Jim Flatt has worked in applied biotechnology for more than three decades, but after a long career in the field, he saw an opportunity to work on something that could help reduce chronic diseases by tapping into what we eat.
In 2017, the 62-year-old Flatt co-founded Brightseed, a Bay Area startup that is building an artificial intelligence-powered drug discovery platform for plant-based compounds. The goal is to unlock the superfood potential in plants, everything from dietary recommendations to developing new pharmaceutical drugs.
On Tuesday the company announced a $68 million Series B led by Temasek.
"Almost all of us are born and capable of having a long healthy life but, you know, a modern lifestyle gets in the way of that," Flatt said. "And we saw that not only this was something that could have a very large impact but could be something that resonates with consumers."
The company is already preparing its first products based on two bioactive compounds it discovered in the hulls — the fibrous outer layer — of hemp seeds.
Known as NCT and NFT, the compounds have properties that are beneficial for liver and metabolism health, Flatt said, which could potentially be used for treating conditions like fatty liver disease, weight management and gut health.
"These are actually compounds that plants produce predominantly for wound repair. So, if an insect chews on them or they get a lance, they're able to repair themselves," Flatt said. "It turns out these compounds also directly counteract the effect of fat on our whole system."
Brightseed plans to produce liquid and powder concentrates of the compounds as well as an enriched whole-hemp product and sell them to food and beverage manufacturers to use in their products.And it is aiming to launch these first products later this year and into early 2023.
It is already working more than 10 industry partners, including Oceanspray and Danone, two food producers that want to use Brightseed’s discovery platform, called Forager, to learn about more of the health benefits of the ingredients in their consumer products. Flatt wants to bring on several more partners this year.
And they have already mapped more than 2 million compounds, many of which have potential applications in metabolic health, digestive health, cognitive health, sugar management, maternal health and immunity, the company says.
Brightseed has 69 employees and is hoping to reach 100 this year. It is headquartered in South San Francisco and will be opening another facility in the Raleigh-Durham area this year.
"We will retain and continue to grow our scientific operations and discovery options here in the Bay Area. This is just an unparalleled body of scientific talent in many disciplines, so we'll continue to expand here," Flatt said, "but we also recognize that there are a lot of people on the East Coast that have backgrounds in commercializing these kinds of products."
