Best Life Sciences Platforms and Tools Companies in San Francisco, United States
The 124 best Life Sciences Platforms and Tools companies in San Francisco, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Nektar.
Our analysis of 50 Life Sciences Platforms and Tools companies
$4.8b in tracked funding; 68% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
Ranked: Best Life Sciences Platforms and Tools companies in San Francisco
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Employees | Founded | Founder | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nektar Developer of therapeutics to treat multiple diseases | $905M | 27 mo ago | 137 | 1990 | Rob C Chairman (1999-present) | — | — |
| 2 | Cellares Manufacturer of a medical device for cell-based therapy 82Funding top 15%News top 19%Innovation top 23%Growth top 25% All 11 signals ▾Fundingtop 15% Newstop 19% Innovationtop 23% Growthtop 25% Patentstop 27% Moattop 28% Partnerstop 31% Talenttop 35% Markettop 41% Techtop 43% Globalbottom 39% Funding: Raised $355M across 4 rounds · 4 rounds over 7 yrs (0.6/yr) News: 9 BI events in 12 mo (of 25 tracked, 4 types) · +200% YoY rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 82/100 | $355M | 4 mo ago | 154 | 2019 | Fabian Gerlinghaus Co-Founder & CEO | 89 patents Patents concentrated in transport & manufacturing processes | 1 partnership · 1 expansion · 1 award |
| 3 | Twist Bioscience Developer of a semiconductor-based DNA synthesis platform | $321M | 98 mo ago | 919 919 → 1,302 (+42%) · sector median +22% | 2013 | Emily Leproust Co-Founder & CEO | 659 patents Synthetic DNA manufacturing, custom nucleic acid libraries, and related hybridization/enzymatic technologies. | — |
| 4 | Inflammatix Provider of diagnostic solutions for systemic infections 74Funding top 17%Patents top 22%Growth top 26%Innovation top 27% All 10 signals ▾Fundingtop 17% Patentstop 22% Growthtop 26% Innovationtop 27% Moattop 28% Talenttop 35% Techtop 43% Marketbottom 45% Globalbottom 42% Newsbottom 18% Funding: Raised $191M across 11 rounds · 11 rounds over 9 yrs (1.2/yr) Patents: 52 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 36 filings since 2022 vs 16 in 2017-21 rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 74/100 | $191M | 21 mo ago | 54 54 → 75 (+39%) · sector median +22% | 2016 | Jonathan Romanowsky Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer | 52 patents Patents concentrated in chemistry & materials | 1 launch · 2 partnerships |
| 5 | Cytek Biosciences Manufacturer of flow cytometry systems for research applications | $144M | 67 mo ago | 676 676 → 448 (-34%) · sector median +22% | 2014 | — | 126 patents Advanced fluidics, imaging, and calibration technologies for high‑throughput flow cytometry | 1 launch |
| 6 | Mission Bio Provider of single cell multiomics platform for genotypic and phenotypic analysis 82Funding top 18%Tech top 21%Innovation top 25%Product top 25% All 10 signals ▾Fundingtop 18% Techtop 21% Innovationtop 25% Producttop 25% Talenttop 28% Moattop 31% Growthtop 37% Markettop 44% Globalbottom 39% Newsbottom 27% Funding: Raised $120M across 11 rounds · 11 rounds over 11 yrs (1.0/yr) Tech: 55 technologies across 6/8 capability areas · Cloud: Cloudflare, Vercel rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 82/100 | $120M | 10 mo ago | 109 109 → 89 (-18%) · sector median +22% | 2014 | Adam Sciambi Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer | — | 1 launch · 1 partnership |
| 7 | Culture Biosciences Provider of biomanufacturing hardware and software tools for research purposes 67Funding top 20%Product top 25%Growth top 26%Moat top 31% All 10 signals ▾Fundingtop 20% Producttop 25% Growthtop 26% Moattop 31% Innovationtop 34% Talenttop 34% Techtop 45% Newsbottom 42% Marketbottom 41% Globalbottom 37% Funding: Raised $107M across 5 rounds · 5 rounds over 8 yrs (0.6/yr) Product: 6 distinct product lines · Company stage: Series C rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 67/100 | $107M | 6 mo ago | 35 35 → 67 (+91%) · sector median +22% | 2016 | Chris Williams CEO | — | — |
