Ignacio Martinez

Ignacio joined Flagship Pioneering in early 2013 to lead the sustainability activities of the firm. He also focuses on entrepreneurial activities in life sciences more broadly, with a special interest in food, nutrition, and health.

Ignacio is co-founder and founding CEO of CiBO Technologies (a company developing an industry-changing digital platform to provide science based insights to drive transparency, efficiency and sustainability of agricultural farmland); Inari Agriculture (a company developing the world’s first Seed Innovation Foundry); Invaio Sciences (a company developing biological solutions to modulate insect health in natural and sustainable ways); Senda Biosciences (a company developing novel platforms to develop biological transfer systems across kingdoms); and founding director at Indigo Agriculture (a company dedicated to harnessing nature to sustainably feed the planet). Ignacio was also a member of the board of directors of Novomer (a company developing and producing cost competitive, sustainable chemicals and polymers from plant-based and renewable feedstocks) and the AgTech Accelerator.

Prior to joining Flagship, Ignacio was founding member and managing director of Syngenta Ventures, the pioneering corporate venture capital group of agricultural giant Syngenta International, the world’s largest agrochemical business. During his tenure at Syngenta, Ignacio was directly involved in corporate strategy and led multiple venture capital investments in agribusiness, biotechnology, and sustainability companies in Europe, North America, and Latin America. Ignacio served on the Board of Directors of Biognosys AG (Switzerland), Population Genetics (England), BoMill AB (Sweden), and Agrinos AS (Norway) among others. He also played a key role in Syngenta’s external corporate venture capital activities managing Syngenta’s relationship as a limited partner with Life Science Partners (LSP) BioVentures, a $100 million agribusiness fund, and Gilde European Food and Agribusiness, a €90 million fund.

Prior to Syngenta, Ignacio was the founding CFO of Progenika Group, where he oversaw the corporate financial strategy, the launch of new companies and spinoffs and the expansion of the group to the U.S. and Latin American markets before the company was acquired by Grifols (NASDAQ: GFRS), the world’s largest supplier of blood plasma products. Earlier, Ignacio spent several years working for Najeti Ventures Fund, investing in software and biotech companies in Europe. He holds a B.S. in Economics and Business Administration from Deusto University in Spain, and an International M.B.A. from Instituto de Empresa in Spain and WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management in Germany.