Open Brain Institute

What Open Brain Institute does

Open Brain Institute (OBI) is a non-profit organization founded in 2025 by Henry Markram with a mission to empower researchers and organizations with advanced tools to explore and build digital brain models. The organization operates the Open Brain Platform, a cloud-based environment featuring Virtual Labs that allow researchers to conduct realistic brain simulations, test hypotheses, and explore neural circuits across multiple biological scales (subcellular, cellular, circuit, system, and whole-brain). The underlying technology is built on over two decades of research and development, comprising 18 million lines of code that power AI-driven processing of brain scan data and research into structured knowledge graphs, atlases, and algorithms capable of recreating the structure and function of neurons, synapses, circuits, brain regions, and the connectome.

The platform serves neuroscience researchers, developers and engineers in computational neuroscience, and research institutions seeking AI-driven, biologically grounded modeling tools. It exposes a tiered commercial offering with a Free tier for exploration with limited credits, a Pro tier offering full platform access and team collaboration, and a Premium tier with advanced features, exclusive onboarding, and a dedicated account manager. Distribution combines a self-serve product-led growth model for individual researchers with a consultative enterprise sales motion for institutional customers, supplemented by event-driven demand generation at conferences such as FENS2026. Early adopters include Mila, the IT IS Foundation, Inait, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the Safra Center for Brain Sciences, UC3M, and the Université de Montréal. The organization is governed by a board of pioneering neuroscientists including Kamila Markram, Idan Segev, Javier de Felipe Oroquieta, and Sean Hill.

Name

Open Brain Institute

Legal name

Open Brain Institute

Website

https://openbraininstitute.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2025

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Open Brain Institute is a non-profit founded in 2025 that operates a cloud-based Virtual Labs platform for multi-scale digital brain simulation, serving neuroscience researchers, developers, and academic institutions with AI-powered modeling tools built on 20 years of R&D.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Computational Neuroscience Software

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (51821)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Labs, Simulations & Virtual Practicals (Non-XR) (EDAFACAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Lab & Science Virtual Labs (Chemistry, Biology, Physics) (EDAFAJAE)

Keywords

• Digital brain modeling
• Neuroscience simulation platform
• Computational neuroscience tools
• Cloud neuroscience research
• Virtual brain laboratories

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Subscription Tiers (Free/Pro/Premium): Tiered subscription model with Free tier (limited credits for exploration), Pro tier (full platform access with additional credits and team collaboration), and Premium tier (advanced features with dedicated account management). The Premium tier suggests a consultative enterprise sales motion for institutions requiring tailored support.
2. Usage-Based Credits: Free and Pro tiers include simulation credits that can be consumed for running brain simulations. Premium likely includes higher or unlimited credit allocations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Open Brain Institute operates the Open Brain Platform, a cloud-based research environment featuring Virtual Labs that enable researchers to explore, build, and simulate digital brain models across multiple biological scales—from subcellular ion channels and metabolism to cellular neurons, microcircuits, and whole-brain networks. The platform is powered by an AI-driven Digital Brain Modeling Engine built on 18 million lines of code developed over more than two decades, providing a comprehensive repository of pre-built models, connectivity algorithms, and morphology workflow tools for computational neuroscience research.

Product overview

Open Brain Institute offers the Open Brain Platform as a unified cloud-based research platform featuring Virtual Labs. The platform provides computational modeling services and a comprehensive repository of digital brain models across multiple biological scales: subcellular (ion channels, metabolism, NGV units), cellular (single neurons, synaptome, paired neurons), circuit (small microcircuits, microcircuits, NGV circuits), and system-level (brain regions, brain systems, whole brain). The platform operates on a tiered pricing model (Free, Pro, Premium) and enables researchers to conduct realistic brain simulations, test hypotheses, and explore neural circuit complexity.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Open Brain Platform: Cloud-based platform providing Virtual Labs for neuroscience research, digital brain modeling, simulation, and analysis across multiple scales from individual neurons to whole-brain networks.

