What Bioinformatics Institute does

Bioinformatics Institute (Институт биоинформатики) is a privately held, non-governmental educational organization founded in 2010 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, that trains specialists in bioinformatics and biostatistics for the Russian-speaking market. It operates as a limited liability company (OOO) under Russian law, is tax-exempt under the simplified tax system, and holds an educational license from the Saint Petersburg Committee for Education (license No. 4114, dated March 10, 2020) that authorizes it to issue professional retraining diplomas registered with Rosreestr. Instruction is delivered almost entirely online via Zoom, with content in Russian and a global reach. Core customers are undergraduate and graduate students, PhD candidates, and early-career biologists, medical professionals, veterinarians, pharmacists, and IT specialists seeking to apply computational methods to biomedical data. The institute's customer segments also include practicing scientists needing statistical analysis skills and computer scientists seeking domain knowledge in biology and medicine.

The product portfolio is anchored by a year-long online professional retraining program in bioinformatics priced at 160,000 RUB (≈$1,750-$1,850) for two semesters, or 83,000 RUB per semester, with up to 30% grant support and Russian tax-deduction eligibility. Complementary paid intensives cover advanced biostatistics, clinical NGS interpretation, NGS data analysis, and statistics for biologists. A separate biostatistics retraining program is also offered. The underlying curriculum spans Python and R programming, Linux command line, NGS data analysis pipelines (Snakemake, Nextflow), machine learning with PyTorch, phylogenetics, single-cell and metagenomics analysis, and GitHub-based project work. More than 20 open online courses are hosted on Stepik, functioning as a discovery funnel, and an extensive YouTube archive and lecture series (Summer/Winter/Guest) further build brand reach. The institute operates a dedicated Telegram career chat (bioinf_career), an annual International Bioinformatics Contest, and a research division whose student projects yield publications in journals including Nature Methods, GigaScience, Bioinformatics, and BMC Genomics, with abstracts indexed in RSCI since 2021.

The business model combines individual tuition, workshop fees, and a sponsorship from BIOCAD for open educational projects and student grants. Distribution is direct-to-consumer via the institute's website (bioinf.me), with selective academic partnerships — most notably a joint master's program with ITMO University ('Bioinformatics and Systems Biology') and instructor relationships with Skoltech, EPAM, Broad Institute, Wellcome Sanger Institute, UCSD, MedUni Vienna, MuDS, MGI, Datagrok, and others. The institute's competitive positioning rests on practice-oriented curricula tied to real scientific data, a deep alumni and employer network (including BIOCAD, Genotek, Quantori, BostonGene), and a 15-year operating track record recognized by the 2026 School of Education Award for Best Educational Experience. Core operations are led by CEO Maria Vasilievna Yavorskaya; the internal team is small (1-10 employees) with a wide external faculty bench.

Name

Bioinformatics Institute

Legal name

Общество с ограниченной ответственностью «Институт биоинформатики»

Website

https://bioinf.me

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Bioinformatics Institute is a Saint Petersburg-based non-governmental educational organization founded in 2010 that delivers online bioinformatics and biostatistics training programs to Russian-speaking students, medical professionals, and IT specialists, combining tuition-funded retraining diplomas, intensives, open Stepik courses, and industry-sponsored research projects.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Bioinformatics and Biostatistics Professional Education

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Business Schools and Computer and Management Training (6114)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology (EDABALAU)

akta.pro secondary industry

Healthcare & Life Sciences (EDAAAPAA)

Keywords

• Bioinformatics education
• Professional retraining programs
• Biostatistics training
• NGS data analysis
• Computational biology courses