| 8 | Archemix Aptamer therapeutics for rare hematological diseases | $102M | 266 mo ago | 79 | 2000 | Kenneth Bate President & CEO | 297 patents Aptamer-based complement C5 inhibitors for treating ocular complement disorders | — |
| 9 | Concentric Analgesic Developer of platform for developing pro-drugs | $85M | 85 mo ago | 24 | 2014 | John Donovan Co-Founder & President | — | — |
| 10 | Akoya Biosciences Provider of solutions for rapid proteomic profiling | $84M | 78 mo ago | 649 | 2015 | — | 69 patents Multiplexed spatial tissue imaging and enzyme‑amplified biomarker detection platforms. | — |
| 11 | Novome Biotechnologies Developer of gene therapies to treat GI diseases | $77M | 45 mo ago | 44 | 2015 | Will DeLoache Co-Founder | 37 patents Engineered microbial therapeutics and recombinant protein secretion for gut and bile‑acid treatments | — |
| 12 | LevitasBio Developer of single-cell imaging and profiling platform based on magnetic levitation technology | $74M | 26 mo ago | 60 | 2017 | Lars Steinmetz Co-Founder | 29 patents Magnetic/levitation particle separation technologies for biotech and material processing | — |
| 13 | Prellis Biologics Provider of 3D bioprinting technology to build human tissues for drug development | $69M | 47 mo ago | 22 | 2016 | — | 59 patents 3D bioprinting of synthetic lymphoid organoids for human antibody generation | — |
| 14 | Second Genome Developer of microbiome-based personalized medicine for a wide range of human health disorders | $64M | 107 mo ago | 37 | 2009 | — | 135 patents Therapeutic proteins/peptides targeting gut barrier and immune modulation for autism and cancer | — |
| 15 | 64x Bio Developer of cell lines and production technologies for advanced therapies | $60M | 53 mo ago | 18 18 → 21 (+17%) · sector median +22% | 2017 | David Thompson Co-Founder | — | 2 launchs |
| 16 | Catalog Technologies Developer of digital information storage system | $54M | 56 mo ago | 11 11 → 14 (+27%) · sector median +22% | 2016 | Hyunjun Park Co-Founder & CEO | 22 patents DNA-based data storage systems and methods for encoding, retrieving, and processing information. | — |
| 17 | Quantapore Developer of new single-molecule sequencing technology | $51M | 95 mo ago | 17 | 2009 | — | 126 patents Patents concentrated in chemistry & materials | — |
| 18 | Nodality Discovers and develops personal diagnostics | $49M | 178 mo ago | 25 | 2006 | David Parkinson President and CEO | 145 patents Immunodiagnostic assays and immunomodulatory therapeutics targeting JAK/STAT pathways | — |
| 19 | Miroculus Developer of MicroRNA profiling platform to detect genes in the sample | $48M | 63 mo ago | 26 | 2014 | Fay Christodoulou Co-Founder & CSO | 123 patents Microfluidic digital droplet manipulation and enzymatic DNA synthesis/storage platforms | — |
| 20 | Sequenta Immune medicine company decoding the adaptive immune system for disease treatment | $43M | 140 mo ago | 58 | 2008 | Thomas Willis Co-Founder | 139 patents Immune repertoire sequencing and clonotype analysis for diagnostic biomarker detection | — |
| 21 | Fluidigm Developer of instruments for life sciences industries | $41M | 50 mo ago | 618 618 → 499 (-19%) · sector median +22% | 1999 | — | 647 patents Patents concentrated in transport & manufacturing processes | — |
| 22 | Xcell Biosciences Developer of cell culture analysis device for cancer research | $40M | 18 mo ago | 11 11 → 17 (+55%) · sector median +22% | 2012 | — | 30 patents Advanced cell culture bioreactors for tumor microenvironment phenotypic modulation | — |
| 23 | Multiply Labs Manufacturer of precision medicines through innovative robotic technology | $39M | 38 mo ago | 29 | 2016 | Fred Parietti Co-Founder & CEO | 33 patents Automation of cell therapy manufacturing and consumable kit handling equipment | 1 partnership |
| 24 | ParAllele BioScience Genetic variation study tools for human health and drug development | $28M | 254 mo ago | — | 2001 | Malek Faham Co-Founder | — | — |
| 25 | AnimalBiome Provider of animal microbiome based diagnostics services for pet care | $26M | 21 mo ago | 52 52 → 55 (+6%) · sector median +22% | 2016 | Holly Ganz Co-Founder & CEO | — | — |
