Who We are

---

During his two decade career in the Agri-Food sector Federico has served as a public company CEO, corporate executive and researcher (Bio). Federico founded Blacktop based on a profound belief that there is a better way to bring health and sustainability driven innovation to consumers and farmers.  

Federico currently serves as a Director at the AURI board of directors, a non for profit organization whose mission is to “Foster long-term economic benefit for Minnesota through value-added agricultural products”. 

Federico and his family currently live in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, where boating or ice skating are part of their routine.  They have called the Midwest home for the last 18 years and have experienced living and working abroad in Brazil and Argentina. Federico holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Washington University’s Olin Business School, as well as an agronomic engineering degree from Buenos Aires University.

Before founding Blacktop, Federico served as the CEO of Calyxt Inc. (NASDAQ:CLXT), a publicly traded company that develops healthier food ingredients by applying a  new breeding technology invented at the University of Minnesota. During his tenure, he transformed the company from a research based entity to a publicly traded and commercially focused growth corporation, set the foundation for the commercialization of the world’s first gene edited agricultural product and took the company public via an initial public offering, successfully raising over $120 Million. Earlier in his career, he worked at Monsanto Company for nearly two decades where his primary focus was developing health, sustainability and renewable energy crop products in the Americas. His experience spans general management, research and development, corporate strategy and the commercialization of novel plant biotechnologies targeted for consumers and farmers.