Colossal Biosciences, a de-extinction startup, raises Series C funding to advance its mission of combating the extinction crisis with innovative genetic engineering.
Colossal Biosciences, the world’s first de-extinction startup, has secured $200M in a Series C funding round led by TWG Global. This Dallas-based biotech firm, co-founded by visionary entrepreneur Ben Lamm and renowned Harvard geneticist Dr. George Church, now boasts an impressive valuation of $10.2B. Since its inception in 2021, the company has raised a total of $435M, harnessing groundbreaking genetic engineering technologies to champion an audacious and inspiring mission: making extinction a phenomenon of the past.
The investment, spearheaded by Mark Walter and Thomas Tull of TWG Global, will fuel Colossal’s ambitious expansion efforts, including scaling laboratory operations, growing expert teams, and advancing its portfolio of de-extinction species candidates. Highlighting the company’s remarkable progress, Lamm expressed his excitement: “Our recent successes in creating the technologies necessary for our end-to-end de-extinction toolkit have been met with enthusiasm by the investor community. TWG Global and our other partners have been bullish in their desire to help us scale as quickly and efficiently as possible. This funding will grow our team, support new technology development, expand our de-extinction species list, while continuing to allow us to carry forth our mission to make extinction a thing of the past.”
De-extinction startup revolutionising conservation with world-first innovations
Imagine a world where species that once vanished from the Earth are reintroduced to their natural habitats. This vision underpins Colossal’s pioneering work, which integrates computational biology, advanced genetic engineering, and embryology to tackle the urgent biodiversity crisis. Mark Walter commended the company’s groundbreaking efforts: “Colossal has assembled a world-class team that has already driven, in a short period of time, significant technology innovations and impact in advancing conservation, which is a core value of TWG Global. We are thrilled to support Colossal as it accelerates and scales its mission to combat the animal extinction crisis.”
Currently, Colossal employs over 170 dedicated scientists and collaborates with leading research labs in Boston, Dallas, and Melbourne. The company also sponsors over 40 postdoctoral scholars and supports research initiatives at 16 prestigious universities worldwide. Its advisory board comprises more than 95 distinguished experts spanning genomics, ecology, palaeontology, and conservation science, fostering rapid advancements in genome mapping, phenotypic analysis, and multiplex genome editing techniques.
From mammoths to dodos: De-extinction with species-focused breakthroughs
Colossal’s flagship projects target the de-extinction of three iconic species: the woolly mammoth, thylacine, and dodo. Among its notable achievements, the company has generated the most comprehensive genomes for these species and developed advanced tools to overcome the complex challenges of avian and mammalian genetic engineering. For instance, the mammoth team has successfully derived and characterised pluripotent stem cells from Asian elephants, representing a crucial step toward producing cold-adapted mammoth-like traits suitable for Arctic environments.
The thylacine team, operating from research hubs in Texas and Australia, recently achieved a groundbreaking 99.9% complete genome using ancient RNA—a milestone once considered unattainable. Concurrently, the avian genomics group has made remarkable progress in their mission to resurrect the dodo, leveraging state-of-the-art techniques in primordial germ cell cultivation and precision genome editing.
Beth Shapiro, Colossal’s Chief Science Officer, elaborated on the dodo project’s advancements: “The unique challenges of avian reproduction require bespoke approaches to genetic engineering, for example, and our dodo team has had impressive success translating tools developed for chickens to tools that have even greater success in pigeons. While work remains, the pace of discovery within our dodo team has exceeded expectations.”
Scaling solutions for a biodiversity crisis
The global extinction crisis has reached alarming proportions, with approximately 27,000 species disappearing annually—far exceeding the natural extinction rate of 10 to 100 per year. Colossal’s innovative technological solutions, encompassing software, wetware, and hardware, provide scalable methods to address this crisis and restore ecological balance.
In 2024, the de-extinction startup launched the Colossal Foundation, an initiative dedicated to partnering with 48 conservation organisations on groundbreaking projects. These include genetic rescue efforts for endangered species and the development of cutting-edge solutions such as a gene-editing tool to neutralise cane toad toxins threatening Australia’s northern quoll population. The foundation also employs AI-powered tools to locate elusive and critically endangered species like the ivory-billed woodpecker and the tooth-billed pigeon, exemplifying the transformative potential of their innovations.
Investing in the future of life
The de-extinction startup’s innovative approach has attracted a diverse array of investors, including institutional giants like USIT, Breyer Capital, and In-Q-Tel. Private backers, such as acclaimed filmmaker Peter Jackson and renowned explorer Victor Vescovo, underscore the widespread appeal of its visionary mission.
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