Janelia

What Janelia does

Janelia Research Campus is a nonprofit scientific research institute founded in 2006 and operated as a wholly-owned facility of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). Headquartered in Ashburn, Virginia, the campus employs 51-100 direct staff and convenes more than 40 principal investigator labs plus extensive shared scientific infrastructure, including Cryo-Electron Microscopy, Mass Spectrometry, Flow Cytometry, High Performance Computing, Vivarium, and the Janelia Experimental Technology (jET) program. Its mission is to pursue fundamental neuroscience questions of a scale and time horizon that traditional university laboratories cannot sustain, with a current strategic focus on understanding how a vertebrate brain produces complex behavior.

The institute's primary technical platform is "AI-in-the-Loop Discovery," a methodology in which scientists and AI systems operate as one continuous loop covering data analysis, model building, experimental design, and pipeline automation. This methodology is co-developed with Google and Anthropic under HHMI's institutional AI initiative (AI@HHMI). Core biological platforms include the fruit fly (where Janelia has produced the world's largest synaptic-level brain maps, including a 2025 complete male CNS connectome of roughly 140,000 neurons), larval zebrafish (the only vertebrate allowing whole-brain imaging during behavior), and Danionella (a transparent adult vertebrate enabling whole-brain imaging in a living animal). Outputs include sensors, microscopes, dyes, genetic tool collections, and AI tooling, which are openly released under an open-science model and have become standard equipment in laboratories worldwide.

Janelia does not sell products or services commercially. Revenue is generated solely through HHMI endowment funding, with no public revenue disclosure. Distribution relies on open-science release of tools and data, peer-reviewed publication in top-tier journals (Nature, Cell, Neuron, Nature Methods), and selective conferences and workshops reaching up to 70 participants and over 20 Nobel Laureates cumulatively. Customer segments are horizontal and primarily serve global neuroscience research laboratories, supplemented by graduate students and postdoctoral fellows trained through partnerships with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Summer Undergraduate Research Program.

Name

Janelia

Legal name

Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Website

https://janelia.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Janelia Research Campus is a nonprofit neuroscience research institute operated by Howard Hughes Medical Institute, using AI-in-the-Loop Discovery to map brain circuitry in fruit fly, zebrafish, and Danionella, and releasing tools, reagents, and data openly to global research laboratories.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Neuroscience Research

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826)

akta.pro primary industry

In Vitro Model Systems & Organoid Platforms (iPSC/organoids, microphysiological systems) (HLAAAIAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

AI/ML Platforms for Drug Discovery & Experiment Optimization (HLAGAJAO), Microscopy, Imaging & Flow Cytometry Instruments (HLAGAIAE), Bioinformatics, Multi-Omics Data Analysis & Interpretation Services (HLAGANAI)

Keywords

• Neuroscience research
• Connectomics research
• Brain imaging
• Biomedical research
• AI-driven biology

Headquarters

HQ city

Ashburn

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, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Research Funding: Janelia Research Campus is funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) as a research facility. It does not generate commercial revenue but operates as a nonprofit scientific research campus.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Janelia Research Campus conducts fundamental neuroscience research using AI-in-the-Loop Discovery, a methodology in which scientists and AI work together as a continuous system to investigate how a vertebrate brain produces complex behavior. It develops and openly releases research tools, reagents, sensors, microscopes, dyes, wiring diagrams, and genetic tool collections for use by laboratories worldwide, while operating research programs on fruit fly connectomics, larval zebrafish whole-brain imaging, and the Danionella whole-organism vertebrate platform.

Product overview

Janelia Research Campus is a research institution operated by Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), not a commercial product company. It does not offer commercial products or services. The institution focuses on neuroscience research using AI-in-the-Loop Discovery methodology, studying neural circuits in model organisms including fruit flies, larval zebrafish, and Danionella. Janelia develops tools, instruments, reagents, genetic tool collections, wiring diagrams, and methodologies that are openly released for use by laboratories worldwide. The institution provides research conferences, workshops, and training programs for scientists rather than commercial products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• AI-in-the-Loop Discovery A research methodology and program in which scientists' expertise and AI's analytical power operate in a continuous loop to drive biological discovery at unprecedented speed and scale, with AI systems developed in collaboration with Google, Anthropic, and AI@HHMI.
• Fruit Fly Connectome Program Decades-long research program producing complete neural maps of the fruit fly, including the 2020 hemibrain connectome (then the largest and most detailed synaptic-level brain map ever produced) and the 2025 first complete connectome of an adult male fruit fly's entire central nervous system with approximately 140,000 neurons.
• Larval Zebrafish Whole-Brain Imaging Research program using larval zebrafish, the only vertebrate in which every neuron in the brain can be imaged at once during behavior, to build the whole-brain pipeline and uncover fundamental principles underlying sensorimotor processing and motor learning.
• Danionella Whole-Organism Vertebrate Platform Research program built around Danionella, a transparent adult vertebrate enabling imaging of the whole brain in a living animal during natural, complex behavior, supporting recording, mapping, and understanding of how biology becomes behavior.
• Joint Graduate Programs with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Innovative collaborative graduate training programs operated with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, allowing students to participate in thesis supervision by Janelia lab researchers.
• Summer Undergraduate Research Program Undergraduate research experience program providing students from partner institutions with access to Janelia's research facilities and mentorship.
• Theory Fellow Program Postdoctoral-level training program for theorists at Janelia, supporting early-career researchers in computational and theoretical neuroscience.
• Scientific Computing Associates Program Training program for scientific computing professionals supporting Janelia's computational and AI-driven research infrastructure.
• Scientific Conferences and Workshops Selective, small, highly specialized scientific meetings (up to ~70 participants) that foster conversation, collaboration, and inspiration within the research environment, alongside intense Junior Scientist Workshops for graduate students and postdocs selected via application.
• Open Science Tools and Data Browseable collection of tools, reagents, imaging instrumentation, laboratory tools, model organisms, datasets, and open source software openly released by Janelia for use by laboratories worldwide, including sensors, microscopes, dyes, wiring diagrams, and genetic tool collections that have become standard equipment globally.

Quantifiable outcome

• Published fruit fly hemibrain connectome - then the largest and most detailed synaptic-level brain map ever produced (2020)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• GooglecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGoogle collaborates with Janelia on AI capabilities for biological research, advancing the AI-in-the-Loop Discovery methodology where AI systems analyze complex data and help design tools and automated pipelines.
• AnthropiccoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAnthropic collaborates with Janelia on AI capabilities for biological research, supporting the development of AI-in-the-Loop Discovery systems.
• AI@HHMIcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAI@HHMI is Howard Hughes Medical Institute's institutional commitment to artificial intelligence in biological research, supporting Janelia's AI-in-the-Loop methodology development.
• Johns Hopkins University School of MedicinecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJanelia collaborates with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine on two innovative and collaborative graduate training programs. Students can participate in joint graduate programs with thesis supervision from Janelia labs.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HHMIJanelia
• Facebookfacebook.com/HHMIJRC
• Instagraminstagram.com/hhmijanelia
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/janelia

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

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Janelia