Shelley King

(M.Sc.’94, MBA’00)
Chief executive officer
Natural Products Canada

As the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Natural Products Canada (NPC), Shelley King has positioned Canada as a trailblazer in the global bioeconomy.

For over 30 years, she has combined her scientific background with deep industry expertise to help Canadian innovations evolve from bright ideas to market-ready products. Since championing NPC's launch in 2016, Ms. King has built a national network of over 4,000 members and supported the advancement of more than 1,800 companies.

Under her leadership, NPC has provided strategic capital to over 90 Canadian early-stage companies catalyzing significant new products and revenue, jobs and exports. The organization boasts an impressive leverage ratio, helping members raise $52 for every $1 distributed by NPC. This success has secured $39 million in investment from the Government of Canada since 2016 and led to the establishment of Nàdarra Ventures, a spin-off venture capital fund.

Previously, Ms. King served as CEO of Synapse (University of Prince Edward Island) and vice-president research and business development for Genome Atlantic. She began her career as president of NovaLipids Inc., where she raised $2 million and led the biotech start-up from invention to pilot scale commercial testing with a multinational partner.

Ms. King holds a master of science degree in medicine (neuroscience) and a master of business administration (MBA) from Memorial University.