| 26 | Herophilus Developer of drug discovery platform to treat neurological disorders | $25M | 93 mo ago | 28 | 2017 | Sean Escola Co-Founder and Chief Neuroscientist | 8 patents Neuroimmune organoid platforms and epigenetic MECP2 modulation for neuroinflammatory therapies | — |
| 27 | Fluxion Biosciences Provider of microfluidics-based tools for cellular analysis | $21M | 80 mo ago | 13 | 2005 | — | — | — |
| 28 | Stamm Biotech Developer of cell processing platforms for research and industries | $20M | 51 mo ago | 210 | 2017 | — | — | — |
| 29 | TeraPore Developer of bioseparation solutions for therapeutics and novel biologics | $20M | 39 mo ago | 16 16 → 14 (-12%) · sector median +22% | 2013 | Rachel Dorin Founder & CEO | — | — |
| 30 | BioSeek Global leader providing comprehensive laboratory testing services across diverse industries | $19M | 228 mo ago | — | 2000 | Ellen Berg Co-Founder | 39 patents Computational genomics and patient classification for disease profiling and functional homology screening | — |
| 31 | DVS Sciences Manufactures and has a global distribution of novel bioanalytical solutions | $19M | 179 mo ago | 57 | 2004 | Gajus Worthington CEO and President | — | — |
| 32 | Switchback Systems Provider of synthetic biology platform for a wide range of applications | $18M | 22 mo ago | 5 | 2019 | Mary Noe CEO and Co-Founder | — | — |
| 33 | Perlara PBC Developer of therapeutics to treat a rare diseases | $15M | 103 mo ago | 5 | 2014 | — | 6 patents Patents concentrated in health & consumer products | — |
| 34 | ExcepGen Developer of protein production technologies | $14M | 33 mo ago | 1 | 2017 | Thomas Folliard CEO | 37 patents Protein expression platforms and vaccine formulation technologies for therapeutic biologics | — |
| 35 | Phylagen Provider of genome sequencing technology for microbial analysis | $14M | 88 mo ago | 44 | 2014 | Peter Karlen CEO & Board of Directors | 10 patents Patents concentrated in computing, sensing & instrumentation | — |
| 36 | Linkage Biosciences Life sciences solutions provider, enabling scientific research, discovery, and diagnostics | $13M | 157 mo ago | 34 | 2004 | — | — | — |
| 37 | Cambrian Genomics Genomics company focused on understanding, manipulating, and improving human health | $11M | 138 mo ago | 11 | 2011 | — | — | — |
| 38 | ConfometRx Pioneering GPCR-targeted drug discovery through structure-based approaches | $8M | 33 mo ago | 7 | 2001 | Tong Sun Kobilka President | 9 patents Structural determination and crystallization methods for class C GPCRs | — |
| 39 | MicroByre Developer of genetically engineered strains of microorganisms | $8M | 56 mo ago | 32 | 2017 | Margaret Brown Co-Founder | — | — |
| 40 | Blank Bio Developer of RNA foundation models for precision medicine research applications 60Talent top 28%Funding top 35%Global bottom 48% All 3 signals ▾Talenttop 28% Fundingtop 35% Globalbottom 48% Talent: 3 named leaders on record · 3 C-suite/founder profiles curated Funding: Raised $7.2M across 1 rounds · 1 rounds over 1 yrs (1.0/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 60/100 | $7M | 1 mo ago | — | 2025 | Jonathan Hsu Co-Founder & CEO | — | — |
| 41 | Log10 AI-powered LLMOps platform | $7M | 25 mo ago | — | 2023 | Niklas Nielsen Co-Founder | — | — |
| 42 | 10x Science Provider of AI-native protein characterization platform for biopharma 37Talent top 28%AI top 35%Funding top 42%Tech bottom 46% All 6 signals ▾Talenttop 28% AItop 35% Fundingtop 42% Techbottom 46% Globalbottom 33% Marketbottom 25% Talent: 3 named leaders on record · 3 C-suite/founder profiles curated AI: Product described with: ai-driven, ai-native rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 37/100 | $5M | 1 mo ago | — | 2025 | Vishnu Tejus Co-Founder & CTO | — | — |
| 43 | Wayfinder Biosciences Provider of RNA technologies for accelerating sustainable biomanufacturing | $4M | 44 mo ago | 14 | 2021 | Chuhern Hwang Co-founder and Head of Drug Discovery | — | — |
| 44 | Cypre Developer of 3D in vitro tumor models for drug discovery | $3M | 29 mo ago | — | 2016 | Kolin Hribar Founder & CEO | 23 patents Oncology therapeutic formulations and hydrogel-based assay platform technologies | — |
