Cache

What Cache does

Cache DNA, Inc. is a privately held life sciences tools company founded as an MIT spinout and headquartered at MBC BioLabs in San Carlos, California. Its business is built around patented biopreservation chemistry that enables DNA, RNA, and other biosamples to be stored and shipped at room temperature without cold-chain infrastructure such as -80°C freezers or dry ice. The company has progressed through three chemistry generations — FOSSIL (silica), RAPTOR (polymer), and the current CRADLE (aqueous) reagent platform — each validated through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. The first commercial SKU off this platform is Cache BioLock DNA, a drop-in reagent used in a 2:1 volume ratio with extracted DNA, agnostic to length, origin, volume, concentration, sequence, and storage container.

Cache serves life sciences researchers, biotech leaders, and clinical / healthcare institutions that need to modernize biospecimen storage, simplify sample logistics, and reduce dependence on cold-chain infrastructure. The horizontal segmentation spans biomedical research, environmental sampling, clinical sample preservation, diagnostic sample management, and precision medicine workflows. The go-to-market is consultative direct sales run through an Early Access Program: prospective customers engage with the Cache team to evaluate workflow fit and adoption potential prior to product purchase. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and follows a quote-based model aligned to customer requirements and order volumes.

The revenue model is one-time license (reagent sales), beginning with the BioLock DNA drop-in reagent. As of the June 2026 disclosure, the company had raised cumulatively more than $10 million, comprised of NSF SBIR Phase I (2022, up to $275K) and Phase II (2025, $1.25M) grants, an Illumina Accelerator investment (March 2022), and a seed funding round closed in May 2024. The company operates at 11-50 employees and an active Rippling ATS careers page signals continued hiring. Scientific leadership includes Mark Bathe (PhD) as Scientific Founder and George Church (PhD), Paul Blainey (PhD), and Jeremiah Johnson (PhD) as Scientific Advisors.

Name

Cache

Legal name

Cache DNA, Inc.

Website

https://cache-dna.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Cache DNA is a privately held, MIT-spinout life sciences tools company developing patented biopreservation reagents that enable room-temperature storage and shipping of DNA, RNA, and other biosamples without cold-chain infrastructure, selling directly to life sciences researchers, biotech leaders, and clinical institutions via an Early Access Program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Biopreservation Reagents

NAICS

Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing (325414)

SIC

Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836)

akta.pro primary industry

mRNA & Nucleic Acid Manufacturing Services (mRNA/saRNA/Plasmid DNA) (HLAGAGAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Medical & Clinical Specimen Frozen Storage (Labs, Biobanks) (TLALACAE)

Keywords

• Room-temperature biopreservation
• DNA storage reagents
• Biomolecule preservation
• Cold-chain alternatives
• Ambient sample storage

Headquarters

HQ city

Foster City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Bi Preservation Reagent Sales: Cache generates revenue through the sale of its biopreservation reagent products, starting with the Cache BioLock DNA reagent offered through the Early Access Program. Customers pay for the reagent product, which is delivered as a drop-in solution for laboratory workflows.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Cache develops and sells patented biopreservation reagents that enable room-temperature storage and access of DNA, RNA, and other biosamples without cold-chain infrastructure. Its flagship commercial product, Cache BioLock DNA, is a drop-in aqueous reagent that preserves extracted DNA under ambient storage and shipping conditions. The underlying Cradle chemistry platform supports high molecular weight human genomes, plant transcriptomes, plasmids, and synthetic oligos with an 'add-n-done' workflow that integrates into existing laboratory processes.

