About Brightseed
Brightseed is a company based in San Francisco (United States) founded in 2018 by Lee Chae and Sofia Elizondo. Brightseed has raised $120 million across 3 funding rounds from investors including Temasek, Germin8 and Lewis & Clark Agrifood. The company has 48 employees. Brightseed offers products and services including Forager and Bio Gut Fiber. Brightseed operates in a competitive market with competitors including Nuritas, EGG Tuber, Nirman Agri Genetics, Dow AgroSciences and Germicopa, among others.
- Headquarter San Francisco, United States
- Employees 48
- Founders Lee Chae, Sofia Elizondo
- SectorsHealthcareAgriculture
- Email••••••••
- Website brightseedbio.com
- Social LinkedIn X Facebook Instagram
- Legal Name Brightseed, Inc
- Total Equity Funding$120M (USD)
in 3 rounds
- Latest Funding Round$68M (USD), Series B
May 2022
- InvestorsTemasek
& 8 more
- Employee Count48
Products & Services of Brightseed
Brightseed offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including Forager and Bio Gut Fiber.
AI tool for identifying bioactives and their health benefits in nature
Product that improves gut health through natural bioactive compounds
Funding Insights of Brightseed
Brightseed has successfully raised a total of $120M across 3 strategic funding rounds. The most recent funding activity was a Series B round of $68 million completed in May 2022. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.
- Total Funding $120M
- Total Rounds 3
- Last Round Series B — $68M
- First Round $25M
(Jun 2020)
- Investors Count 9
All 3 funding rounds of Brightseed with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2022 | $68M | Series B | – | Temasek | |
| Sep 2020 | $27M | Series A | – | Lewis & Clark Agrifood | |
| Jun 2020 | $25M | Series A | – | S2G Ventures, AgFunder | – |
9 investors in total: 9 institutional.
Investors in Brightseed
Brightseed has secured backing from 9 investors, including venture fund and institutional investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Temasek, Germin8 and Lewis & Clark Agrifood.
| Investor | Description | Founded Year | Domain | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
An investment platform is provided for diverse sectors and geographies. | 1974 | temasek.com.sg | Singapore, Singapore | |
Venture capital investments are directed toward agriculture and food sectors. | – | lewisandclarkagrifood.com | St. Louis, United States | |
Stage agnostic venture capital firm | – | s2gventures.com | Chicago, United States | |
Venture capital fund focused on ag-tech and food-tech sectors | – | agfunder.com | San Francisco, United States | |
Investments are directed to food, agribusiness, and commodities sectors. | – | continentalgrain.com | New York, United States | |
Horizons Ventures is focused on investing in deep science and technology. | – | horizonsventures.com | Hong Kong, China | |
Venture capital firm focused on multiple sectors | – | fiftyyears.com | San Francisco, United States | |
Venture capital investments are focused on FoodTech and AgTech sectors. | – | germin8ventures.com | Chicago, USA | |
Social media conversations are tracked and analyzed for brand insights. | 2007 | germin8.com | Mumbai, India |
Investor details for Brightseed
The complete investor list, round-by-round participation and investor portfolios require an active premium plan.
- Complete investor list
- Round participation
- Investor portfolios
- Co-investor network
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
People of Brightseed
43 people are tracked at Brightseed (14 in leadership, 20 in board & advisors, 9 in team); the tracked headcount is 48.
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Lee Chae | Co-Founder & CTO | Leadership |
Sofia Elizondo | Co-Founder & COO | Leadership |
Shufang Nie | Technical Director, Bioactive Formulation And Process | Leadership |
David Blackwood | Senior Vice President - Bioactive Ingredients | Leadership |
Kara A. Bresnahan | Director Of Regulatory Affairs | Leadership |
Chuan Wang | Director, Computation | Leadership |
Rob Grysen | Senior Director, Operations And Product Development | Leadership |
John Literacki | Senior Director, Business Operations & R&D | Leadership |
Anna Gershenzon | Head of Finance | Leadership |
Adriana Ortiz | Associate Director Of Finance | Leadership |
Mary Beth Miranda | Director, Business Development Food & Agriculture | Leadership |
Meng Xu | Senior Director, Discovery | Leadership |
Audrey Ahlholm | Director, Project & Portfolio Management | Leadership |
Ivana Blaženović | Metabolomics Director | Leadership |
Valerio Nannini | Advisor | Board & advisors |
Dariush Mozaffarian | Advisor | Board & advisors |
Indra Nooyi | Advisor | Board & advisors |
Fred Levine | Advisor | Board & advisors |
Walter Robb | Advisor | Board & advisors |
Bernhard Van Lengerich | Strategic Advisor | Board & advisors |
23 more people are available in the full profile.
