Aishwarya Iyer is the founder + CEO of Brightland, a modern pantry essentials company based in LA that has been featured by the New York Times, Vogue, The Wall Street Journal and more. Previously, Aishwarya spent over a decade in public affairs and corporate communications at various technology companies in both New York City and LA. She started her career at L’Oreal in the luxury products division at Lancome, and is a graduate of NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study. Aishwarya is originally from Texas, and now lives in LA with her husband and dogs, Crosby and Madison.

What inspired you/your team to create this company?
After learning about the massive amount of fraud in the olive oil industry, I wanted to create something that was high quality, and beautiful from the inside out. I bootstrapped the company for the first year+ and raised a small round of angel/f&f financing at the end of 2019. Brightland’s mission is to inspire joy in simple, everyday moments in people’s kitchens by creating products and telling stories that are compelling, design-led, and champion small farms.

What distinguishes your company and product in the market?
We work closely with organic, family farms in California, are deeply focused on sustainability, use zero plastic in our packaging, and we meld art and design into everything we do. We feature artists on our special, limited edition labels that showcase infused oils. We also partner with nonprofit organizations that are working to champion environmental and social justice, like the Slow Factory Foundation.