OS Fund
{{Short description|American venture-capital fund}}
{{Update|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox company
| name = OS Fund
| logo = OS Funds Logo.png
| type = Private
| foundation = 2014
| founder = Bryan Johnson, Jeff Klunzinger
| location = Chicago
| industry =
| products = Venture capital
| homepage = [http://OSFund.co OSFund.co]
}}
OS Fund is an American venture capital fund that invests in early-stage science and technology companies.{{cite web|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=279565373|title=OS Fund LLC: Private Company Information|publisher=Bloomberg|access-date=8 June 2015}}
Firm
Bryan Johnson created OS Fund in October 2014, a year after selling Braintree to PayPal for $800 million.{{cite web|url=http://www.builtinchicago.org/2014/10/21/departed-braintree-founder-bryan-johnson-starts-100-million-venture-fund|title=Departed Braintree founder starts $100 million venture fund|last1=Dameron|first1=Emerson|date=October 21, 2014|publisher=Built In Chicago|access-date=7 June 2015}} He devoted $100 million from the sale to establishing the fund. Johnson and Jeff Klunzinger serve as the fund's general partners.{{cite web|last1=Mims|first1=Christopher|date=October 20, 2014|title=Humanity's Last Great Hope: Venture Capitalists|url=https://online.wsj.com/articles/humanitys-last-great-hope-venture-capitalists-1413817498|publisher=Wall Street Journal|access-date=27 May 2021}}{{cite web|url=http://osfund.co/about|title=About|publisher=OS Fund|access-date=8 June 2015}}
The fund draws its name from the acronym for operating system (OS), the software that underlies the basic functions of computers and provides a foundation for other applications.{{cn|date=January 2024}} OS Fund focuses on investment in technologies and platforms in genomics, synthetic biology, computationally derived therapeutics, advanced materials, and diagnostics.{{cite web|url=https://medium.com/the-os-fund/rewrite-the-os-68fb43ddc95f|title=Rewrite the OS, Change the World|last1=Johnson|first1=Bryan|date=October 20, 2014|publisher=Medium|access-date=7 June 2015}}
In September 2015, OS Fund published the methodology it uses to evaluate investments in the field of synthetic biology. In order to promote the brand, Johnson said the fund publicly released the "playbook" on its website to encourage others to invest in emerging sciences.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2015/09/15/braintree-cofounder-unveils-open-source-playbook-for-science-investors/|title=Braintree Founder Unveils Open Source Playbook For Science Investors|last1=Knapp|first1=Alex|work=Forbes|date=September 15, 2015|access-date=October 8, 2015}}
Origins
Johnson has said he launched the fund in response to a pullback in federal support of research and development, and because of a general reluctance by more traditional venture capital firms to make science-related investments.{{cite web|url=http://osfund.co/manifesto|title=Manifesto|publisher=OS Fund|access-date=8 June 2015}}
Investments
OS Fund focuses on early-stage, computationally driven companies that utilize artificial intelligence and machine learning to develop platform technologies in genomics, synthetic biology, computationally derived therapeutics, advanced materials, and diagnostics.
Notable OS Fund investments include the following:
- Ginkgo Bioworks, a Boston-based biotechnology company that uses genetic engineering to produce bacteria with industrial applications; market cap as of June 2025 $0.5 billion.{{Cite web |title=Ginkgo Bioworks (DNA) - Market capitalization |url=https://companiesmarketcap.com/ginkgo-bioworks/marketcap/ |access-date=2025-06-17 |website=companiesmarketcap.com |language=en-US}}
- Atomwise, a San Francisco-based developer of an AI-powered drug discovery platform.{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2015/06/03/yc-alum-atomwise-raises-6-million-to-advance-artificial-intelligence-in-drug-discovery/|title=YC Alum Atomwise Raises $6 Million To Further The Advancement Of Artificial Intelligence In Drug Discovery|last1=Buhr|first1=Sarah|date=June 3, 2015|publisher=TechCrunch|access-date=October 8, 2015}}
- twoXAR, now rebranded as Aria Pharmaceuticals an AI-driven drug discovery platform.{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/future-literacy/moving-drug-discovery-into-the-fast-lane-os-fund-invests-in-twoxars-ai-driven-approach-67c907fc68f7|title=Moving drug discovery into the fast lane: OS Fund invests in twoXAR's AI-driven approach|last=Klunzinger|first=Jeff|date=2018-07-24|website=Medium|language=en|access-date=2019-11-01}}
- Catalog, a Boston company focused on harnessing DNA to store data. The company showed it could store 14 gigabytes of data from Wikipedia.org in DNA molecules,{{Cite news |last=Castellanos |first=Sara |date=2020-02-05 |title=Where Computing Is Headed—Beyond Quantum |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/where-computing-is-headedbeyond-quantum-11580837001 |access-date=2020-05-25 |work=Wall Street Journal |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660}} and encode a 240 pages book using 500,000 unique DNA molecules, representing 481,280 bytes of data.{{Cite news |last=Mullin |first=Emily |title=An Entire Book Was Written in DNA—and You Can Buy It for $60 |url=https://www.wired.com/story/entire-book-written-in-dna-buy-it-60-dollars/ |access-date=2025-06-17 |work=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028}}
- Matternet, the builder and operator of drone logistics networks to transport goods on demand. In 2019, they partnered with UPS to transport medical samples across hospital systems as well as UPS and CVS Pharmacy to make at-home prescription deliveries.{{cite web|url=http://fortune.com/2014/10/20/crazy-fund-startups/|title=Crazy, insane start-ups are this tech investor's meat and potatoes|last1=Mangalindan|first1=JP|date=October 20, 2014|publisher=Fortune|access-date=8 June 2015}}
References
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