a16z begins investing in DeSci with AminoChain and leads $5M seed funding round

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has made its first investment in a decentralized science (DeSci) project, backing AminoChain with $5 million in a seed funding round.

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In 1951, Henrietta Lacks had her cells harvested without her knowledge or consent. Her cells, now known as “HeLa” cells, became one of the most important tools of modern medicine, leading to advances in medical care from the polio vaccine to cancer treatments. For 72 years, Lacks was the first to have a genetically modified organism. image.twitter.com/01tZme6gLL

— AriannaSimpson.eth (@AriannaSimpson) twitter.com/AriannaSimpson/status/1838935496220688583?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” target=”_blank” rel=”nofollow noopener noreferrer”>September 25, 2024

The funding, led by a16z, will support AminoChain’s development of a decentralized biobank and layer-2 network. The project aims to improve ownership, transparency, and consent in the collection of medical data, using blockchain technology to enable enterprise medical institutions to securely share data while maintaining patient privacy.

AminoChain’s platform includes proprietary software called “Amino Node,” which integrates with medical institutions’ technologies. The software ensures that while data remains in their own custody on institutional servers, it is harmonized into a standardized format for interoperable collaboration. This system allows developers to build patient-centric applications and obtain data from multiple institutions.

The project’s first product will be the Specimen Center, a peer-to-peer marketplace for biological samples, which will enable biobanks to offer researchers access to their collections and track the provenance of biological samples across networks. AminoChain previously raised $2 million in seed funding, bringing the total capital raised to $7 million.

The investment is notable for its impact on decentralized science, a growing movement that seeks to make scientific research more open and collaborative through the use of blockchain. For the cryptocurrency industry, it represents another step toward applying decentralized technology to traditionally centralized sectors like healthcare, potentially transforming medical data sharing and research collaboration.

Decentralized science (DeSci) seeks to reshape scientific research through the use of blockchain and Web3 principles, addressing issues of funding, publishing, and collaboration, and integrating nft-based IP management and decentralized data storage. Key projects such as VitaDAO, ResearchHub, Molecule Protocol, and AthenaDAO lead the DeSci movement, showcasing their roles from funding to data management through blockchain applications.