Astromech
Category: AI in Biotech / Drug Discovery
Stealth AI biotech startup co-founded by Ben Lamm and George Church. Astromech was founded in 2025. The company is led by Ben Lamm. Based in Austin, Texas, USA. Team size: N/A. Total funding raised: $60.5M. Latest round: Seed. Key investors include Bob Nelsen, PEAK6, NeoGenesis Capital, Builders VC, CAZ Investments, KBW Ventures.
- Founded
- 2025
- Headquarters
- Austin, Texas, USA
- Team size
- N/A
- Total funding
- $60.5M
Value proposition
To accelerate the design and development of novel biological systems and biochemical products through an AI-powered simulation and analysis platform.
Products and solutions
Unified biological modeling engine and longevity explorer, operational across genomes, traits, genes and clades; currently in deep research and development, with health and biosecurity forecasting pilots planned.
Unique value
The company is founded by a unique team combining the expertise of serial technology entrepreneur Ben Lamm and renowned Harvard geneticist Dr. George Church, bringing together deep experience in both AI and synthetic biology.
Target customer
Biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
Industries served
Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, Life Sciences
Technology advantage
Astromech's core advantage lies in its application of large AI models to simulate and design complex biological systems, including metabolic pathways. This approach aims to significantly accelerate the research and development cycle in biotechnology.
How they differentiate
Astromech differentiates itself by focusing on designing semantically precise and biologically grounded prompts for large AI models, specifically for genomic inference, synthesis design, and ancestral modeling. The company's differentiation is also rooted in its high-profile founding team, which includes serial entrepreneur Ben Lamm and renowned geneticist George Church.
Main competitors
Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Insitro, Deep Genomics
Key partnerships
Colossal Biosciences: Astromech was incubated at Colossal and has access to its extinct- and living-species genomic resources, biological-data tooling and ancient-DNA capabilities.
Notable customers
Not publicly available as the company is in stealth mode.
Major milestones
Successfully raised $30 million in a stealth funding round., Founded in 2025 by a team of prominent figures in the tech and biotech industries: Ben Lamm and George Church.
Growth metrics
As a stealth-mode startup, Astromech's growth metrics are not public.
Market positioning
Astromech is positioned as a stealth-mode, research-intensive startup at the intersection of generative AI and synthetic biology. It targets foundational biological research and development, aiming to solve complex problems in genomics and cellular programming.
Geographic focus
The company is headquartered in Austin, USA, suggesting an initial focus on the North American market. However, given the global nature of biotech and AI, its reach is likely to be international in the long term.
Patents and IP
No public information is available on patents as the company is in stealth mode.
About Ben Lamm
Serial technology entrepreneur with a history of founding and leading multiple successful companies. He is the co-founder and CEO of Colossal Biosciences, a genetic engineering and de-extinction company. His previous ventures include Hypergiant (an AI and machine learning company), Conversable (acquired by LivePerson), and Chaotic Moon (a creative technology studio acquired by Accenture).
More AI in Biotech / Drug Discovery companies
Official website: https://astromech.com/