Product overview

Cache DNA offers a platform-plus-product architecture centered on room-temperature biopreservation technology. The core offering is the Cradle Chemistry Platform, an enabling technology for ambient storage of biomolecules (DNA, RNA, and other biosamples) without cold-chain infrastructure. The first commercial product derived from this platform is Cache BioLock DNA, a drop-in reagent that enables DNA preservation under ambient conditions. Together, these offerings aim to modernize biospecimen storage and simplify sample logistics for research and clinical settings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cache BioLock DNA: A novel drop-in reagent for the preservation of extracted DNA under ambient storage and shipping conditions. Agnostic to DNA length, origin, volume, concentration, sequence, and storage container.
• Cache Cradle Chemistry

Products and services

• Cache BioLock DNA A novel drop-in reagent for the preservation of extracted DNA under ambient storage and shipping conditions, agnostic to DNA length, origin, volume, concentration, sequence, and storage container. Utilizes Cache's Cradle chemistry for room-temperature storage and integrates into existing laboratory workflows at a 2:1 volume ratio with DNA samples. Targeted at biotech leaders, academic researchers, and clinical institutions evaluating the reagent through the Early Access Program.
• Cradle Chemistry Platform Cache's enabling biopreservation technology platform that supports room-temperature storage and access of DNA, RNA, and other biosamples without specialized cold-chain infrastructure. The V3 Cradle version is a simple aqueous reagent with an 'add-n-done' workflow that integrates into existing laboratory processes and applies to high molecular weight human genomes, plant transcriptomes, plasmids, and synthetic oligos.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Velocity BiocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 July 2025Cache DNA co-founders (Michael Becich, James Banal) partnered with Velocity Bio (Daniel Mokhtari, Ali Lashkaripour) on the NSF SBIR Phase II project. Velocity Bio is a collaborator on the R&D work for polymer chemistry-based room-temperature preservation technology.
• Johnson Group at MITcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCache DNA works with the Johnson Group at MIT, led by Jeremiah Johnson, PhD, as a scientific collaborator on fundamental advances in polymer chemistry for biomolecule preservation. This partnership underpins the RAPTOR (V2) technology platform.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Zymo Research: Privately held life sciences tools company whose DNA/RNA Shield product is the most established room-temperature nucleic acid stabilization reagent. Directly competes with Cache BioLock DNA across the same customer segments (academic, biotech, clinical).
• Promega Corporation: Life sciences reagents and sample-preparation company with nucleic acid stabilization and storage products. Competes with Cache in providing chemistries that enable downstream molecular workflows, particularly in academic and pharma research settings.

Broad incumbents

• QIAGEN: Global molecular biology tools and sample-preparation company that absorbed Biomatrica's ambient nucleic acid stabilization reagents. Competes broadly with Cache's preservation platform and serves overlapping customer workflows in genomics and clinical diagnostics.
• Azenta Life Sciences: Sample management and biobanking services company formed from the merger of Brooks Life Sciences and GENEWIZ. Represents the established cold-chain-based incumbent whose freezer-centric model Cache aims to disrupt.
• New England Biolabs: Major reagents and tools provider for DNA/RNA research with extensive product lines in nucleic acid handling, storage, and amplification. Comparable as a research-tools reagent company serving Cache's target academic and biotech customers.
• Twist Bioscience: Public synthetic biology company with DNA synthesis, NGS, and DNA data storage product lines. Overlaps with Cache's nucleic acid and DNA storage end-markets, and represents a broader DNA-centric platform competitor.

Emerging players

• Catalog Technologies: Emerging DNA data storage company building end-to-end write-store-read systems. Comparable as a fellow early-stage player pursuing applications of nucleic acid chemistry, including the DNA-based data storage market referenced in Cache's mission.
• Telesis Bio (formerly Codex DNA): Synthetic biology tools company focused on benchtop DNA and mRNA synthesis and storage. Comparable to Cache as a fellow emerging tools provider targeting nucleic acid workflow simplification, particularly in research and clinical-adjacent settings.
• DNA Script: Enzymatic DNA synthesis company developing benchtop oligonucleotide printers. Operates adjacent to Cache in the nucleic acid tools ecosystem, with overlapping customer interest in DNA-based data storage and synthetic biology applications.
• Ansa Bio: Synthetic biology company developing enzymatic DNA synthesis technology. Comparable as an emerging DNA-tools company addressing the same nucleic acid workflow challenges that Cache's preservation reagents seek to modernize.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CacheDna
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cache-dna

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors12 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cache