Headquarters

HQ city

Leningrad

HQ country

Russia

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Professional Retraining Programs: Annual online retraining program in bioinformatics for biologists, medical professionals, and life sciences specialists. Revenue generated through tuition fees per semester or annual payment. Financial support available via grants covering up to 30% of tuition.
2. Intensive Workshops: Shorter-format online intensives covering advanced biostatistics, clinical NGS data interpretation, statistics for biologists, and NGS data analysis. Billed per intensive program.
3. Online Lectures and Public Events: Open lectures (guest lectures, summer school, winter school) and popularization events free or low-cost, serving primarily as demand generation for paid programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Bioinformatics Institute delivers online professional retraining and intensive training programs in bioinformatics and biostatistics for biologists, medical professionals, veterinarians, pharmacists, and IT specialists. Its flagship offering is the year-long "Bioinformatics for Biologists and Medics" retraining program, complemented by a Biostatistics and Medical Data Analysis program, several short-format intensives (advanced biostatistics, clinical NGS interpretation, statistics for biologists, NGS data analysis), a six-month mentored research project, and an open content library of 20+ courses on Stepik plus a YouTube lecture archive.

Product overview

The Bioinformatics Institute offers a portfolio of bioinformatics and biostatistics educational products centered around its flagship year-long online retraining program 'Bioinformatics for Biologists'. The core program is complemented by specialized intensives covering NGS data analysis, clinical interpretation of sequencing data, and advanced biostatistics. Additional offerings include open lectures featuring leading scientists, research project mentorship, and an international bioinformatics competition. The institute also provides a separate biostatistics professional retraining program. All programs emphasize practical skills and are delivered online with Russian-language instruction.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Bioinformatics Retraining Program (Биоинформатика для биологов и медиков) Year-long online professional retraining program for biologists, medical professionals, veterinarians, and pharmacists covering Python, R statistics, bioinformatics practicum, discrete mathematics, Linux, molecular evolution, machine learning, algorithms, phylogenetics, and a six-month research project leading to a state-recognized retraining diploma.
• Biostatistics and Medical Data Analysis Program (Биостатистика и анализ медицинских данных) Professional retraining program covering main aspects of statistical analysis of medical data; admissions currently open per institute homepage.
• Advanced Biostatistics Intensive (Продвинутые разделы биостатистики) Online intensive for specialists with basic biostatistics knowledge and R experience who want to master more complex biomedical data analysis methods.
• Clinical Interpretation of NGS Sequencing Data (Клиническая интерпретация данных секвенирования нового поколения) Intensive for doctors, biologists, medical genetics researchers, and beginning clinical bioinformaticians seeking practical skills in clinical interpretation of NGS data.
• Statistics for Biologists and Medical Professionals (Статистика для биологов и медиков) Course of lectures and practical sessions for medical and biology professionals conducting research who want to acquire statistical analysis skills for processing experimental results.
• NGS Data Analysis Intensive (Анализ данных секвенирования нового поколения) Online intensive for biological researchers to quickly gain practical skills in working with genomic data, with provisional run date of Winter 2026.
• Open Online Courses on Stepik (Онлайн-образование) Self-paced open online courses on programming, bioinformatics, and molecular biology delivered via the Stepik platform (20+ courses).
• International Bioinformatics Contest (Международная онлайн-олимпиада) Annual international online olympiad in bioinformatics for students and professionals, functioning as both a popularization event and a talent identification mechanism.

