Benchling Expands Executive Team and Board of Directors

Paul Robson is new President of Field Operations and Elena Donio joins the board

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, January 26, 2022 – Benchling, pioneer of the R&D Cloud powering the biotechnology industry, today announced that, Paul Robson, a cloud veteran with more than 25 years of experience scaling high-performing field organizations — including a decade at Adobe, has joined Benchling as President of Field Operations. The company also added Elena Donio, the former CEO of Axiom and President of Concur, to its board, as a director and compensation committee chair. These seasoned leaders will play instrumental roles as Benchling grows rapidly to accelerate biotech R&D across global industries including biopharma, agriculture, materials, and many more.

Robson was previously President of International at Adobe, where he led Adobe’s global business across 160 countries outside of North America. He joined Adobe in 2011 and played a key role in their transformation from packaged desktop software to a cloud subscription model. Robson drove strategic planning, international operations, sales, and growth in developed and emerging markets spanning Europe and Asia. At Benchling, he will manage global sales, partnerships, and customer success to support the company’s ambitious growth plans.

“In my 25 years in the technology industry, I have never been more excited by an opportunity to make a global impact. The biotech industry is going through a digital revolution and Benchling is helping R&D leaders and scientists make critical breakthroughs faster than ever,” said Robson. “This is a pivotal time for Benchling to scale operations and unlock the power of biotech for startups, enterprises, and research institutions around the world.”

Elena Donio also brings over 25 years of experience both as an operating executive and board member, building and scaling leading enterprise software companies. Donio also currently serves on the boards of Twilio, Databricks, and Contentful. She previously served as the CEO of Axiom, the talent marketplace transforming the legal industry. Before joining Axiom, Donio spent nearly two decades at Concur, including as President, through its ultimate $8B acquisition by SAP.

“The world’s most innovative biotech R&D organizations trust Benchling because they offer modern software built for modern science,” said Donio. “Working with Sajith and the executive team is a unique opportunity to use the power of the cloud to speed up scientific discoveries and developments that are transforming the way we live.”

“Paul and Elena are exceptional leaders that we are excited to work with,” said Sajith Wickramasekara, CEO and co-founder of Benchling. “Their expertise scaling B2B companies and digitally transforming industries with legacy software will play a crucial role in the next stage of Benchling’s growth.”

In the last year, Benchling expanded its executive bench with the appointments of Lindsey Irvine as CMO, Richard Wong as CFO, and Zach Powers as CISO.