Profluent Bio
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2022
- HeadquartersEmeryville, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
Profluent Bio firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Profluent Bio
- Legal name
- Profluent Bio Inc.
- Website
- https://profluent.bio
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2022
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Profluent Bio industry classification
Industry- Product category
- AI Protein Design Platform
- NAICS
- Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)
- SIC
- Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836)
- akta.pro primary industry
- AI/ML Platforms for Drug Discovery & Experiment Optimization (HLAGAJAO)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- AI/ML-Enabled Biologic Discovery Platforms (computational design, in silico screening) (HLAAAIAE)
Keywords
Where Profluent Bio is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Emeryville
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Profluent Bio business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Strategic R&D collaborations with milestone payments: Multi-program strategic research collaborations with large pharma and biotech, generating upfront payments, research funding, and development/commercial milestone payments (e.g., Eli Lilly agreement worth up to $2.25B plus tiered royalties on net sales).
- Asset licensing (molecules): Licensing of pre-designed protein assets (e.g., OpenAntibodies) for ready-made solutions to common challenges, including royalty-free or upfront-free licensing for selected antibody designs.
- Foundation model API early access (ProGen3): Early access program for ProGen3 foundation models via API, enabling select partners to customize models to specific data and use cases.
- Discovery partnerships / bespoke co-development: Custom discovery engagements where Profluent's AI models and wet lab are applied to specific partner challenges (protein design, antibodies, enzymes, peptides) with relevant wet-lab validation.
- Open-source licensing with commercial-use license fees: Free open-source release of OpenCRISPR-1 for ethical research and commercial use under a simple license agreement with attribution and ethical-use terms; 'no royalties' standard licensing for the open-source product line.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels5 records
Profluent Bio product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Profluent Bio builds frontier large language models (ProGen3 family, up to 46B parameters) trained on a proprietary 3.4B-sequence protein atlas to author novel proteins from scratch. Its integrated AI + in-house wet lab delivers AI-designed gene editors (OpenCRISPR-1), antibodies (OpenAntibodies), enzymes, and recombinases to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and agriculture partners through discovery partnerships, asset licensing, and an early-access API program.
Product overview
Profluent Bio offers an integrated AI protein design platform — a single underlying architecture combining frontier foundation models with an in-house wet-lab validation loop — that exposes its capabilities through multiple modalities. The core platform is powered by the ProGen3 foundation model suite (a family of generative protein language models trained on over 3.4 billion sequences), and from it Profluent has spun out distinct modality products: OpenCRISPR (gene editing, with the open-source OpenCRISPR-1 flagship editor), OpenAntibodies (single-shot antibody design across 20 therapeutic targets), proseLM (structure-conditioned design), and Protein2PAM (Cas-protein PAM prediction and engineering). Together these products target therapeutics, agriculture, and industrial biomanufacturing markets, accessible to partners via molecule licensing, asset licensing, or API early access.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- OpenCRISPR: The world's first AI-designed and open-source gene editor, led by the release of OpenCRISPR-1, a Cas9-like protein generated by Profluent's large language models for research and commercial use under license.
- ProGen3
- OpenAntibodies
- Protein2PAM
Quantifiable outcome
- 95% reduction in off-target editing vs SpCas9 while maintaining comparable on-target editing efficiency (55.7% vs 48.3% SpCas9)
- +7 more outcomes
Companies that use Profluent Bio
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Profluent Bio technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability7 records
Feature6 records
Profluent Bio partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, major, minor and significant.
- Eli LillyflagshipMulti-program strategic research collaboration to develop and commercialize AI-designed site-specific recombinases for genetic medicine. Profluent will use its AI models to design custom recombinases enabling kilobase-scale DNA editing, while Lilly receives exclusive rights to advance candidates through research, development, and commercialization. Profluent is eligible to receive up to $2.25 billion in development and commercial milestone payments plus tiered royalties on net sales.
- EnsomamajorStrategic collaboration to develop AI-designed base editors for in vivo hematopoietic stem cell therapies. The companies aim to leverage AI technology to create advanced gene editing tools that could improve treatments for hematologic and immune diseases.
- Ropes & GrayminorLegal advisor to Profluent Bio on its $106M financing round for AI-driven protein design.
- Rett Syndrome Research Trust (RSRT)significantPartnership to design AI-based gene editing therapies for Rett syndrome, with RSRT awarding Profluent $1M in initial funding. Profluent will leverage its AI models to develop base editors that correct mutations in the MECP2 gene, starting with the T158M mutation, with the goal of creating custom editing solutions delivered via adeno-associated virus.
- Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT, a Danaher company)majorCollaboration to develop new enzymes using AI-driven protein design and genomics expertise, combining Profluent's generative AI platform with IDT's enzyme engineering and genomics expertise. Aims to accelerate development of enzymes for applications including epigenetics, cancer research, sequencing, and gene editing.
- Corteva AgrisciencemajorMulti-year strategic collaboration to use generative AI for developing sustainable and resilient crops. The partnership involves designing gene editing systems and testing them in agricultural applications, aiming to accelerate crop development.
- RevvitymajorCollaboration to launch AI-enhanced adenine deaminase pin-point base editing systems. Revvity partnership incorporates AI-designed enzymes into base editors for cell and gene therapy applications.
- Fraser KeltonminorProfluent advisor and investor; former Head of Product for ChatGPT & DALL-E at OpenAI. Quote: 'Just as ChatGPT can write compelling essays and emails, Profluent has developed AI that designs entirely new and functional proteins.'
- James FraserminorProfluent advisor; Professor and Chair, Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, UCSF. Co-author of the Profluent Nature Biotechnology paper validating AI-designed proteins.
- Richard SocherminorProfluent advisor and former Chief Scientist at Salesforce, Stanford Professor, CEO of You.com. Co-author of the Profluent Nature Biotechnology paper. Quote: 'The next frontier modality of large language models will be in proteins and biology.'
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Profluent Bio competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Generate Biomedicines: Flagship generative biology company using foundation models to design novel protein therapeutics across multiple modalities. Directly comparable to Profluent in using AI to author de novo proteins and partnering with large pharma (e.g., Amgen, Novartis).
- Isomorphic Labs: Alphabet/DeepMind spinout building frontier AI for drug discovery and protein structure/design, with major pharma partnerships (Eli Lilly, Novartis). Closest large-capital analog applying foundation models to protein engineering and pharma collaborations.
- EvolutionaryScale: AI research lab building frontier protein language models (ESM3) for generative protein design. Directly competes on the foundation-model layer for protein generation that underpins Profluent's ProGen3 platform.
- Insitro: Machine-learning-driven drug discovery company combining AI with high-throughput biology. Comparable in pairing frontier ML with an in-house wet lab and pursuing pharma partnerships to translate models into therapeutics.
- Cradle Bio: AI protein design platform for engineering enzymes, binders, and other proteins, with a self-serve/partner model and pharma customers. Direct competitor in generative protein engineering with similar discovery-as-a-service commercial motion.
- Absci: Generative AI company designing de novo antibodies and other biologics with a zero-shot drug creation platform. Comparable in applying foundation models to antibody design and pursuing pharma co-development deals.
Broad incumbents
- AbCellera Biologics: Established AI-enabled antibody discovery platform with large pharma partnerships. Broader incumbent that overlaps with Profluent's OpenAntibodies modality on therapeutic antibody discovery but at much greater scale and with conventional screening-first methods.
- Ginkgo Bioworks: Large synthetic biology platform combining automated wet labs with AI/ML for cell engineering and protein design. Overlaps with Profluent on enzyme and protein engineering partnerships, particularly given Profluent's GM Biologics previously led BD at Ginkgo.
- Tessera Therapeutics: Gene writing company developing novel DNA-rewriting technologies for genetic medicine. Comparable strategic positioning with Profluent on AI-designed recombinases and programmable gene editing therapeutics.
- Beam Therapeutics: Clinical-stage base editing company developing precision genetic medicines. Comparable to Profluent on base editing modality, where Profluent's ProseLM-designed base editors (~50% efficiency gains) directly compete with Beam's editing platform.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Profluent Bio social profiles
Digital presenceProfluent Bio financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Profluent Bio leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles11 records
Profluent Bio funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds4 records
Investors8 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Profluent Bio M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Profluent Bio
What does Profluent Bio do?
Profluent Bio builds frontier large language models (ProGen3 family, up to 46B parameters) trained on a proprietary 3.4B-sequence protein atlas to author novel proteins from scratch. Its integrated AI + in-house wet lab delivers AI-designed gene editors (OpenCRISPR-1), antibodies (OpenAntibodies), enzymes, and recombinases to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and agriculture partners through discovery partnerships, asset licensing, and an early-access API program.
Is Profluent Bio a public or private company?
Profluent Bio is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Profluent Bio founded?
Profluent Bio was founded in 2022. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Profluent Bio based?
Profluent Bio is headquartered in Emeryville, United States, in the North America region.
How does Profluent Bio make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Strategic R&D collaborations with milestone payments are the primary driver. The others are asset licensing (molecules), foundation model API early access (ProGen3), discovery partnerships / bespoke co-development and open-source licensing with commercial-use license fees.
Who are Profluent Bio's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Generate Biomedicines, Isomorphic Labs, EvolutionaryScale, Insitro, Cradle Bio and Absci. Broad incumbents are AbCellera Biologics, Ginkgo Bioworks, Tessera Therapeutics and Beam Therapeutics.
Does Profluent Bio have an API?
Yes. Profluent offers a partner-facing API providing early access to its foundation protein generation models. Partners can sign up for an early access program to customize Profluent's best foundation models to specific data or use-cases. Access is currently gated via a sign-up form. An SDK language is not specified. Developer documentation is at docs.google.com/forms/d/1PdkbQcPdS_mXx4O_GS-7o2tFcYwaLzOvW138IPiIrtQ.
What industry is Profluent Bio in?
Profluent Bio's product category is AI Protein Design Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAGAJAO, AI/ML Platforms for Drug Discovery & Experiment Optimization, with a secondary code of HLAAAIAE, AI/ML-Enabled Biologic Discovery Platforms (computational design, in silico screening). Its NAICS code is 541714 and its SIC code is 2836.