Immunity Project

What Immunity Project does

Immunity Project is a non-profit research organization founded in 2010 and based in San Francisco. Per its own description, it is a team of scientists and entrepreneurs, with a leadership group consisting of co-founder and CEO Reid Rubsamen, Chief Science Officer Charles Vincent Herst, and Principal Scientist Craig Rouskey, indicating a research-driven orientation rather than a commercial product organization.

The organization's activities center on immunity-related scientific research, consistent with its name and the composition of its scientific leadership. It has received two disclosed funding tranches: $1,000,000 from Microsoft Research in February 2012 and $120,000 from Y Combinator in March 2014, bringing total disclosed capital to approximately $1.12 million. The Y Combinator participation is notable for a non-profit, suggesting some experimentation with accelerator-style support structures for scientific work. No specific products, technologies, patents, publications, or service offerings are described in the available source material, and the current public website returns only a loading/verification page rather than substantive content.

The business model is consistent with a small non-profit: operating with 1-10 employees, funded by a mix of research grants (Microsoft Research) and accelerator capital (Y Combinator), and without disclosed customers, revenue, or pricing. The organization's narrow funding base, absence of recent disclosed activity, and non-functional public website indicate limited operational visibility, and the available evidence is insufficient to characterize ongoing programs or research output.

Name

Immunity Project

Website

https://immunityproject.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Immunity Project is a small San Francisco-based non-profit founded in 2010, comprising scientists and entrepreneurs focused on immunity-related research, funded primarily by a Microsoft Research grant and Y Combinator.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

HIV Vaccine Research

NAICS

Voluntary Health Organizations (813212)

SIC

Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Infectious Disease & Pandemic Preparedness Vaccines (emerging pathogens) (HLAAAEAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Vaccine Clinical Development & Regulatory Affairs (HLAIAEAM), Immunization & Vaccine Delivery Programs (BPADAIAB)

Keywords

• HIV vaccine research
• Nonprofit biotechnology
• Immunology research
• Infectious disease vaccines
• Biomedical research

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations

Core offering

Immunity Project is a nonprofit team of scientists and entrepreneurs developing an HIV vaccine. The organization conducts immunological research aimed at producing a broadly effective preventive HIV vaccine, leveraging funding from investors such as Y Combinator and Microsoft Research to advance its vaccine program.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• HIV Vaccine An HIV vaccine candidate being developed by Immunity Project, intended for use by individuals at risk of HIV infection as a preventive immunization.

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Expansion highlights1 record

Direct peers

• GeoVax Labs: Clinical-stage biotechnology company developing preventive HIV vaccines using MVA-VLP and other vaccine platforms. Comparable because it is one of the few listed pure-play HIV vaccine developers actively advancing candidates into the clinic.
• International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI): Non-profit product-development partnership focused exclusively on the design, development, and testing of preventive HIV vaccines. Most directly comparable peer: same mission (global-access HIV vaccine), same non-profit structure, and significantly larger capital base for clinical advancement.

Broad incumbents

• Moderna: Large commercial mRNA vaccine platform company running active HIV vaccine programs (including Phase 1 trials of mRNA-1644/1576). Comparable as the dominant platform incumbent with overlapping HIV vaccine ambitions and vastly greater capital and clinical infrastructure.
• Vir Biotechnology: Clinical-stage immunology company with infectious disease programs including HIV cure and prevention research. Comparable as a well-capitalized infectious-disease immunology peer with overlapping target indications, though focused on antibodies and T-cell therapies rather than prophylactic vaccines.
• Janssen Vaccines (Johnson & Johnson): Developed the Ad26.Mos4.HIV mosaic vaccine regimen tested in the Imbokodo and Mosaico trials. Comparable as a large pharma incumbent with a major HIV vaccine program and the capital to run global Phase 2b/3 efficacy trials.

Regional players

• International Vaccine Institute (IVI): International organization focused on developing and introducing vaccines for global health, headquartered in Seoul. Comparable as a non-profit/global-health vaccine development peer, though broader in scope (not HIV-exclusive) and operating primarily outside the U.S.

Others

• NIH Vaccine Research Center (VRC): U.S. government intramural research center that has led multiple HIV vaccine candidates (e.g., VRC01, eOD-GT8 60mer). Comparable as the principal public-sector developer of HIV vaccine candidates, against which any small non-profit competes for talent, partners, and trial capacity.

Emerging players

• AELIX Therapeutics: Barcelona-based clinical-stage biotech developing therapeutic and preventive HIV vaccines using T-cell immunogen approaches (HTI immunogen). Comparable as a small, focused HIV vaccine developer with a similar T-cell-focused scientific premise and stage.

Market position

Strengths3 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights4 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HackHIV
• Facebookfacebook.com/immunityproject
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/immunity-project

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors2 records

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M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Immunity Project