Basecamp Research, an AI company dedicated to solving the most pressing challenges in the life sciences today announced it has completed a $60 million Series B financing led by Singular, bringing its funding to date to to $85 million.
Basecamp Research builds foundational AI models on top of the world’s largest, ethically sourced database of biological information to give AI the most complete understanding of biology ever.
This allows the company to design complex biological systems with performance improving dramatically as AI sees more diversity and context.
Basecamp Research collaborates with biopharma companies and academic research institutions to design novel protein sequences and biological systems that can transform therapeutic research and development.
Its team of explorers, scientists and policy experts proudly work with more than 100 biodiversity partners across the globe, allowing us to deliver breakthroughs that can have a profound impact on healthcare and the lives of patients.
The company also has entered into a multi-year collaboration with the laboratory of Dr David R Liu at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard. Dr Liu is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator and a Core Member at the Broad.
The Basecamp Research and the Liu Lab collaboration anticipates advancing new approaches to programmable genetic medicines that have the potential to transform treatments for a wide range of diseases.
“We are pushing past AI’s limits in biological design by doubling down on solving the fundamental data gap that the entire biotech industry faces,” said Dr. Glen Gowers, co-founder and CEO of Basecamp Research.
“Basecamp Research is using its technology to generate new and deeper insights, going beyond known biology and each day expand what we can offer to our partners in the biopharma ecosystem.”
In its collaboration with Dr. Liu’s laboratory, Basecamp Research is pioneering the development of novel fusion proteins and other large molecules to enable the next generation of genetic medicines.
Dr. Gowers stated:
“In our collaboration, we bring together the Liu Lab's pioneering work in genome editing and leading wet-lab development expertise with Basecamp Research's proprietary datasets from around the globe and our in-house AI models designed to surpass the limits of human-based design.”
Basecamp Research’s funding was led by Singular, with additional investors including S32, redalpine, André Hoffmann, Vice-Chairman of Roche, Feike Sijbesma, Chair of Royal Philips and Former CEO of DSM, and Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever. Returning investors participating in the Series B include True Ventures and Hummingbird Ventures.
The Series B proceeds will go toward scaling the pace and volume of Basecamp Research’s data collection — growing its foundational dataset that already contains 100 times more advanced biological systems than the public databases most-used by pharma researchers.
The funding round follows 15 successful commercial bioscience partnerships across a wide range of industries. Raffi Kamber, General Partner at Singular, said:
"The team at Basecamp Research is building powerful AI models that truly understand the breadth and complexity of biology.
Their knowledge graph offers a step change in the performance of AI-based design and a fundamental shift in how life science teams innovate. We’re thrilled to support a visionary company and team poised to reshape an entire industry."
Basecamp Research co-founder Dr. Oliver Vince added:
“We’ve used AI to solve a wide range of challenging bioscience problems, and we look forward to continuing to work with partners on breakthrough projects.
We are thrilled by this momentum and look forward to continuing to go beyond the limits of today’s known biology.”
Lead image: Basecamp Research co-founders Glen Gowers and Oliver Vince. Photo: uncredited.
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