| 45 | Kascaid Developer of molecular diagnostics technology designed for point-of-care clinical use | $2M | 11 mo ago | — | 2024 | Austin Hall Co-Founder & CPO | — | — |
| 46 | Gordian Biotechnology Developer of gene therapies to treat diseases of aging | $999K | 13 mo ago | 23 23 → 43 (+87%) · sector median +22% | 2018 | Francisco LePort Co-Founder & CEO | 18 patents In vivo therapeutic screening via single‑nucleus sequencing and viral vector selection | — |
| 47 | Cavalry Biosciences Developer of therapeutics to treat chronic and rare diseases | $549K | 16 mo ago | 6 | 2021 | — | — | — |
| 48 | StrandAI Developer of AI to predict missing patient data modalities | $500K | 5 mo ago | — | 2025 | Oded Falik Co-Founder & CTO | — | — |
| 49 | Anthrogen Developer of molecular machines for human health, frontier manufacturing, society | $500K | 24 mo ago | — | 2024 | Connor Lee Co-Founder & CTO | — | — |
| 50 | Xcellassay Monitors drinking water for chemical pollutants, providing personalized health guidance | $307K | 16 mo ago | 4 | 2014 | Fred Schaufele Co-Founder | — | — |
Top 12 Life Sciences Platforms and Tools companies in San Francisco
#1
Series D · San Francisco, California · founded 2019 · 154 employees$355Mraised▾
Manufacturer of a medical device for cell-based therapy. The company offers Cell Shuttle integrates all the technologies required for the entire manufacturing process in a flexible and high-throughput platform that delivers true walk-away, end-to-end automation. It also, offers software suite for cell therapy modalities.
- Jan 2026Series D$257M
- Aug 2023Series C$255M
- Apr 2021Series B$82M
- Aug 2019Series A$18M
#2
Series C · San Francisco, California · founded 2016 · 35 employees$107.2Mraised▾
Provider of biomanufacturing hardware and software tools for research purposes. They have developed the digital biomanufacturing platform by integrating automated bioreactors, robotic sample handling, and cloud data monitoring. It offers services such as strain screening, media optimization, and process development.
- Dec 2025Series C—
- Oct 2021Series B$80M
- Mar 2020Series A$21.6M
- Sep 2019Grant (prize money)$750K
#3
Series C · San Francisco, California · founded 2014 · 109 employees$120Mraised▾
Provider of a single-cell multi-omics platform for genotypic and phenotypic analysis. The company's proprietary Tapestri platform enables the simultaneous detection of analytes, including SNVs, CNVs, and proteins for the precise treatment of cancer. Also, it offers DNA & protein panels, and Pharma Assay Development (PAD) Services.
- Aug 2025Series C—
- Aug 2020Series C$70M
- Oct 2019Grant (prize money)$2M
- Sep 2019Grant (prize money)$1.8M
#4
Seed · San Francisco, California · founded 2025$7.2Mraised▾
Developer of RNA foundation models for precision medicine research applications. The company builds models combining isoform, mutation, and expression signals from RNA. These models aim to improve patient stratification and boost diagnostic accuracy. Applications include patient stratification, enhanced diagnostics, target discovery, therapeutic design, and biosecurity monitoring. The company focuses on fine-tuning models for specific needs.
- May 2026Seed$7.2M
#5
Seed · San Francisco, California · founded 2025$5.3Mraised▾
Provider of AI-native protein characterization platform for biopharma. The platform uses AI agents to perform protein analysis, peptide mapping, and detection of modifications like glycosylation for drug development. It enables scientists to steer AI workflows for high-throughput characterization, integrating mass spectrometry data and resolving drug complexity. The solution addresses bottlenecks in biopharmaceutical preparation by providing scalable characterization to match AI-driven drug discovery pace.
- Apr 2026Seed$4.8M
- Jan 2026Seed$500K
#6
Series E · San Francisco, California · founded 2016 · 54 employees$191.5Mraised▾
Provider of diagnostic solutions for systemic infections. Its proprietary technology, based on research from Stanford University, measures gene expression patterns related to the immune system to diagnose sepsis. It provides products such as InSep for acute infection and sepsis tests, ViraBac for acute infection tests, SARC-CoV-2 swabs, etc.
