Chan Zuckerberg Biohub

What Chan Zuckerberg Biohub does

Chan Zuckerberg Biohub is a nonprofit biomedical research institute founded in 2016 by Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg through the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, headquartered at its Biohub Imaging Institute in Redwood City, California. Its stated mission is to cure, prevent, or manage all disease by combining frontier AI with frontier biology — described in its own materials as the first large-scale scientific initiative to do so. The organization's work spans high-throughput biological data generation, advanced imaging (including a laser phase plate for cryo-EM that enables visualization of small proteins at near-atomic detail), inflammation measurement, immune cell reprogramming for early disease detection, rare disease research, and the ESM4 family of AI protein biology models (ESMC, ESMFold2, and ESM Atlas covering 6.8 billion proteins and 1.1 billion predicted structures, trained on roughly 2.8 billion protein sequences).

Biohub's business model is philanthropic, not commercial. It is funded almost entirely by CZI — $4 billion donated since 2016 with plans to double that over the next decade, plus a separate $500 million five-year Virtual Biology Initiative launched in April 2026 — and revenue is not publicly disclosed. All ESM AI tools are released free and open-access to researchers worldwide, and go-to-market is community-led through open-source distribution, scientific publications, conferences, and partnerships with leading institutes (Allen, Broad, Wellcome Sanger, Arc, Human Cell Atlas, Human Protein Atlas) and NVIDIA as a core compute partner. In November 2025, CZI consolidated all its biomedical research under Biohub, including the acquisition of AI-biology startup EvolutionaryScale, and reduced CZI headcount by roughly 8% to redirect resources toward science and AI, sharpening Biohub's strategic position as the primary biomedical vehicle of the Chan Zuckerberg philanthropy.

Biohub's served communities are academic and nonprofit research institutions and individual scientists globally, with secondary relevance to pharmaceutical developers using ESM-derived protein binders in early-stage discovery. Biohub is governed by a named executive team including a Chief Scientific Officer (Sandra Schmid), Chief Technology Officer of the CZ Biohub Network (Amy E. Herr), COO (Gajus Worthington), CTO (Jim Karkanias), CFO (Victor Colunga), CLO (Melinda Griffith), CPO (Sonya Zilka), and CIO (Rosio Alvarez), with co-founders Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg providing strategic direction and the bulk of funding.

Name

Chan Zuckerberg Biohub

Legal name

Chan Zuckerberg Biohub

Website

https://czbiohub.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Nonprofit biomedical research institute founded in 2016 by Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, combining frontier AI with biology to study cellular behavior and disease, serving global academic researchers with open-access AI protein models and advanced imaging tools.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Biomedical Research Software

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171), Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826)

akta.pro primary industry

AI/ML-Enabled Biologic Discovery Platforms (computational design, in silico screening) (HLAAAIAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Protein Engineering & Directed Evolution Platforms (enzyme/therapeutic protein optimization) (HLAAAIAC), AI/ML Platforms for Drug Discovery & Experiment Optimization (HLAGAJAO), Bioinformatics & Multi-omics Analysis Software (HLAGAJAD), Microscopy, Imaging & Flow Cytometry Instruments (HLAGAIAE)

Keywords

• AI biology research
• Protein structure prediction
• Biomedical research nonprofit
• Cryo-electron microscopy
• Drug discovery platform

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Funding: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) provides funding to Biohub as its main research vehicle. Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan have donated $4 billion since 2016, with plans to double this over the next decade. They have pledged 99% of their wealth, primarily from Meta Platforms shares.
2. Virtual Biology Initiative: $500 million commitment over five years launched in April 2026 to build AI systems capable of simulating human cell behavior. $100 million funds external research collaborations worldwide, while $400 million develops advanced imaging, molecular measurement, and cell manipulation technologies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Chan Zuckerberg Biohub builds frontier AI tools and imaging technologies to study how cells operate and how disease develops. Its core deliverables are the ESM (Evolutionary Scale Modeling) AI protein biology suite — ESMC, ESMFold2, and ESM Atlas — released openly to researchers worldwide for protein structure prediction, protein design, and mapping proteins across the tree of life. The organization also develops the laser phase plate (LPP) for cryo-electron microscopy to visualize previously undetectable small proteins at near-atomic detail.

Product overview

Chan Zuckerberg Biohub offers an integrated suite of AI-powered biology tools centered on the ESM (Evolutionary Scale Modeling) platform, which includes ESMC, ESMFold2, and ESM Atlas for protein structure prediction and protein biology modeling. These tools are complemented by advanced imaging technologies including the laser phase plate for cryo-electron microscopy. The Biohub also runs the Virtual Biology Initiative, a five-year $500 million program to build predictive AI models of human cells. All ESM tools are released openly to researchers worldwide to accelerate biological discovery and drug development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ESM (Evolutionary Scale Modeling): AI protein modeling tools including ESMC, ESMFold2, and ESM Atlas for predicting protein structures, designing new protein binders, and mapping proteins across the tree of life
• Virtual Biology Initiative
• Biohub Imaging Institute

Products and services

• ESMC (Evolutionary Scale Modeling Classifier) An AI classifier model for protein biology that is part of the ESM4 evolutionary scale modeling suite. Trained on approximately 2.8 billion protein sequences to understand protein functions by learning from evolutionary patterns, and used to design new protein binders for cancer and immune targets.
• ESMFold2 An AI model for predicting 3D protein structures from amino acid sequences, part of the ESM4 evolutionary scale modeling suite, with high-accuracy structural predictions used by researchers worldwide.
• ESM Atlas A large-scale protein atlas and discovery platform containing information on 6.8 billion proteins and over 1.1 billion predicted structures across the tree of life, enabling researchers to query and retrieve protein information.
• Laser Phase Plate (LPP) for Cryo-Electron Microscopy A cryo-electron microscopy technology that uses an intense laser focused on the electron beam to enhance phase contrast, enabling visualization of small proteins previously too small to capture clearly at near-atomic detail. The technology is installed in Thermo Scientific Krios microscopes.

