Startup profile · funding coverage
Asimov funding, valuation and investors
Synthetic biology platform for designing and manufacturing genetic medicines.
Keep track of Asimov
Save this profile to your VCT watchlist for a quick return.
Funding, valuation & investors
Answer-first snapshotLatest funding
Series B
$175M · January 2023
Latest known valuation
Not publicly disclosed
Total disclosed equity funding
$175M
Excludes debt, grants, acquisitions, secondaries, and IPO proceeds.
Current status
private
series b · Boston, MA
Overview
Asimov is a Boston synthetic biology company building an integrated platform of engineered cells, genetic parts libraries, and cloud-based design software for therapeutic development and biomanufacturing. Founded in 2017 by MIT and Boston University bioengineers including CEO Chris Voigt, the company applies engineering principles to program mammalian cell lines for biologics, cell and gene therapies, and RNA production. Andreessen Horowitz led the seed round. In January 2023 Asimov announced $200M in new funding including a $175M Series B led by CPP Investments with a16z, Fidelity, Horizons Ventures, and others participating. The company reports 25+ pharmaceutical and biotech customers including top-ten industry names.
Why Asimov is interesting
Asimov sells GMP host cells plus CAD software to pharma — $200M+ raised to industrialize biologics and cell-therapy manufacturing where yield unpredictability kills timelines.
Product & use cases
Asimov combines GMP-ready CHO and other host cell lines, a genetic parts catalog, and computer-aided design software so drug developers predictably express complex biologics and viral vectors at manufacturing scale.
- Optimizing biologic drug production yields in mammalian cells
- Cell and gene therapy vector manufacturing with engineered host lines
- RNA therapeutic production with synthetic biology design tools
Key facts
- Series B (Jan 2023): $175M led by CPP Investments; $200M total new funding (company press)
- Series A: $25M led by Horizons Ventures (re-upped in Series B)
- Seed led by a16z; 25+ customers including top-10 pharma per Forbes
- Co-investors not in VCT directory: CPP Investments, Fidelity, KDT, Casdin Capital, Pillar, Horizons Ventures
Funding history (newest first)
Series B
2023-01 $175M- CPP Investments (lead)
- Andreessen Horowitz (participant)
- Horizons Ventures (participant)
Investors in our directory
Funds linked from Asimov's profile — open a fund page for stage focus and related deal articles.
Competitive landscape
Edge: Integrated cells-to-software stack vs. point-solution CROs — founders from MIT synthetic biology leadership with 70+ person cross-disciplinary team and pharma customer logos.
Biologic manufacturing unpredictability costs pharma billions in failed batches and delayed approvals. Asimov competes by selling engineered cells plus design software rather than only offering services. Ginkgo and public synbio peers trade on platform breadth; Asimov's wedge is GMP-aligned therapeutic manufacturing. CPP Investments leading Series B signals institutional conviction in scaled tools-and-services revenue.
-
Ginkgo Bioworks adjacent
Broader synthetic biology foundry model; Asimov focuses on therapeutic manufacturing hosts and CAD.
-
Catalent / CDMOs incumbent
Contract manufacturing at scale; Asimov sells enabling cell lines and design IP upstream of manufacturing.
-
Twist Bioscience adjacent
DNA synthesis and libraries; complementary to Asimov's cell-line programming and software layer.
Notable stories
- CEO Chris Voigt co-directs MIT's Synthetic Biology Center — academic lineage directly feeds Asimov's CAD platform thesis (Forbes).
- Forbes reported Asimov's customers include top-ten pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies at the Series B announcement.
- CPP Investments' Paul McCracken joined the board at Series B — crossover growth-equity validation for synbio tools.
Industries
Related funding articles
Venture Capital Tracker pieces that cover Asimov's financing or category context.
FAQs about Asimov
Practical answers founders, operators, and investors typically search for.
Last updated:
Editorial note: AI tools assisted with research, structure, or drafting. Venture Capital Tracker retains human editorial responsibility for factual accuracy, relevance, and source quality before publication.