BIOPTIMUS
Today, French startup Bioptimus emerged from stealth following a seed funding round of $35M. Under the leadership of Professor Jean-Philippe Vert, PhD, Bioptimus unites a world-class team of scientists from Owkin and Google DeepMind alumni to transform biology with cutting-edge AI foundation model technologies that capture the various scales of biology. This funding round is led by Sofinnova Partners, with Bpifrance Large Venture, and additional support from global funds based in France, including Frst and multistage VC Cathay Innovation. Top global tech investors Headline, Hummingbird, NJF Capital, Owkin and Top Harvest Capital, as well as notable tech entrepreneur Xavier Niel, have joined the round to create a global leader in AI for biology in France.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240220205004/en/
Professor Jean-Philippe Vert, PhD, co-founder and CEO of Bioptimus, Chief R&D Officer of Owkin and former Research Lead at Google Brain, said: “The application of foundation models and generative AI to biology is set to have a profound impact in science. By harnessing the power of foundation models and advanced algorithms trained on massive amounts of biological and multimodal data across scales, we aim to capture the laws of biology that have hitherto remained too complex to be properly understood. This holistic understanding of biology across scales will be critical to accelerate biomedical and environmental science.”
Edward Kliphuis, Partner at Sofinnova Partners, added: “Foundation models in biology are game-changers. They unlock unprecedented potential to personalize medicine, capturing the uniqueness of each individual while harnessing the collective knowledge of all. Bioptimus stands out by seamlessly blending unparalleled data resources and access, elite talent, and extensive computational power. Together with Sofinnova's deep expertise in life sciences and our expansive network, we're poised to redefine the future of the industry."
Laurent Higueret, Senior Investment Director at Bpifrance Large Venture, commented: “Founded on the ambition to make a quantum leap in our understanding of the complexity of human biology and bringing together a top team of accomplished experts in the fields of data science and generative AI, Bioptimus holds the promise to go even deeper in the analysis of patients’ data across multiple levels and help unveil biological connections hitherto unthought-of. We at Bpifrance are delighted to team-up with such an impressive team and group of investors and support the development of a category defining company that has the potential to disrupt many R&D activities.”
Bioptimus will benefit from Owkin’s data generation capabilities and federated global access to multimodal patient data sourced from leading academic hospitals worldwide, as well as a best-in-class, scalable and secure computing environment from Amazon Web Services, Inc (AWS). Fueled by an abundance of data from all scales and modalities, this gives the power to create computational representations that establish a strong differentiation against models trained solely on public datasets and a single data modality that are not able to capture the full diversity of biology.
About Bioptimus
Bioptimus is building the first universal AI foundation model in biology to drive advancements in scientific research and biotechnological innovation. Leveraging a team of world-class experts, employing state-of-the-art AI technologies and accessing unique proprietary data at scale, we aim to fuel breakthrough discoveries and accelerate innovations in biomedicine and beyond. For more information, please visit https://www.bioptimus.com.
About Owkin
Owkin is a TechBio company that combines the best of human and artificial intelligence to ensure every patient gets the right treatment. By understanding complex biology through AI, we identify new treatments, de-risk and accelerate clinical trials and develop AI diagnostics. Owkin uses privacy-enhancing federation to access up-to-date multimodal patient data that unlocks AI’s potential to power precision medicine. We merge wet lab experiments with advanced AI techniques to create a powerful feedback loop for accelerated discovery and innovation. Owkin founded MOSAIC, the world’s largest multi-omics atlas for cancer research. Owkin has raised over $300 million through investments from leading biopharma companies (Sanofi and BMS) and venture funds (Fidelity, GV and Bpifrance, among others).
About Sofinnova Partners
Sofinnova Partners is a leading European venture capital firm in life sciences, specializing in healthcare and sustainability. Based in Paris, London and Milan, the firm brings together a team of professionals from all over the world with strong scientific, medical and business expertise. Sofinnova Partners invests in companies from seed to late-stage, and actively partners with ambitious entrepreneurs as a lead or cornerstone investor to develop innovations that will positively impact our collective future.
Founded in 1972, Sofinnova Partners has backed over 500 companies and created market leaders around the globe. Today, Sofinnova Partners has over €2.5 billion under management. For more information, please visit: sofinnovapartners.com
About Bpifrance and its Large Venture fund
Bpifrance is the French Public Investment Bank and acts as one-stop-shop offering domestic companies a comprehensive range of financial products and services to support them at every stage of their development including equity, loans, guarantees and export insurances, as well as consultancy or training.
