Astromech raises $20M to build a biological operating system that can forecast evolutionary change
An artificial intelligence startup called Astromech that’s developing models that can predict biological change has raised $20 million in funding, lifting its valuation to $3.8 billion. The round was led by biotechnology investor Bob Nelsen and saw the participation of Peak 6, NeoGenesis Capital, Builders VC and CAZ Investments, bringing the company’s total amount raised to date to $60 million.
Astromech was co-founded by the technology entrepreneur Ben Lamm (pictured) and the geneticist George Church in order to develop what they call a “predictive model of biology.” The model crunches a combination of genomic, evolutionary, biological and functional data to try and anticipate how living systems will change over time, identify where they are vulnerable, and understand what’s driving those changes.
Whereas other biotech firms have tried to analyze organisms and diseases as they exist now, Astromech wants to forecast their future biological trajectories. The idea is that by doing this, it might be able to anticipate genetic bottlenecks, disease progression, drug resistance and how different species will respond to environmental changes.