- Sep 2024Series E$57M
- Jul 2023Grant (prize money)$299.8K
- Nov 2021Grant (prize money)$12.1M
- Nov 2021Grant (prize money)$1.7M
#7
Public · San Francisco, California · founded 1990 · 137 employees$905Mraised▾
Developer of therapeutics to treat multiple diseases. The company has developed a pipeline of drug candidates that utilize its PEGylation and polymer conjugate technology platforms used for the treatment of cancer, pain, anti-infectives, and anti-viral and immunological diseases. The product pipeline inlcude NKTR-358 for autoimmune diseases, Bempegaldesleukin for viral diseases, and other oncology indications.
- Mar 2024Post IPO$30M
- Mar 2019Post IPO—
- Apr 2018Post IPO$850M
- Aug 2013Post IPO$25M
#8
Series B · San Francisco, California · founded 2012 · 11 employees$39.5Mraised▾
Developer of cell culture analysis device for cancer research. The platform technology Avatar mimics in vivo physiological conditions for reproducible and more accurate in vitro tests. It allows for the preferential isolation and expansion of circulating tumor cells in the patient's blood. The company also provides cell-binding substrates and culture media to use in conjunction with its platform. The company has developed a cell analysis tool which is AI enables and assists with real-time analysis of cell health for identifying cell kinetics, targets, and other immunotherapy research.
- Dec 2024Series B$1.4M
- Jan 2022Series B$27.5M
- Feb 2017Series A$12M
- Jul 2015Seed—
#9
Series B · San Francisco, California · founded 2016 · 52 employees$25.9Mraised▾
Provider of animal microbiome based diagnostics services for pet care. The company allows the customers to send the sample through an assessment kit to extract and analyze the DNA to understand the pet's gut microbiome. They send an analysis report which also includes a gut health comparison tool and highlights any abnormal signs in the data. Their scientists can also talk to the pet's veterinarian about the necessary treatment options.
- Aug 2024Series B$15.5M
- May 2021Series A$8.6M
- May 2021Conventional Debt—
- Feb 2020Seed$1.5M
#10
Seed · San Francisco, California · founded 2025$500Kraised▾
Developer of AI to predict missing patient data modalities. It offers solutions for predicting biological modalities from existing patient data. The AI helps rescue incomplete cohorts by predicting missing modalities. It also helps skip expensive assays by predicting proteomics or transcriptomics. The AI unlocks rare disease cohorts by filling in missing modalities. It imputes unmeasured markers across entire cohorts.
- Jan 2026Seed$500K
#11
Seed · San Francisco, California · founded 2024$2.3Mraised▾
Developer of molecular diagnostics technology designed for point-of-care clinical use. The platform offers rapid, lab-quality molecular measurements, eliminating the need for central labs. This enables healthcare providers to streamline workflows and improve diagnostic precision. Researchers can accelerate trials, supporting timely, data-driven treatment decisions.
- Jul 2025Seed$2.3M
#12
Series B · San Francisco, California · founded 2019 · 5 employees$18.3Mraised▾
Provider of synthetic biology platform for a wide range of applications. The company offers plug-and-play Switchback platform with both onboard oligonucleotide synthesis and gene assembly capabilities fro various applications from pharmaceuticals to agriculture to plastics, and beyond.
- Jul 2024Series B$11.3M
- Oct 2021Series A$7M
Funding & investor landscape
Notable founders
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Life Sciences Platforms and Tools coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
How research on Bioinformatics is moving in the United States
A read on the academic research around Bioinformatics — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 13,110 United States-affiliated papers.
- Harvard University633
- Broad Institute433
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute318
- Stanford University287
- Johns Hopkins University287
- Gene83→532
- Transcriptome25→436
- Genome117→419
- Disease6→218
- Immune system11→219
- Disease17→407
- Immune system4→266
- Gene38→281
- Transcriptome13→238
- Biomarker2→208
- Disease27→311
- Immune system6→152
- Cancer17→130
- Clinical trial4→111
- Biomarker2→92
Where bioinformatics is researched across United States
Location clusters by institution affiliation — each city's volume, stance tone, and a quick read on its hot topic, what's advancing, the opening opportunity, and the main concern.
Who's filing bioinformatics patents in the United States
United States bioinformatics patent filing is accelerating — 246 filings from 64 assignees (2016–2025), led by Edico Genome, Illumina, UNIV Washington; annual filings 22→23.
- Edico Genome129
- Illumina60
- UNIV Washington18
- Nantomics9
- Baluch Mohamed Khoso7
- Genomsys7
- Microsoft6
- Contamination Source Identificat5