs and board of directors to lead the finance organization, drive business growth, and execute the company’s mission to enable the world’s transition to sustainable materials.

“Matt has broad, highly relevant experience within publicly traded companies introducing disruptive solutions into well-established industries, successfully setting and managing financial performance expectations with key stakeholders through multiple stages of growth,” said Rich Riley, co-CEO of Origin Materials. “His strong capital markets background combined with his proven ability to build and lead high performing teams to execute large, enterprise-wide project initiatives, will make him an invaluable member of Origin’s leadership team. We look forward to working alongside him in building upon Origin’s strong foundation for growth.”

Prior to joining Origin, Plavan served as chief executive officer at IngredientWerks, where he led the company’s transition from a division of Agrivida to a leading molecular farming company specializing in the development of plant-based animal protein ingredients for the $6B alternative protein and food ingredient markets. Previously, Plavan held executive roles, including CFO for publicly traded Arcadia Biosciences, where he secured multiple rounds of equity financing over several years to fund the phased maturation of the business from an agricultural biotechnology research firm to a revenue generating, on-trend consumer food products company. Prior to joining Arcadia, Plavan spent a decade in the executive suite with publicly traded Cesca Therapeutics, Inc. where, during his stint as CFO, he led the financing for the development, manufacture and commercial introduction of the Res-Q stem cell therapy device into the spinal surgery market. Previous to that, Plavan held positions as VP of finance with McKesson and audit manager at Ernst & Young. He is a certified public accountant and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

“I strongly believe in Origin’s mission to advance sustainability across the materials supply chain,” said Plavan. “The company’s patented platform for turning the carbon found in inexpensive biomass into useful material is well-positioned for global scale-up and I am very excited to join Origin’s executive team to help drive superior financial and operational execution in the years ahead.”