Important highlights:
- Bio Protocol will raise $6.9 million in seed rounds led by Arthur Hayes’ Maelstrom Fund to expand its Decentralized Science (DESCI) ecosystem.
- The funding supports the development of Bioagents, an AI-driven co-scientist that accelerates biotechnology research and funding.
- The Bio V2 platform introduces tokenized research funding, staking and reward mechanisms aimed at transforming traditional scientific developments.
Strategic funding to accelerate Desci innovation
The Decentralized Science Platform Bioprotocol has raised $6.9 million in seed funding to promote its mission to transform biotechnology research through AI and blockchain technology. The round was led by Maelstrom Fund, the family office of Bitmex co-founder Arthur Hayes, with additional participation from Mechanism Capital, Animaka Brand, Zee Prime Capital, Milana Venture and foresightful ventures.
Launched as the next-generation Desci platform, Bio will enable scientists to convert research into autonomous AI agents known as BioAgent. These agents can autonomously generate hypotheses, manage crypto wallets, raise research funds through token sales, and even begin laboratory testing. The first such agent, Aubrei, was launched in collaboration with Vitadao and famous longevity researcher Aubrey de Gray. It has already minted over 1,000 hypotheses on-chain, raising $900,000 in funding. Bio CEO Paul Kohlhaas said:
“Just as digital publishing has given content creators to new monetization channels, bio allows scientists to operate outside the traditional pharmaceutical ecosystem.”
He also highlighted the potential for a platform that fundamentally accelerates the drug discovery process, reducing the development timeline to “decades to months.”
Arthur Hayes, who has spoken out for the Desci initiative, described bio as the “category definition launchpad” of decentralized, community-driven science. “If that works out, it’s not just a launchpad, it’s the birth of an AI-native research market,” he said.
Bio V2 Platform and Future Roadmap
Bio Protocol recently deployed its upgraded platform, the Bio V2. It introduced new tools for fundraising, staking, and reward systems called BIOXP. The platform’s “ignition sales” feature allows for rapid, small-scale funding for new biological agents and tokenized intellectual property (IP). BIOXP points earned through staking and participation provide early access to these sales, encouraging community engagement and long-term support.
Seed funding is used to navigate regulatory frameworks as it aims to strengthen bio engineering and AI capabilities and to build a global network of decentralized science agents. Beyond Aubrai, Bio plans to launch more biologic agents and IP tokens, covering a wide range of research areas, including dermatology, brain health and rare diseases.
Bio’s growing ecosystem includes projects close to clinical milestones, such as Vita-Fast (a longevity program entering into phase 2 trials), Competa (a brain health supplement in human research), and Curetopia (a rare treatment strategy). So far, bionetworks have helped to direct more than $50 million in funding to labs around the world.