Products and services

• Open Brain Platform A cloud-based platform for performing neuroscience research at scale, enabling users to explore, build, and experiment with digital brain models across multiple biological scales from subcellular to whole brain. The platform hosts Virtual Labs with computational modeling services and a comprehensive repository of digital brain models for academic researchers, research institutions, and AI/neurotechnology organizations.
• Virtual Labs Dynamic, cloud-based environments equipped with computational modeling services and a comprehensive repository of digital brain models, allowing users to conduct realistic brain simulations, test hypotheses, and explore neural circuits. Virtual Labs support multi-scale modeling from individual neurons and microcircuits to entire brain regions and full-brain networks.

Quantifiable outcome

• Researchers can generate approximately 70,000 kilometers of axons in mouse digital brain models, demonstrating the scale and complexity the platform can handle.

Named customers7 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• IT IS FoundationcoreOthersEarly adopter of the Open Brain Institute platform, using Virtual Labs for neuroscience research. IT IS Foundation is a research-focused organization collaborating on the development and application of digital brain models.
• InaitcoreOthersEarly adopter leveraging the Virtual Labs platform for neuroscience and AI-driven research applications. Inait is a technology company focused on neural computation and brain-inspired AI.
• MilacoreOthersEarly adopter (Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute) using the platform for advanced neuroscience research. Mila is a renowned AI research institute bringing expertise in machine learning and AI to neuroscience applications.
• The Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Brain SciencescoreOthersEarly adopter, using Virtual Labs for computational neuroscience research. The Safra Center is a leading neuroscience research center at Hebrew University focused on understanding brain function.
• The Hebrew University of JerusalemcoreOthersEarly adopter institution using the platform for neuroscience research and education. One of Israel's leading research universities with significant investment in brain science research.
• UC3M - Universidad Carlos 3 de MadridcoreOthersEarly adopter from Spain using Virtual Labs for neuroscience research. UC3M is a public university in Madrid known for engineering and science programs.
• Université de MontréalcoreOthersEarly adopter from Canada using the platform for neuroscience research. A major French-language research university with strong neuroscience and AI programs.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Schrödinger: Provider of computational science software for chemistry, materials, and life sciences R&D. Comparable as a broader scientific simulation platform serving enterprise R&D buyers with subscription-based, compute-intensive modeling tools.
• Wolfram Research: Provider of Mathematica and Wolfram Alpha used across scientific computing, including computational neuroscience workflows. Comparable as a broad computational toolset platform serving academic researchers.
• MathWorks: Vendor of MATLAB and Simulink, which are widely used by computational neuroscientists for modeling and simulation. Comparable as an established scientific computing platform whose products overlap with parts of OBI's workflow.
• Benchling: Cloud-based R&D platform serving biotech and life sciences organizations. Comparable as a SaaS platform offering scientific researchers a unified cloud environment for experimental work, though focused on biotech data rather than brain simulation.

Direct peers

• The NEST Initiative: Open-source neural network simulator widely used in computational neuroscience for spiking network simulation. Directly competes for the same researcher workflows that OBI's Virtual Labs targets.
• Allen Institute for Brain Science: Non-profit neuroscience research organization that builds large-scale brain atlases, datasets, and modeling tools for the research community. Comparable as a mission-aligned non-profit producing shared infrastructure for digital brain research.
• BrainScaleS: European neuromorphic computing platform for biologically realistic neural simulations. Comparable as a research-infrastructure provider offering large-scale brain-inspired simulation services to academic users.
• EBRAINS: European digital brain research infrastructure providing shared computing, data, and brain simulation services to neuroscience researchers. Closest comparable in mission, scope, and target user base — both offer cloud-hosted environments for digital brain modeling.
• HHMI Janelia Research Campus: Major non-profit neuroscience research campus that develops tools, instrumentation, and computational methods for brain research. Comparable as a shared-infrastructure provider to the neuroscience research community.
• Blue Brain Project: EPFL-based digital brain reconstruction project founded by Henry Markram that pioneered many of the digital brain modeling approaches now commercialized by OBI. Highly comparable in technical approach and scientific lineage.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/OpenBrainInst
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@openbraininstitute
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/openbraininstitute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Open Brain Institute