Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution

What Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution does

The Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) is an international non-profit professional scientific society founded in 1993 and headquartered at 301 Concourse Blvd., Suite 210, Glen Allen, VA. It serves academic researchers, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty/principal investigators working in molecular biology, evolutionary biology, genetics, and genomics, with secondary outreach to underrepresented scientists in the Global South, Asia, and Oceania.

SMBE's core products are two peer-reviewed journals published in partnership with Oxford University Press — Molecular Biology and Evolution (MBE) and Genome Biology and Evolution (GBE) — along with a portfolio of branded awards (Faculty Awards, Graduate Student Excellence Awards, Best Graduate Student Paper Awards, Fellows Program, Caregiver Award, travel awards) and a recurring program of conferences. The annual conference is geographically rotated (Auckland 2022 cancelled, SMBE Everywhere virtual symposia 2022-2023, Ferrara 2023, Mexico 2024, China 2025), supplemented by satellite/regional meetings with up to $50,000 in support funding each, virtual symposia (SMBE Everywhere), and capacity-building programs including the EvoBio Crash Course, Virtual Lab Meeting Training Program, ScienceWise podcast, ORBE24 Olympiad, and Local Leadership in Science workshops.

The society operates through digital platforms for membership management, conference registration, and virtual event delivery. Revenue derives from journal subscriptions and publishing fees, multi-year membership dues ($10/3yr student, $30/3yr regular), conference and satellite registration fees (trainees $30, PIs $100 for satellite meetings), and grants/donations supporting IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access) initiatives with an annual IDEA General Initiatives budget of $25,000 plus $10,000 each for Outreach and Local Leadership. Membership is the primary recurring revenue stream, with conference and journal activity as ancillary revenue channels.

Name

Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution

Legal name

Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution

Website

https://smbe.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1993

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) is an international non-profit scientific society founded in 1993 that advances molecular and evolutionary biology through two Oxford University Press journals (MBE, GBE), annually rotated conferences, satellite meetings, awards, and IDEA inclusion initiatives serving academic researchers and students worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Scientific Society Services

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Life Sciences (Biology, Ecology, Agriculture) Scholarly Publishing (EDAGAFAC)

Keywords

• Scientific society membership
• Peer-reviewed journals
• Molecular evolution conferences
• Scientific research awards
• Academic publishing services

Headquarters

HQ city

Lawrence

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Journal Publications: SMBE publishes Molecular Biology and Evolution (MBE) and Genome Biology and Evolution (GBE), which generate revenue through academic journal subscriptions and publishing fees.
2. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees provide revenue and fund society activities including awards, meetings, and IDEA initiatives.
3. Conference Registration: Revenue generated from annual meeting, satellite meetings, and regional conference registrations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

The Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) is an international nonprofit scientific society that advances the field of molecular biology and evolution. It publishes two peer-reviewed journals (Molecular Biology and Evolution, and Genome Biology and Evolution), hosts an annual meeting plus regional satellite meetings, and administers research awards and inclusion initiatives for its global scientific membership.

Product overview

The Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) is a professional scientific society that publishes two peer-reviewed journals (Molecular Biology and Evolution and Genome Biology and Evolution), hosts annual and satellite meetings, and recognizes excellence through awards. The society operates through its membership organization, offering various programs including Graduate Student Excellence Awards, Faculty Awards, and IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access) initiatives. SMBE provides virtual programming through SMBE Everywhere and supports regional meetings worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Molecular Biology and Evolution (MBE) A monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering molecular evolution, phylogenetics, comparative genomics, and population genetics, published for researchers, faculty, and students in evolutionary biology.
• Genome Biology and Evolution (GBE) An open-access peer-reviewed journal covering genome-scale evolutionary analyses, comparative genomics, and evolutionary bioinformatics for the scientific community.
• SMBE Annual Meeting An annual international scientific conference that brings together researchers, students, and faculty in molecular evolution for presentations, networking, and collaboration.
• SMBE Satellite Meetings Regionally or topically focused scientific meetings held in conjunction with the annual meeting, enabling deeper discussion on specialized topics in molecular evolution.
• SMBE Society Membership An annual membership subscription providing researchers, students, and professionals with benefits such as reduced journal subscription rates, conference registration discounts, and voting rights.
• SMBE Research Awards Program A portfolio of awards (e.g., Young Investigator Award, Lifetime Achievement Award) recognizing excellence in research contributions to molecular biology and evolution.

Quantifiable outcome

• ScienceWise podcast reached over 1000 unique listeners and recorded over 1700 downloads
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered minor and major.

• Scientific Publisher AllianceminorOthersSMBE is a member of the Scientific Publisher Alliance, an organization supporting scientific publishing interests.
• University of AucklandmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosted SMBE 2022 annual meeting in Auckland, New Zealand (cancelled due to COVID-19, replaced by SMBE Everywhere virtual event).
• University of FerraramajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosted SMBE 2023 annual meeting in Ferrara, Italy from July 23-27, 2023.
• Mexico (Local Organizing Committee)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosted SMBE 2024 annual meeting in Mexico, part of geographic rotation to encourage international participation.
• Texas A&M UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosted SMBE Satellite Meeting on De Novo Gene Birth, November 6-9, 2023. Additional sponsors include Department of Ecology and Conservation Biology, Graduate Program in Genetics and Genomics, and School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
• Arizona State University (Biology Integration Institute)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on NSF BII for Mechanisms of Cellular Evolution's Annual Symposium, November 8-11, 2023 in Tempe, AZ.
• Princeton UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosted SMBE Satellite Meeting on Molecular Evolution in Small Populations, June 28-30, 2023.
• Trinity College DublinminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosted SMBE Satellite Meeting on Ancient DNA - Beyond Allele Frequencies, July 9-31, 2024.
• Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost institution for ORBE24 (Evolutionary Biology Olympiad) initiative supported by SMBE IDEA Outreach grant.
• University of Parakou (Benin)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosted Local Leadership in Science workshop in May 2025, funded by SMBE IDEA Local Leadership grant ($10,000).
• QubesHubminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHosts Resources for Inclusive Evolution Education (RIE2) platform created with IDEA funding.
• Oxford University PressmajorTechnology or IntegrationPublisher of SMBE journals Molecular Biology and Evolution and Genome Biology and Evolution.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Society of Systematic Biologists: Publishes Systematic Biology and co-hosts the Evolution meeting. Peer society in evolutionary biology with similar membership, journal, and conference model.
• Society for the Study of Evolution: Founder-aligned society publishing Evolution journal and hosting the annual Evolution meeting, often co-located with SMBE and the American Society of Naturalists. Directly comparable membership society with peer-reviewed journal, annual conference, and student awards serving the same evolutionary biology community.
• European Society for Evolutionary Biology: Regional counterpart society that publishes the Journal of Evolutionary Biology and runs the biennial ESEB Congress. Directly comparable society structure with journals, conference, and outreach grants aimed at evolutionary biology researchers.
• Genetics Society of America: Operates as a peer professional society in genetics/genomics, publishing GENETICS and G3 journals and hosting the annual Drosophila, fungal, and population genetics conferences. Directly comparable membership-based scientific society model with peer-reviewed journals and awards programs serving overlapping researcher communities.
• International Society for Computational Biology: Publishes Bioinformatics and the ISMB conference, serving computational/molecular biology researchers with overlapping membership. Comparable professional society with peer-reviewed journal, annual flagship conference (ISMB), and student awards.
• American Society of Naturalists: Publishes The American Naturalist and co-hosts the Evolution annual meeting with SSE and SMBE. Small, scholarly society with comparable journal + conference + awards model in evolutionary biology.

Broad incumbents

• American Association for the Advancement of Science: Publisher of Science and Science family journals and convener of the AAAS Annual Meeting. Massive incumbent with a comparable publishing-and-meetings society model, but serving all of science rather than SMBE's molecular evolution niche.
• American Society for Microbiology: Large, established scientific society publishing multiple journals (mBio, J. Bacteriology, etc.) and hosting the annual ASM Microbe meeting. Much broader portfolio but operates the same journal+conference+awards society model in adjacent life-sciences fields.
• The Royal Society (Biology): Historic learned society publishing Proceedings B and Philosophical Transactions B and running high-profile scientific meetings. Comparable publisher-and-society model with strong brand in evolutionary and molecular biology.

Others

• Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (citation context) - Oxford University Press: Oxford University Press is the publishing partner that distributes MBE and GBE globally. Not a peer but a critical infrastructure partner and ecosystem participant whose OA transition decisions directly shape SMBE's journal economics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/officialsmbe
• Facebookfacebook.com/OfficialSMBE
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/society-for-molecular-biology-and-evolution

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution