Carbon Silicon Ventures

What Carbon Silicon Ventures does

Carbon Silicon Ventures is a New York-based venture capital firm founded in 2022 that invests in early-stage companies applying engineering principles to biological systems. The firm backs founders working on programmable biology — including enzymatic DNA synthesis, RNA-barcoded drug discovery, bioinformatics, AI-driven lab automation, digital microfluidics, automated animal research, clinical workflow software, surgical robotics, and AI-designed proteins — with a portfolio of 15 companies. Notable holdings include Ansa Biotechnologies (enzymatic DNA synthesis), Octant (multi-target corrector molecules; $80M Series B with a Bristol-Myers-Squibb collaboration), Basepair (cloud-native bioinformatics), Medra AI (Physical AI Scientist for biological data), Bluenote Health (AI-driven regulatory and clinical workflows, backed alongside Lux Capital and Elad Gil), and Tomorrow Taste (AI-designed food proteins).

The firm is operated by a lean team of 1-10 employees and sources deals primarily through founder networks and direct outreach in the biotech and life sciences community. Carbon Silicon Ventures generates returns through equity investments in portfolio companies, with revenue realized through exits (such as the acquisition of portfolio company Sphinx Bio) and valuation changes in holdings. No fund size, LP base, or team details are publicly disclosed, and three current portfolio companies remain in stealth or TBA status, indicating active ongoing capital deployment. The business model is thesis-driven seed/early-stage investing rather than product or services revenue, and the firm's differentiation lies in its concentrated focus on the biology-as-engineering convergence rather than broad biotech exposure.

Name

Carbon Silicon Ventures

Legal name

Carbon Silicon Ventures

Website

https://carbonsilicon.vc

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Carbon Silicon Ventures is a New York-based venture capital firm founded in 2022 that backs early-stage founders transforming biology into an engineering discipline. Its 15-company portfolio spans DNA synthesis, AI-driven lab automation, drug discovery, microfluidics, and synthetic biology applications.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Sector-Focused Venture Capital (Vertical Specialists) (FSANAAAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Early-Stage Venture Capital (Series A/B) (FSANAAAB)

Keywords

• Venture capital investing
• Biotech startup funding
• Life sciences investment
• Early-stage equity investment
• Synthetic biology funding

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Investment Returns / Carried Interest: As a venture capital firm, Carbon Silicon Ventures generates returns through equity investments in portfolio companies. Revenue is realized through portfolio company exits via acquisitions or IPOs, as well as ongoing valuation changes in holdings.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Marketing channels1 record

Core offering

Carbon Silicon Ventures is a venture capital firm that provides early-stage equity investment and strategic support to founders building companies at the intersection of biology and engineering. The firm backs a portfolio of 15 biotech and life science startups across enzymatic DNA synthesis, multi-target drug discovery, AI-driven lab automation, digital microfluidics, animal research infrastructure, clinical development workflows, surgical robotics, and AI-designed protein ingredients. Revenue is generated through investment returns and carried interest from portfolio company exits.

Product overview

Carbon Silicon Ventures is a venture capital firm, not a product company. It does not offer a unified product platform or modules. The entity backs founders transforming biology into an engineering discipline by providing investment to early-stage biotech startups. The portfolio comprises 15 companies including Ansa Biotechnologies (enzymatic DNA synthesis), Octant (multi-target corrector molecules via RNA-barcoded assays), Basepair (bioinformatics and genomic data management), Medra AI (Physical AI Scientist), Femtofluidics (digital microfluidic platforms), Olden Labs (automated animal research infrastructure), Bluenote Health (AI-driven regulatory submission automation), Tetsuwan Scientific (science-native AI for laboratory automation), Current Surgical (smart surgical needle for tumor ablation), Paralos Bio (phage-drug conjugates), Tomorrow Taste (AI-designed protein ingredients), and three companies still in development (Oligonucleotide Company, Cloud Lab Company, and RNA Therapeutics Company), plus Sphinx Bio (acquired).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Section 32: Sector-focused biotech VC investing across AI, genomics, and synthetic biology. Closely comparable stage, check size, and engineering-biology orientation.
• Lux Capital: Sector-focused, early-to-growth venture firm with deep concentration in frontier science, biotech, and engineering biology. Directly comparable to Carbon Silicon's vertical, stage, and thesis.
• ARCH Venture Partners: One of the original sector-specialist biotech VCs, backing platform companies at the intersection of science and engineering. Closely comparable thesis, stage, and portfolio orientation.
• 2048 Ventures: Early-stage firm with explicit focus on AI x biology, computational sciences, and engineering biology. Has co-invested alongside Carbon Silicon in Tetsuwan Scientific.
• Khosla Ventures: High-conviction, early-stage investor with substantial biotech, synbio, and frontier-science exposure. Comparable in taking bold, science-heavy theses at the seed/Series A stage.
• Catalio Capital Management: Biotech-focused investment firm spanning venture and public equities, with strong exposure to platform and engineering-biology companies. Comparable sector focus and stage mix.

Broad incumbents

• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z Bio): Large multi-stage firm with a dedicated bio/health fund. Operates in the same 'engineering biology' theme but with a vastly larger fund, team, and broader portfolio scope.

Emerging players

• Petri: Pre-seed/seed biotech investor with a vertical focus on engineering biology. Comparable in stage and thesis but earlier in fund cycle than Carbon Silicon.
• SOSV (IndieBio): Multi-stage VC with IndieBio as its dedicated biology accelerator. Overlaps with Carbon Silicon in synbio, lab automation, and biotech tooling, though it typically deploys via accelerator cohorts.
• Fifty Years: Seed-stage investor backing founders using technology to solve big problems, with biotech among its priority areas. Comparable seed-stage, thesis-driven posture.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/carbon-silicon

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments4 records

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

Frequently asked questions about Carbon Silicon Ventures