Large Venture - the late-stage VC arm of Bpifrance - is a €1.75 billion fund dedicated to fast-growing, highly innovative startups looking to accelerate organic or external growth. Large Venture was incepted in 2013 with the mission to bring the most promising French technologies from the lab to the market, and ultimately to profitability. Large Venture invests in private and public companies across three main sectors: healthtech and life sciences, digital and greentech. For more information, please visit us at: bpifrance.fr
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240220205004/en/
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
EIG Acquires a 49.87% Stake in Transportadora de Gas del Perú (TgP)19.12.2025 18:42:00 CET | Press release
EIG, through its managed investment vehicles, acquired a 49.87% equity stake in Transportadora de Gas del Perú S.A. (“TgP”) from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board today. TgP operates Peru’s principal natural gas and natural gas liquids pipelines under a long-term concession, supplying approximately 40% of the country’s power generation. “We are delighted to complete this transaction and embark on the next chapter of our partnership with TgP,” said Matt Hartman, EIG’s Global Head of Infrastructure. “Our priority is to support TgP’s operational excellence and long-term stability, delivering value for customers and stakeholders throughout Peru.” About EIG EIG is a leading institutional investor in the global energy and infrastructure sectors with $24.3 billion assets under management as of September 30, 2025. EIG specializes in private investments in energy and energy-related infrastructure on a global basis. During its 43-year history, EIG has committed over $51.7 billion to the energ
CyberArk Named a Leader in IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Integrated Solutions for Identity Security 202519.12.2025 17:00:00 CET | Press release
Unified platform uses AI and automation to accelerate time-intensive workflows, streamline operations and improve threat detectionEnables CISOs to consolidate cybersecurity stack, optimizing total cost of ownership CyberArk (NASDAQ: CYBR), the global leader in identity security, today announced that it has been recognized as a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Integrated Solutions for Identity Security 2025 Vendor Assessment. CyberArk extends dynamic privilege controls across all identity types with its unified platform, enabling organizations to improve efficiencies and streamline security operations. This IDC MarketScape report notes, “More change has occurred in the identity security marketplace in the past two years than in almost a decade. Vendors are entering a new phase defined by the emergence of intelligence technologies, none of which are specifically defined by any industry standards. Though different by design, the new adjacent IAM offerings are largely focused on im
New York Liberty and Ant International’s Alipay+ Announce Multiyear Partnership Focused on Empowerment, Sustainability and Youth Development19.12.2025 14:30:00 CET | Press release
Ant International’s Alipay+ Named an Official Sponsor and Innovation Partner for Sustainability of the Team The New York Liberty and Ant International’s Alipay+, a leading cross-border fintech services platform based in Singapore, today announced a multiyear partnership, making Alipay+ an Official Sponsor and Innovation Partner for Sustainability of the New York Liberty. Through this partnership, Alipay+ and the Liberty will jointly support community programs designed to advance community empowerment, environmental sustainability and youth development across New York City. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251219678825/en/ Peng Yang, CEO, Ant International and Clara Wu Tsai, Vice Chair, Brooklyn Sports and Entertainment; Governor, New York Liberty “Our partnership with Alipay+ goes beyond the game,” said Keia Clarke, Chief Executive Officer, New York Liberty. “Together, we are investing in the future of New York
Parse Biosciences and Codebreaker Labs Partner to Apply Whole Transcriptome Single Cell Profiling and Causal Genomics at Scale19.12.2025 14:00:00 CET | Press release
Collaboration pairs robust synthetic biology platform with massive scale single cell sequencing to overcome long-standing challenges in variant mapping Parse Biosciences, the leading provider of scalable and accessible single cell sequencing solutions, today announced a collaboration with Codebreaker Labs to develop and validate a breakthrough platform capable of testing thousands of genetic variants in parallel and measuring their effects at single cell resolution. By combining Codebreaker’s synthetic biology platform and variant engineering capabilities with the scale and accessibility of Parse’s Evercode™ technology, the collaboration aims to generate the causal data increasingly sought by AI developers, drug discovery teams, and clinical researchers. Today’s genomic studies rely heavily on observational data, or variants that appear in large populations. But rare and private variants, often only seen in one individual or family, are nearly impossible to study this way because too f
Cinemo Launches Cinemo ICO™, Accelerating the AI-Driven Intelligent Cockpit19.12.2025 11:00:00 CET | Press release
The future of in-car intelligence, delivered today for hyper-personalized, safer, smarter, and more exceptional journeys Cinemo, a global leader and highly innovative one-stop-shop provider for fully integrated digital media products announces today the launch of its next-generation, AI-powered cockpit solutions - Cinemo ICO™. By bringing agentic AI, Cinemo unlocks a truly intelligent cockpit - connecting vehicles, drivers, passengers, and their digital ecosystems into one seamless, personal and context-aware flow. The first product launched within the Cinemo ICO™ portfolio is Cinemo ICO™ MediaMind, enabling advanced intelligent media discovery. It combines the latest agentic AI technology with Cinemo’s core expertise of providing automotive-grade media management, helping users effortlessly discover the right content for every ride - perfectly matched to their taste, context, and environment. With Cinemo ICO™ MediaMind, the digital media experience evolves: using cutting-edge large la
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom