Experiment
Experiment is a crowdfunding and grant platform for scientific research, connecting academic and independent scientists with public backers and institutional funders. It has facilitated over $12M for 1,400+ research projects via an 8% take-rate and 92 active grant programs.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Experiment does
Experiment (formerly Microryza) operates a web-based crowdfunding and grant platform purpose-built for scientific research, connecting academic researchers and independent scientists directly with public backers, foundations, and institutional funders. Founded in 2012 by Cindy Wu and Denny Luan at the University of Washington and now headquartered in New York, the platform enables researchers to create project campaigns, receive peer-scientist endorsements, raise funds under an all-or-nothing model, and document progress via a Lab Notes feature. Funded projects receive free Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) for citation. The platform has facilitated over $12M in research grants across 1,400+ funded projects with a 48-49% success rate, supported by 56,000+ backers, 250+ institutions, and 25,000+ lab notes.
The core product suite consists of the campaign creation and funding workflow, a Project Dashboard for analytics and team management, Lab Notes for ongoing science communication, and a Grant Programs layer that hosts 92 grant programs from funders including the Bezos Earth Fund, Homeworld Collective, Wildlife Disease Association, California Institute for Biodiversity, and Dalio Philanthropies. The company is venture-backed by Y Combinator (Winter 2013), Andreessen Horowitz, Index Ventures, Lux Capital, Two Sigma Ventures, Slow Ventures, Learn Capital, K5 Ventures, SV Angel, and others, with a disclosed $1.23M seed round in 2013 and a Marc Bell Ventures investment in 2014. The team is small (1-10 employees) and operates from Seattle and San Francisco.
Revenue is generated via an 8% platform fee plus 3-5% payment processing charges on successfully funded projects, supplemented by facilitation/commission revenue from institutional grant programs. Funds transferred to researchers are not subject to institutional overhead, positioning Experiment as a friction-reducing alternative to traditional grant pathways amid declining NIH and NSF funding. Distribution is self-serve and global across the US, Canada, UK, and Australia.
Experiment firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Experiment
- Legal name
- Experiment Inc.
- Website
- http://www.experiment.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Experiment is a crowdfunding and grant platform for scientific research, connecting academic and independent scientists with public backers and institutional funders. It has facilitated over $12M for 1,400+ research projects via an 8% take-rate and 92 active grant programs.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Experiment industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Scientific Research Crowdfunding Platform
- akta.pro primary industry
- Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI)
Keywords
Where Experiment is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Experiment business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Platform Transaction Fees: 8% platform fee plus payment processing fees (roughly 3-5%) charged when projects meet their funding goals. All-or-nothing model means no fees charged if projects fail to reach goal.
- Grant Program Facilitation: Experiment enables grant programs from organizations like Homeworld Collective, Wildlife Disease Association, Bezos Earth Fund, and others to fund projects through the platform
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Free to start; 8% fee on successful funding |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
Experiment product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Experiment operates a web-based crowdfunding platform purpose-built for scientific research, connecting researchers directly with public backers and institutional grant funders. Scientists create project campaigns, receive peer feedback from community reviewers, raise funds under an all-or-nothing model, and document progress through Lab Notes. The platform charges an 8% fee plus payment processing on successfully funded projects and additionally enables foundations and government agencies to deploy grant programs to researchers.
Product overview
Experiment is a unified crowdfunding platform for scientific research, operating as a single integrated product rather than a modular platform architecture. The core offering combines project-based crowdfunding with grant programs, enabling researchers to raise funds from public backers and institutional funders. Key product components include the crowdfunding platform itself, Lab Notes for ongoing project documentation, a Project Dashboard for analytics, a Researcher Guide for support, Collaborator Management for team access, and Free DOI Archival for citeable research outputs. The platform supports 92 grant programs with over $1.2 million in total grant funding, and has facilitated funding for over 1,400 projects with 56,000 backers and 250 institutions.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Experiment Crowdfunding Platform
- Experiment Grant Programs
Quantifiable outcome
- 48-49% project funding success rate
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Experiment
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Experiment technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
Experiment partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators12 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Experiment competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- ioby: Crowdfunding platform focused on environmental and community science projects. Comparable niche positioning around mission-driven science/civic research, but smaller scale and more regional (US) focus.
- Experiment Foundation: Nonprofit arm of Experiment enabling foundation and challenge grants on the platform. Comparable service offering (grant-program facilitation) but operates as a complement rather than competitor within the same ecosystem.
Others
- Wefunder: Equity crowdfunding platform under Reg CF. Adjacent in operating a regulated marketplace for alternative capital flows, although oriented toward startup equity rather than research grants.
- Substack: Subscription publishing platform enabling scientists to monetize newsletters. Adjacent in that researchers can build direct-funder relationships and communicate ongoing work — similar dynamic to Lab Notes and public engagement.
Direct peers
- DonorsChoose: Crowdfunding platform connecting public donors with classroom and education projects. Highly comparable model — direct-to-public project funding, transaction fees, and institutional backing — though oriented toward K-12/education rather than research.
- Indiegogo: General-purpose crowdfunding platform supporting science and tech campaigns. Comparable business model (all-or-nothing and keep-what-you-raise options, transaction fees) and overlapping target audience of creators and backers.
- Kickstarter: Largest rewards-based crowdfunding platform with a dedicated Science category. Competes directly with Experiment for science projects and backers, but lacks scientific-domain features like DOI archival, lab notes, and peer-scientist endorsement.
- OpenCollective: Transparent fundraising platform for open-source communities and research collectives. Comparable model of low-fee, transparent public funding with open tracking of how money is spent, aligned with Experiment's open-science values.
Broad incumbents
- Patreon: Subscription-based creator funding platform. Overlaps with Experiment's recurring-engagement model (backers following project updates via Lab Notes) and competes for the same pool of science-engaged backers.
- GoFundMe: Largest donation-based crowdfunding platform globally. While not specialized in research, it competes for researchers seeking public funding and has greater scale, brand recognition, and capital.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Experiment social profiles
Digital presenceExperiment financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Experiment leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Experiment funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors14 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Experiment 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 Experiment
What does Experiment do?
Experiment operates a web-based crowdfunding platform purpose-built for scientific research, connecting researchers directly with public backers and institutional grant funders. Scientists create project campaigns, receive peer feedback from community reviewers, raise funds under an all-or-nothing model, and document progress through Lab Notes. The platform charges an 8% fee plus payment processing on successfully funded projects and additionally enables foundations and government agencies to deploy grant programs to researchers.
Is Experiment a public or private company?
Experiment is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Experiment founded?
Experiment was founded in 2012. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Experiment based?
Experiment is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Experiment make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Platform Transaction Fees are the primary driver. The others are grant Program Facilitation.
Who are Experiment's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are ioby and Experiment Foundation. Others are Wefunder and Substack. Direct peers are DonorsChoose, Indiegogo, Kickstarter and OpenCollective. Broad incumbents are Patreon and GoFundMe.
Does Experiment have an API?
No public API is recorded for Experiment.
What industry is Experiment in?
Experiment's product category is Scientific Research Crowdfunding Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAKAI, Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations.