What IndieBio does

IndieBio is a startup accelerator program operated by SOSV LLC, a venture capital firm. Founded in San Francisco in 2015, it was Silicon Valley's first biotech program to combine on-site bio-labs with pre-seed investment for scientist-founders ready to launch companies. The program subsequently expanded its footprint to include a second location in New York City and extended its mandate from biotechnology into broader deep tech categories, including chemistry, physics, and AI. Its portfolio spans food, agriculture, industrial decarbonization, AI, therapeutics, and diagnostics.

The program's core offering pairs physical wet-lab infrastructure with pre-seed capital and accelerator services for early-stage science entrepreneurs. Between 2015 and 2025, IndieBio supported 310 graduate companies, which collectively raised $3.6 billion in follow-on funding across various stages. At the start of 2026, SOSV rebranded the IndieBio brand to SOSV SF (San Francisco) and SOSV NY (New York City) to reflect the broadened deep tech scope, while retaining the same teams, locations, and facilities. The IndieBio trademark remains held by SOSV LLC.

As a program of a private VC parent, IndieBio does not disclose standalone revenue or pricing; economics for the broader SOSV accelerator system typically derive from fund management fees and equity participation in portfolio companies. The company is privately held with no public listing, and no independent equity holders or minority investors in the IndieBio brand are disclosed in the source material.

Name

IndieBio

Legal name

SOSV LLC

Website

https://indiebio.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Short description

IndieBio is a deep tech startup accelerator operated by SOSV LLC, founded in 2015 in San Francisco, offering on-site bio-labs and pre-seed investment to scientist-founders. The program rebranded in 2026 to SOSV SF and SOSV NY to reflect its expanded scope beyond biotech into all deep tech sectors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Startup Accelerator Programs

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Accelerators & Startup Programs (FSANAHAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Bioprocess Development & Scale-Up/Scale-Down Platforms (DoE, high-throughput, modeling) (HLAAAJAF)

Keywords

• Biotech accelerator programs
• Pre-seed startup funding
• Venture capital incubation
• Deep tech investment
• Startup laboratory access

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Core offering

IndieBio is a startup accelerator program operated by SOSV LLC that provides scientist-founders with on-site bio-laboratory facilities combined with pre-seed capital investment to launch biotech and deep tech companies. Founded in 2015 in San Francisco as Silicon Valley's first biotech program with on-site bio-labs and pre-seed funding, the program supported 310 graduate companies that collectively raised $3.6 billion between 2015 and 2025. In early 2026 it was rebranded to SOSV SF and SOSV NY to reflect an expanded mandate covering all deep tech including chemistry, physics, AI, and biotechnology.

Product overview

IndieBio was a single unified accelerator program — Silicon Valley’s first biotech program to offer bio-labs on site as well as pre-seed investment to scientists ready to launch startups. Between 2015 and 2025, its 310 graduates raised $3.6 billion. At the start of 2026, the program was rebranded to SOSV NY (New York City) and SOSV SF (San Francisco) to capture the program's expanded remit beyond biotech into all deep tech fields including chemistry, physics, and AI.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SOSV SF: Rebranded from IndieBio San Francisco in 2026; deep tech accelerator program operated by SOSV LLC in San Francisco, covering bio, chemistry, physics, AI, and other deep tech sectors.
• SOSV NY

Products and services

• IndieBio Accelerator Program A cohort-based biotech and deep tech startup accelerator program that provides scientist-founders with on-site bio-laboratory facilities, pre-seed capital, and mentorship in exchange for equity in their companies. Designed for pre-seed stage founders working in biotechnology, chemistry, physics, AI, food, agriculture, industrial decarbonization, therapeutics, and diagnostics. In 2026 the program was rebranded to SOSV SF and SOSV NY under parent SOSV LLC to reflect its expanded mandate beyond biotechnology into all of deep tech.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Emerging players

• Petri: Petri is an emerging biotech-specific accelerator providing pre-seed funding and resources to early-stage life science startups, representing a more focused emerging competitor to IndieBio in the biotech acceleration niche.
• Bolt: Bolt is a hardware and deep tech accelerator providing pre-seed investment and prototyping infrastructure, comparable to IndieBio's lab-backed, infrastructure-heavy deep tech acceleration model.
• Entrepreneur First: Entrepreneur First is a global deep tech talent investor that helps scientists and engineers build companies from scratch, operating a similar pre-seed, founder-first model with global cohorts.
• 2048 Ventures: 2048 Ventures is an early-stage venture firm backing technical founders in deep tech, AI, and frontier science — operating in adjacent deep tech pre-seed territory and competing for similar founder talent.

Direct peers

• Techstars: Techstars is a global accelerator network offering mentorship-driven programs with equity investment, including specific biotech and healthcare verticals that compete head-to-head with IndieBio for early-stage life science startups.
• Y Combinator: Y Combinator is the largest global startup accelerator and has built out a dedicated bio track offering pre-seed investment and lab partnerships to scientist-founders, directly competing for the same biotech startup deal flow as IndieBio.
• Plug and Play Tech Center: Plug and Play is a global innovation platform and accelerator running multiple verticals including health and biotech, competing with IndieBio for early-stage biotech and health-tech founders through corporate partnership programs.

Regional players

• BioGenerator: BioGenerator is a St. Louis-based biotech startup accelerator and investor providing pre-seed capital and lab resources to life science founders, operating a comparable model to IndieBio but focused on the St. Louis regional ecosystem.
• Creative Destruction Lab: Creative Destruction Lab is a science-based startup accelerator operating across multiple geographies including Canada, US, and Europe, supporting founders in biotech, energy, and deep tech with a program model comparable to IndieBio.

Broad incumbents

• Flagship Pioneering: Flagship Pioneering is a large, established biotech venture creation firm that originates and funds breakthrough life science companies — a broader incumbent operating upstream in the biotech funnel that overlaps with IndieBio's biotech deal flow.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses2 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

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

Investments1 record

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

Frequently asked questions about IndieBio