Quantifiable outcome

• 5- to 20-fold improvement in mRNA delivery and CRISPR gene editing efficiency in preclinical models
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability7 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• NVIDIAcoreTechnology or Integration · 2 May 2026Nvidia providing computing power to process the datasets needed for training AI systems that can simulate cellular behavior.
• Allen InstituteflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 April 2026Partner in the Virtual Biology Initiative to nucleate coordinated worldwide data generation and create the open data foundation for AI-accelerated biology.
• Broad InstituteflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 April 2026Partner in the Virtual Biology Initiative to nucleate coordinated worldwide data generation and create the open data foundation for AI-accelerated biology.
• Wellcome Sanger InstituteflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 April 2026Partner in the Virtual Biology Initiative to nucleate coordinated worldwide data generation and create the open data foundation for AI-accelerated biology.
• Human Cell AtlasflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 April 2026Partner in the Virtual Biology Initiative to nucleate coordinated worldwide data generation and create the open data foundation for AI-accelerated biology.
• Human Protein AtlasflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 April 2026Partner in the Virtual Biology Initiative to nucleate coordinated worldwide data generation and create the open data foundation for AI-accelerated biology.
• Arc InstituteflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 April 2026Partner in the Virtual Biology Initiative to nucleate coordinated worldwide data generation and create the open data foundation for AI-accelerated biology.
• NVIDIAcoreTechnology or Integration · 29 April 2026Key technology partner providing accelerated computing infrastructure to process the datasets needed for training AI systems that can simulate cellular behavior as part of the Virtual Biology Initiative.
• EvolutionaryScaleflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2025AI-biology startup acquired by Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative in November 2025 and unified under Biohub. Developer of ESM4 protein biology world model including ESMC, ESMFold2, and ESM Atlas.
• University of California, BerkeleycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2010UC Berkeley researchers proposed the original concept for the laser phase plate technology in 2010. Biohub funded and supported the development of this technology, which was installed in Thermo Scientific Krios microscopes.
• Thermo Fisher ScientificcoreTechnology or IntegrationLaser phase plate technology installed in Thermo Scientific Krios microscopes. Biohub funded and supported development of LPP systems that work with these microscopes.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Insitro: AI-driven drug discovery company combining high-throughput biology data generation with machine learning models, founded by Daphne Koller. Operates a commercial pharma partnership model (Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly) that parallels Biohub's data-generation engines and Virtual Biology Initiative.
• Cradle Bio: AI-protein design startup enabling protein engineering for biotech and pharma customers. Closely comparable on Biohub's protein-binder design capability, but operates as a SaaS commercial offering for industrial protein engineering use cases.
• Generate Biomedicines: Flagship Pioneering-founded company building generative AI to design novel protein therapeutics. Directly comparable on the generative protein-binder and AI-engineered biologics frontier that Biohub's ESM4 enables, with clearer commercial monetisation path.

Broad incumbents

• DeepMind (Alphabet): Originated AlphaFold and AlphaMultimer for protein structure prediction, the canonical predecessor to Biohub's ESMFold2 work. Operates at the largest commercial AI-for-bio scale, with research output that directly competes with Biohub's open ESM Atlas.
• Recursion Pharmaceuticals: Public biotech combining high-throughput wet-lab experimentation with AI/ML models for drug discovery, with established pharma partnerships (Roche/Genentech, Bayer). Comparable in combining frontier AI with large-scale biology experimentation, but operates as a commercial drug pipeline rather than open infrastructure.
• Isomorphic Labs: Alphabet-owned commercial AI-drug discovery spinout from DeepMind's AlphaFold team, building AI models of biology to accelerate pharmaceutical R&D. Directly competes on protein-structure prediction and AI-driven therapeutic design with backing orders of magnitude larger than Biohub's open-source arm.

Others

• Allen Institute: Nonprofit biomedical research organization founded by the late Paul Allen, focused on brain science, cell science, and AI-for-biology. Comparable nonprofit research model and a Flagship Virtual Biology Initiative partner alongside Biohub.
• Broad Institute: Joint Harvard/MIT-affiliated genomics and biomedical research institute, with major programs in chemical biology, genetic perturbation, and computational genomics. Comparable scale and breadth of computational biology infrastructure; Flagship Virtual Biology Initiative partner.

Direct peers

• Arc Institute: Nonprofit research organization co-founded in 2021 by Patrick Collison, Patrick Hsu, and Silvana Konermann, also based in the Bay Area and combining frontier AI with biology / genetics. Closest comparable mission, structure, and funding model to Biohub, including joint participation in the Virtual Biology Initiative.

Regional players

• Wellcome Sanger Institute: UK-based nonprofit genomic research institute generating large-scale biological datasets (e.g., as part of the Human Cell Atlas). Operates a comparable nonprofit research model outside the US and is a Virtual Biology Initiative Flagship partner on global data generation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/biohub
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@officialbiohub
• Facebookfacebook.com/biohub
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cz-biohub
• Instagraminstagram.com/biohub

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments2 records

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Frequently asked questions about Chan Zuckerberg Biohub