Geoffrey von Maltzahn, PhD

Geoffrey is Co-Founder, Chief Innovation Officer, and Board Director for Indigo, as well as General Partner at Flagship Pioneering, where he focuses on inventing technologies and starting companies to address global challenges in nutrition, environmental sustainability, and medicine.

Geoffrey has created companies that have, in aggregate, achieved over $10 billion in public and private market capitalization. These include Indigo Agriculture, Tessera Therapeutics, Generate Biomedicines, Seres Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MCRB), Sana Biotechnology (NASDAQ:SANA), and Axcella Health (NASDAQ:AXLA).

Geoffrey is founding CEO and Board Director of Tessera Therapeutics, and he is also Board Director of Generate Biomedicines, where he was founding CEO from 2018-2021. Geoffrey was previously founding CEO of Indigo, where he led the development of the company’s plant microbiome platform and the discovery of the company’s first commercial products: Indigo Cotton, Indigo Wheat, Indigo Corn, and Indigo Soy, which are now used on over a million acres. Geoffrey also served as Chief Technology Officer at Seres Therapeutics, where he led the discovery of SER-109, the first microbiome therapeutic to report positive phase 3 clinical trial data, and built-out their human microbiome R&D platforms. Additionally, he was founding CEO of Cobalt Biomedicine, which he led from inception to merger with Sana Biotechnology.

Geoffrey has been recognized with numerous patent grants, awards, and publications. He is listed as an inventor on over 200 patent applications and patents, was cited by Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology as the most prolific inventor in the microbiome field, and has co-authored more than 20 peer-reviewed publications. Geoffrey has received a number of awards and honors, including Bloomberg 50's Ones to Watch; Fierce Biotech’s Most Influential People in Biopharma; Business Insider’s Power Players; Business Insider’s 30 Biotech Leaders Under 40; Endpoints 20 Biopharma Leaders Under 40; the prestigious Lemelson-MIT Student Prize, awarded to the most innovative students at MIT; and the National Inventors Hall of Fame Graduate Student Prize. Geoffrey and his inventions have been profiled by Forbes, The Economist, CNN, Bloomberg Businessweek, Scientific American, Popular Science, MIT Technology Review, and other media.

Geoffrey was awarded a PhD in biomedical engineering and medical physics from MIT; an MS in bioengineering from the University of California, San Diego; and an SB in chemical engineering from MIT.