What Foli Bio does

Foli Bio is a privately held, early-stage biotech tools company founded in 2023 and headquartered in Long Island City, NY, that has built Foli-seq™, a non-invasive host gut transcriptomics platform profiling RNA from exfoliated gut epithelial and immune cells shed in routine stool samples. The platform is designed to surface mucosal inflammation, barrier function, tissue injury, repair, and therapeutic response biology without the invasiveness and episodic nature of endoscopic biopsy, the systemic-only signal of blood biomarkers, or the host-blindness of microbiome profiling. It is built on a peer-reviewed method published in Nature Biotechnology in 2025 and is anchored by a tiered panel architecture — human (Immune 500+ genes, Gut Function 1,800+ genes, Universal 11,000+ genes), matched murine panels, and companion animal (canine, feline) panels — supported by the Gut RNA Atlas, a proprietary host transcriptomic data platform that has accumulated 6,500+ profiled samples.

Foli Bio monetizes through three revenue streams: translational research services for pharma, biotech, and academic partners conducting biomarker discovery, pharmacodynamic monitoring, and preclinical-to-clinical translation; co-development of molecular diagnostics under milestone, licensing, and royalty economics (with screening and treatment-monitoring applications such as IBD activity, anti-TNF response prediction, and CRC/advanced adenoma screening); and data partnerships providing access to the Gut RNA Atlas. The company discloses 9 active pharma/biotech programs and 10+ academic/clinical collaborations, with Weill Cornell Medicine as a named academic anchor on the IBD Monitoring & Anti-TNF Response program. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is structured per study or per partnership; distribution is exclusively direct B2B via business development outreach and website-driven inbound inquiries.

The company was co-founded by Harris H. Wang (Columbia University), Alejandro Chavez (UC San Diego), and Scott B. Snapper (Boston Children's Hospital / Harvard Medical School), and is supported by a capital stack of roughly $1.64M across Columbia Technology Ventures ($45K in 2023, $1.0M in 2024), NIH/NIDDK ($292K, 2024), NSF ($305K, 2025), NIH SEED, Empire State Development, Sky9 Capital, and a Bristol Myers Squibb Innovation Award. The current Foli-seq™ offering is explicitly limited to research and translational study applications and is not positioned for clinical diagnostic use.

Name

Foli Bio

Legal name

Foli Bio Inc.

Website

https://foli.bio

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Foli Bio is a private biotech tools company providing Foli-seq™, a non-invasive stool-derived host RNA transcriptomics platform, to pharma, biotech, and academic research teams for biomarker discovery, pharmacodynamic monitoring, and molecular diagnostics co-development.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Molecular Diagnostics Research Services

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories (6215), In-Vitro Diagnostic Substance Manufacturing (325413)

SIC

In Vitro & In Vivo Diagnostic Substances (2835)

akta.pro primary industry

Reagents, Chemicals & Assay Kits (Buffers, Antibodies, ELISA, Enzymes) (HLAGAIAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Biomarker Assay & Reagent Development (LDT/IVD assay design, antibodies/standards/controls) (HLAAAMAL), Bioanalytical & Biomarker CROs (PK/PD/Immunogenicity) (HLAGAAAD)

Keywords

• Host gut transcriptomics
• Non-invasive biomarker discovery
• Molecular diagnostics platform
• Stool RNA profiling
• Translational research services

Headquarters

HQ city

Long Island City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Translational Research Services: Revenue from providing Foli-seq™ profiling services to pharma, biotech, and academic research partners conducting biomarker discovery, pharmacodynamic monitoring, and preclinical-to-clinical translation studies. Services likely billed per sample or as study contracts.
2. Clinical Diagnostic Development: Co-development of molecular diagnostics with pharmaceutical and healthcare partners for disease monitoring, patient stratification, and CRC/advanced adenoma screening applications. Revenue model may include milestone payments, licensing fees, and commercial royalties.
3. Data and Atlas Partnerships: Partnerships for access to the Gut RNA Atlas data platform supporting precision medicine modeling, patient subtype discovery, and biomarker development. May include data access fees or collaborative research arrangements.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Foli Bio develops and delivers the Foli-seq™ platform, a non-invasive host gut transcriptomics technology that profiles host RNA from exfoliated gut epithelial and immune cells captured in routine stool samples, providing molecular readouts of mucosal inflammation, barrier function, tissue injury, repair, and therapeutic response. The offering is delivered as translational research services and molecular diagnostics co-development programs for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, molecular diagnostics, and academic research partners, supported by the Gut RNA Atlas data platform for precision medicine modeling and biomarker/target discovery.

Product overview

Foli Bio offers the Foli-seq™ platform — a non-invasive host gut transcriptomics platform that profiles host RNA from exfoliated gut epithelial and immune cells from stool samples. The platform comprises tiered panels across human (Foli-seq™ Human Immune Panel with 500+ genes, Human Gut Function Panel with 1,800+ genes, and Human Universal Panel with 11,000+ genes), murine preclinical models (Murine Immune Panel and Murine Gut Function Panel), and companion animals (Canine and Feline Core GI Host Panels with ~1,100 genes each). Supporting the platform is the Gut RNA Atlas, a transcriptomic data platform for precision medicine modeling. Together, these products enable translational biomarker studies, pharmacodynamic monitoring, patient stratification, and molecular diagnostics development across gastrointestinal disease areas.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Foli-seq™: Non-invasive host gut transcriptomics platform that profiles host RNA from exfoliated gut epithelial and immune cells from stool samples, providing molecular readouts of mucosal inflammation, barrier function, disease biology, and therapeutic response. Includes tiered panels for human (Immune Panel 500+ genes, Gut Function Panel 1,800+ genes, Universal Panel 11,000+ genes), murine, canine, and feline studies.

Products and services

• Foli-seq™ Platform Non-invasive host gut transcriptomics platform that profiles host RNA from exfoliated gut epithelial and immune cells captured in routine stool samples, providing molecular readouts of mucosal inflammation, barrier function, tissue injury, repair, and therapeutic response for translational research and diagnostics co-development customers.
• Foli-seq™ Human Panels Curated human gene panels ranging from targeted immune biology (500+ genes) and gut function profiling (1,800+ genes) to broad discovery profiling (11,000+ genes), used for biomarker discovery, patient stratification, responder prediction, and signature development in translational research customers.
• Foli-seq™ Preclinical (Murine) Panels Matched murine panels (Immune Panel 500+ genes, Gut Function Panel 1,800+ genes) enabling cross-species host gut transcriptomic readouts in mouse models of gut inflammation, immune perturbation, microbiome intervention, and therapeutic response.
• Foli-seq™ Companion Animal Panels Core GI host biology panels for canine and feline studies, profiling GI inflammation, epithelial injury, barrier function, repair biology, and treatment response in dogs and cats via non-invasive stool sampling.
• Gut RNA Atlas Proprietary host gut transcriptomic data platform supporting precision medicine modeling, patient subtype discovery, biomarker and target discovery modeling, and multi-omic integration for data and precision medicine partners.

Quantifiable outcome

• 43.4% sensitivity for advanced precancerous lesions reported for non-invasive stool-based test
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• Weill Cornell MedicinecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic collaborator on IBD Monitoring & Anti-TNF Response program. Weill Cornell Medicine partnership supports translational development of host transcriptomic signatures for IBD disease activity monitoring and anti-TNF response prediction.
• Columbia UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic origin of Foli Bio. Scientific co-founder Harris H. Wang is Chair of the Department of Systems Biology at Columbia University. The company was co-founded with scientific leaders from Columbia's systems biology and genome engineering programs.
• Mater ResearchsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic collaborator supporting translational research programs. Mater Research partnership contributes to the growing research and innovation ecosystem backing Foli Bio.
• UC San DiegocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic collaborator. Scientific co-founder Alejandro Chavez is Associate Professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UC San Diego, bringing expertise in genome engineering, functional genomics, and synthetic biology.
• Boston Children's Hospital / Harvard Medical SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClinical collaborator. Clinical co-founder Scott B. Snapper is Chief of the Division of Gastroenterology at Boston Children's Hospital and Professor at Harvard Medical School, contributing expertise in gastroenterology, IBD, and mucosal immunology.
• BioLabssecondaryOthersLab ecosystem partner providing laboratory space and infrastructure support for Foli Bio's operations.
• FilgensecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partner contributing to Foli Bio's growing research and innovation ecosystem. Filgen partnership details not fully disclosed.
• BioTools InnovatorsecondaryGTM or Marketing PartnerAccelerator program membership providing mentorship, networking, and validation for life science tool innovators.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Personalis: Personalis offers a tumor-informed molecular diagnostics platform (NeXT Personal) for minimal residual disease detection and other oncology applications. Both companies are molecular diagnostics developers with pharma co-development business models, though Personalis is blood/tumor-focused and further along in clinical commercialization.
• Tempus AI: Tempus AI is a precision medicine data platform that aggregates molecular and clinical data for biomarker discovery and therapy decision support. It overlaps with Foli Bio's Gut RNA Atlas data-partnership revenue stream, as both monetize molecular data assets for pharma R&D, though Tempus operates at much larger scale across oncology broadly.

Others

• Adaptive Biotechnologies: Adaptive Biotechnologies commercializes immune repertoire sequencing (clonoSEQ, T-Detect) for clinical diagnostics and immune profiling. Both serve pharma with immune-related biomarker and translational services, but Adaptive's analyte is T-cell/B-cell receptor DNA rather than gut host RNA, making the connection thematic rather than directly competitive.

Direct peers

• Freenome: Freenome is a multi-omics blood-based cancer screening company whose first commercial indication is CRC. Both Foli Bio and Freenome pursue non-invasive molecular CRC screening with multi-analyte biomarker strategies, competing for the same clinical-decision-maker accounts and payor coverage.
• Exact Sciences: Exact Sciences markets Cologuard, the leading non-invasive stool-based CRC screening test, and is the most direct competitor to Foli Bio's stool-based CRC/advanced adenoma screening program. Both companies target the same clinical question — non-invasive CRC detection — from a stool sample, but Exact Sciences uses DNA methylation while Foli Bio uses host RNA.
• Geneoscopy: Geneoscopy is developing stool RNA-based colorectal cancer screening tests (ColoSense), making it the closest technical and product analog to Foli Bio. Both companies extract RNA biomarkers from stool samples for non-invasive CRC detection, validating Foli Bio's core thesis that stool RNA is a clinically informative analyte.

Broad incumbents

• Guardant Health: Guardant Health offers the Shield blood-based CRC screening test and a broad liquid biopsy oncology portfolio. While Guardant is a much larger incumbent and uses blood rather than stool, it is a directly comparable competitor in non-invasive CRC screening commercialization, payor engagement, and clinical guideline pursuit.
• 10x Genomics: 10x Genomics provides single-cell and spatial transcriptomics platforms (Chromium, Visium, Xenium) widely used in pharma biomarker discovery and translational research. Both companies enable transcriptomic profiling for translational pharma partners, but 10x is tissue/single-cell-focused and serves a much broader research market.
• Bio-Techne: Bio-Techne is a large life-science tools company offering RNA/DNA reagents, gene expression assays (e.g., nCounter panels), and protein biology kits that compete with Foli-seq panels at the research-tools level. Both serve translational pharma/biotech biomarker discovery workflows, but Bio-Techne has a much broader catalog across many tissues and analytes.
• NanoString (Bruker Spatial Biology): NanoString (now part of Bruker) provides transcriptomics platforms including the nCounter Analysis System and GeoMx digital spatial profiling. Both companies sell gene-expression panel products to translational researchers, but NanoString's technology is tissue-based and broader in scope, while Foli Bio's is stool-based and gut-specific.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/106251305

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds6 records

Investors4 records

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Foli Bio