Complete people profiles for Brightseed
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
- Full employee list
- Team structure
- Board tenure
- Professional contacts
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Timeline of Brightseed
3 dated milestones of Brightseed across 4 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Brightseed is founded.
- Funding First funding round of $25.0M.
- Funding Latest funding round, Series B, of $68.0M.
Competitors of Brightseed
Brightseed operates in a dynamic and competitive business environment, facing competition from various established players and emerging companies in the market. The competitive landscape includes prominent companies such as Nuritas, EGG Tuber, Nirman Agri Genetics, Dow AgroSciences and Germicopa, among others.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nuritas.com | 2014 | Dublin, Ireland | $112.73M | – | Developer of natural active ingredients with scientifically proven health benefits | |
| eggtuber.com | 2009 | Seoul, South Korea | $24.2M | – | Micro seed potatoes are produced in-vitro by EGG Tuber. | |
| nirmanagrigen.com | 2020 | Nashik, India | – | 33 | Genetic vegetable seeds are supplied to farmers for subtropical crops. | |
| dowagro.com | 1989 | Indianapolis, United States | – | – | Agrochemicals and genetically modified seeds are developed for agriculture. | |
| germicopa.com | 1947 | Quimper, France | – | – | Genetically modified potato seeds are developed and supplied worldwide. | |
| biocelltechnology.com | 1997 | Newport Beach, United States | – | – | Researches, develops, and distributes branded dietary ingredients for health supplements. | |
| fuyingguan.tcc.mode | 2021 | Qinhuangdao, China | $4.12M | – | Nutritional supplements and sea cucumber peptide foods are manufactured. | |
| axiaseeds.com | 2010 | Naaldwijk, Netherlands | – | – | Axia breeds high-quality tomato seeds with respect for nature and environment globally. |
Detailed competitors of Brightseed
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
- Operating metrics
- Benchmarks
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Web traffic of Brightseed
The website of Brightseed (brightseedbio.com) receives about 2K visits a month.
- Monthly visits2K
▼ 17.3% vs previous month
Latest news on Brightseed
Complete news archive for Brightseed
Full article history, source details, and older brand coverage require an active premium plan.
- Full article archive
- Source and publication date
- Older coverage
- Brand-specific news history
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Similar companies to Brightseed
10 companies that operate in the same segment as Brightseed (Nutraceutical & Food-as-Medicine Platforms), ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ayurvedic healthcare and nutritional products are provided by Kapiva. | 2016 | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India | USD 77.85 M | USD 27.35 M | 362 | |
Plant-based frozen meals are delivered via weekly subscriptions. | 2016 | London, England, United Kingdom | USD 69.9 M | USD 12.54 M | 146 | |
Therapies for metabolic health in chronic disease patients are provided. | 2014 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 401.78 M | – | – | |
Nutritional supplements for multiple health ailments are developed. | 2005 | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India | USD 1.55 M | – | – | |
Personalized gut health solutions are provided by ZOE. | 2017 | New Castle, Pennsylvania, United States | USD 80.12 M | – | – | |
Machine learning-based bioinformatics solutions for health insights are provided. | 2016 | Los Alamos, New Mexico, United States | USD 301.57 M | – | – | |
Cellular health supplements for metabolic repair are developed and manufactured. | 2014 | New York, New York, United States | USD 66.1 M | – | – | |
Nutritional food and health supplements are provided by OZiva. | 2010 | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India | USD 17.32 M | USD 23.98 M | – | |
Low-carb products for weight loss are provided by Atkins. | 1960 | Denver, Colorado, United States | USD 15 M | – | – | |
Synbiotic supplements and fermented products for gut health are provided. | 2021 | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India | USD 20.02 M | USD 5.14 M | 88 |
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Frequently Asked Questions about Brightseed
Brightseed was founded in 2018 and raised its 1st funding round 2 years after it was founded.
Brightseed is headquartered in San Francisco, United States. It is registered at San Francisco, California, United States.
Brightseed is a funded company, having raised a total of $120M across 3 funding rounds to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Series A of $25M, raised on Jun 2020.
Brightseed has 48 employees.
Founded in 2018 and based in San Francisco, United States, an AI-based platform is operated by the company to identify plant-derived bio-actives for applications in human health. The Forager ecosystem is utilized to expedite discovery of ingredients for drug development, food supplements, and related sectors. Brightseed Bio Gut Fiber is offered as a product for functional foods and beverages, targeting gut health support through specific bioactives.
Brightseed's top competitors include Nuritas, EGG Tuber and Nirman Agri Genetics.
Brightseed offers Forager and Bio Gut Fiber.
Brightseed has 9 investors. Key investors include Temasek, Germin8, Lewis & Clark Agrifood, S2G Ventures, and AgFunder.
Brightseed operates through Brightseed, Inc.