Sofia is the Co-founder and COO of Brightseed, a company that is bringing nature’s intelligence to life. She co-founded Brightseed on the belief that food should nourish, that plants have the answers, and that we now have the advanced machine-learning technology to find them. Brightseed has built a first-of-its-kind technology that can predict what kind of specialized metabolites plants are likely to produce as well as what health benefits these natural bioactive compounds can unlock. With this approach, Brightseed has found leads 10x faster than traditional medicinal chemistry research. Brightseed will make these bioactives available in their original whole plant source, as well as in an extract for the food and beverage industry. As it re-discovers nature’s wisdom, Brightseed seeks to promote diverse plant sources, and in doing so, promote all the benefits that these overlooked but highly important crops can bring to soil health and farmland sustainability. Prior to founding Brightseed, Sofia worked in food tech company Hampton Creek, was a member of the BCG Henderson Institute, and was a special advisor to the United Nations Global Compact.