Brightseed receives $1.6 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to aid at-risk mothers

The grant is the second from the Gates Foundation, and will allow Brightseed to focus on environmental enteric dysfunction (EED)​, a poorly understood condition caused in part by micronutrient deficiencies, undernutrition, certain gut infections, and abnormal gut microbiota. While EED is usually asymptomatic, in infants it is associated with nutrient malabsorption, stunting, and wasting, which can have long-term effects on the health and development of affected children.

Brightseed will use its Forager AI platform to screen more than seven million plant compound associations for efficacious and safe solutions that provide benefits for undernourished mothers with EED, said the company in a release.

Promising bioactive compounds will be subsequently validated via preclinical and clinical models. The project will ultimately result in candidate clinically effective nutritional products and potential therapeutics to support gut health in pregnant and lactating mothers in order to improve birth outcomes.

“We’re extremely honored to receive this grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to continue to work toward addressing such a crucial global health crisis,” said Sofia Elizondo, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Brightseed. “Our proprietary technology enables us to develop scalable, nature-based solutions that were never previously possible, and by analyzing plant raw material from the local regions impacted most by undernutrition, our aim is that these sources will be both accessible and affordable.”