Where is Variant Bio headquartered?

Variant Bio is headquartered in Seattle, USA. The company has a team of 11-50 people.

What does Variant Bio do?

Variant Bio operates in the AI in Healthcare sector. A biotechnology company leveraging agentic AI and genomic data from diverse, underrepresented global populations to discover and validate novel therapeutic targets. Reduces drug development risk and increases clinical success rates by identifying therapeutic targets with strong human genetic evidence derived from unique 'genetic outlier' populations.

When was Variant Bio founded?

Variant Bio was founded in 2018. It is based in Seattle, USA.

Who is the CEO of Variant Bio?

Andrew Farnum is the CEO of Variant Bio. The company was founded in 2018.

Where is Variant Bio located?

Variant Bio is headquartered in Seattle, USA.

What funding stage is Variant Bio at?

Variant Bio is currently at the Growth Stage stage.

How many employees does Variant Bio have?

Variant Bio has approximately 11-50 employees.

Variant Bio

Category: AI in Healthcare

A biotechnology company leveraging agentic AI and genomic data from diverse, underrepresented global populations to discover and validate novel therapeutic targets. Variant Bio was founded in 2018. The company is led by Andrew Farnum. Based in Seattle, USA. Team size: 11-50. Total funding raised: $130M. Latest round: Series B. Key investors include SoftBank Vision Fund 2, General Catalyst, Lux Capital, Alta Partners, Casdin Capital, Cercano Management, Sahsen Ventures, Northpond Ventures, GV, McKesson Ventures.

Founded: 2018
Headquarters: Seattle, USA
Team size: 11-50
Total funding: $130M

Value proposition

Reduces drug development risk and increases clinical success rates by identifying therapeutic targets with strong human genetic evidence derived from unique 'genetic outlier' populations.

Products and solutions

Inference: An agentic AI genomic drug discovery platform for target identification and validation., Proprietary Genomic Database: A diverse collection of genotypic and phenotypic data from over 20 global populations., Internal Therapeutic Pipeline: Discovery programs focused on fibrosis, kidney disease, and metabolic disorders.

Unique value

Focuses on 'genetic outliers' and underrepresented populations to find rare variants that are often missing from standard European-centric datasets; operates a unique ethical benefit-sharing model with participating communities.

Target customer

Global pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology firms, and academic research organizations seeking high-confidence drug targets.

Industries served

Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare AI, Genomics

Technology advantage

Utilizes 'agentic AI' within the Inference platform to automate complex genomic analysis and integrate multi-omic data, providing clear therapeutic hypotheses and directionality for causal genes.

How they differentiate

Focuses on 'genetic outliers' and underrepresented populations to identify rare variants often missed by Eurocentric datasets, combined with an ethical benefit-sharing model and the 'Inference' agentic AI platform.

Main competitors

Maze Therapeutics, 23andMe (Therapeutics Division), Regeneron Genetics Center

Key partnerships

Boehringer Ingelheim: A $120M+ strategic target discovery collaboration for cardiorenal and kidney disease targets (announced Jan 2026)., Novo Nordisk: A multi-year research partnership worth up to $50M focused on metabolic disease targets (announced Jan 2025)., Evotec: Strategic alliance to progress fibrotic pathway programs toward clinical candidates (announced Apr 2024)., Gates Foundation: Two-year project to map global variation in immune-related genes (announced Feb 2025)., Global Community Partners: Over 20 genomic research partnerships across six continents (e.g., Indonesia, South Africa, French Polynesia).

Notable customers

Boehringer Ingelheim, Novo Nordisk, Evotec

Major milestones

Raised $105M Series B led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and General Catalyst (Oct 2021), Secured $120M strategic target discovery collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim (Jan 2026), Launched 'Inference', the world's first agentic AI genomic drug discovery platform (Jan 2026), Appointed Craig T. Basson as CMO & President of R&D (Jan 2026), Secured $50M multi-year research partnership with Novo Nordisk for metabolic disease targets (Jan 2025)

Growth metrics

Transitioned to a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) model with the launch of 'Inference'; secured a $120M+ strategic collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim.

Market positioning

AI-driven genomic drug discovery platform and therapeutic pipeline developer.

Geographic focus

Global (Research partnerships across 6 continents including Indonesia, South Africa, and French Polynesia).

Patents and IP

Holds proprietary IP and patents related to its VB-Inference platform algorithms and specific therapeutic targets discovered through its global genomic studies.

About Andrew Farnum

Andrew Farnum is the CEO of Variant Bio. Previously, he was the Director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Strategic Investment Fund, where he led a $2 billion investment program and chaired the foundation’s investment committee. He also served as an Investment Manager at the Children's Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) and held roles at TPG Biotech and Goldman Sachs.

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Official website: https://www.variantbio.com