Quantifiable outcome

• Graduates receive diplomas of professional retraining in Russian and English, with credits and grades. Diplomas transmitted to Rosreestr for employer verification.
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ITMO UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint master's program 'Bioinformatics and Systems Biology' with ITMO University in St. Petersburg. Provides a formal academic degree pathway alongside the institute's professional retraining diploma. Institute faculty member Artem Ivanov from ITMO teaches Discrete Mathematics and Algorithms.
• BIOCADcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBIOCAD is a sponsor of open educational projects and student grants for the institute's professional retraining programs. Institute alumnus Georgy Sarapultsev works at BIOCAD. The company provides scientific project supervision for student research projects.
• SkoltechminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnna Rybina from Skoltech serves as an instructor for the Bioinformatics Practicum on the retraining program.
• EPAM SystemsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEPAM Lifesciences department provides scientific supervision for student research projects. Gennady Zakharov from EPAM teaches the Linux command line course.
• Broad InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNikita Artemov from Broad Institute (Boston, USA) has delivered lectures at the institute's online lecture series on association studies and risk gene identification.
• Wellcome Sanger InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAlexander Predeus from Wellcome Sanger Institute (Cambridge, UK) has delivered lectures and serves as scientific supervisor for student research projects.
• University of California San Diego (UCSD)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerYana Safonova from UCSD provides scientific supervision for student research projects on immunoglobulin gene variation analysis.
• MGI TechminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArtem Ershov from MGI teaches Python programming as part of the retraining program.
• DatagrokminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGennady Zakharov from Datagrok teaches the Linux command line course on the program.
• SPbGUT (Saint Petersburg State University of Telecommunications)minorOthersAnton Sidorin from SPbGUT teaches Python programming on the retraining program.
• Research Institute of Biology of Irkutsk State University (IGU)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPolina Drozdova from NII Biologii IGU teaches Phylogenetics and supervises student research projects on Baikal endemic species.
• Institute of Biochemistry and Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IBG RAS) / Research Institute of Physiology and Basic Medicine, RospotrebnadzorminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIgnatsonets from IBG RAS / NII FBM Rospotrebnadzor teaches the Bioinformatics Practicum.
• Munich School for Data Science (MuDS)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerVladimir Shitov from MuDS teaches the Bioinformatics Practicum.
• MedUni ViennaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNikita Vaulin from MedUni Vienna teaches Python programming on the retraining program.
• MislabminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEkaterina Sytnik from Mislab teaches Python programming on the program.
• QuantoriminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerQuantori appears among the employers where graduates have been placed.
• BostonGeneminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBostonGene appears among the employers where graduates have been placed.
• GenotekminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGenotek appears among the employers where graduates have been placed and has supervised student research projects.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• ITMO University — Master's in Bioinformatics and Systems Biology: Partner institution offering a joint master's program with the Bioinformatics Institute. Comparable as a bioinformatics educator serving the same student segments, though ITMO is a degree-granting university and the institute contributes faculty and curriculum to the joint program.
• Stepik: Russian online learning platform that hosts the institute's 20+ open courses and is its primary distribution channel. Comparable as a Russian-language online education provider, though Stepik is a multi-subject platform rather than a domain specialist.
• European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI): Major international bioinformatics training provider offering courses and workshops across the same domains (NGS, multi-omics, bioinformatics pipelines). Comparable in subject matter but operates as a publicly funded intergovernmental research organization rather than a tuition-funded non-profit.
• School of Bioengineering and Bioinformatics (MSU): Moscow State University's bioinformatics and bioengineering educational programs. Comparable as a Russian-language bioinformatics educator serving biology and medical graduates, but delivered through a traditional university rather than a private non-profit.
• Rosalind: Online bioinformatics learning platform with browser-based problem sets spanning the same algorithms and methods taught at the institute. Comparable as a specialized bioinformatics upskilling product, but browser-based and self-paced rather than cohort-based with faculty mentorship.

Regional players

• Wellcome Sanger Institute — Training: Major UK genomics institute offering bioinformatics courses and supervision (an institute instructor, Alexander Predeus, is based at Sanger). Comparable in subject matter but primarily serves UK/EU audiences through grant-funded programs rather than tuition.

Broad incumbents

• Coursera: Global MOOC platform with bioinformatics and biostatistics specializations from Johns Hopkins, UC San Diego, and others. Comparable as an online bioinformatics upskilling channel but operates at vastly greater scale, in English, and at lower per-program price points.
• edX: Global MOOC platform offering bioinformatics and data science programs from Harvard, MIT, and others. Comparable as a broad online education incumbent competing for the same bioinformatics learner audience, but with university-backed content rather than industry-supervised research projects.
• DataCamp: Subscription-based data science and Python/R training platform with a growing life sciences content library. Comparable as an online data-skills educator targeting working professionals, but general-purpose rather than bioinformatics-specialized.

Emerging players

• Galaxy Training Network: Community-driven training network for the Galaxy bioinformatics platform, covering NGS data analysis, pipelines, and reproducible workflows. Comparable in training domain (NGS analysis methods taught at the institute) but free, open-source, and tool-focused rather than degree-or-diploma-issuing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/bioinforussia
• Xx.com/bioinforussia
• Facebookfacebook.com/bioinforussia
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bioinfme

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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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 Bioinformatics Institute