Brightseed has appointed David Blackwood as senior vice president of bioactives. In his role, he will aim to grow the company’s IP-protected pipeline of bioactive ingredients for functional food, beverage, and supplement applications while expanding the company’s portfolio of products for commercialization.

“David is a superb addition to the Brightseed team with the acumen to scale and realize the full potential of our novel bioactive ingredient pipeline that aims to set a new gold standard for the discovery and commercialization of science-backed functional ingredients,” said Jim Flatt, PhD, CEO. “We’ve curated Brightseed’s pipeline to target broad consumer health areas of metabolic health, gut health and cognition. Our bioactive product pipeline accelerated by Forager AI will provide consumer-recognizable benefits, thereby improving overall health and wellness for millions." 

Blackwood has over 25 years of experience in roles maximizing company growth and revenue in several sectors, including nutrition, specialty chemicals, and specialty materials. He will steer the company’s growth and development strategy, and the scale-up of its ingredient production for the B2B marketplace.

Previously, Blackwood served as vice president of sales and marketing for DSM (now dsm-firmenich)’s dietary supplement business in North America. He also served as senior vice president of global sales at PanTheryx, a company specializing in health and wellness products and solutions.

“Our ability to harness the potential positive impact of food, plants, and ingredients on our health is growing exponentially with the introduction of innovative companies like Brightseed and the next-generation technology they bring to the table, paving the way to a healthier future,” said Blackwood. “I’m excited to be a part of the company bringing bioactives to the forefront of food and nutrition, with the ultimate goal of positively impacting consumer health and wellness.”