Colossal Biosciences, the world’s first de-extinction company, has funded The Colossal Foundation with $50 million to apply advanced technologies to wildlife conservation and ecosystem restoration.
“This is new capital that we are bringing to conservation efforts,” said Ben Lamm, CEO and co-founder of Colossal Biosciences.
The foundation will focus on rapidly delivering Colossal’s innovative solutions to conservation efforts around the globe, working closely with local communities and partners to protect species facing extinction.
“We started The Colossal Foundation to ensure that we are delivering our technology solutions into the hands of those who can benefit the most,” Lamm said. “The foundation expands our capacity to quickly bring new technologies into the world, driving innovation in conservation while providing much-needed funding to modernize conservation efforts.”
The Colossal Foundation’s flagship conservation projects align with a ten-year strategic plan. They will focus on species where Colossal’s technologies—such as genetic rescue, biobanking, and the creation of reference genomes—can have the most significant impact. By leveraging advances in artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and computational biology, the foundation aims to enhance understanding of species behavior and ecosystems, proactively allowing conservationists to prevent extinction.
The Foundation is launching with three core programs:
- Saving Today’s At-Risk Species: Partnering with conservation groups, the foundation will apply Colossal’s genetic rescue technologies to save species on the brink of extinction, including the Vaquita, Northern White Rhino, Sumatran Rhino, and Red Wolf. The long-term goal is to develop a toolkit that simplifies genetic rescue processes for conservationists.
- R&D for Conservation: Colossal will fund and deploy AI, machine learning, and data-driven technologies to understand animal behavior and ecosystems. Current projects include using drones to detect anomalies in elephant habitats and an AI-powered orphaned elephant monitoring system.
- Ensuring Tomorrow’s Biodiversity: The Colossal BioVault initiative will establish a global biobank to preserve tissue samples from endangered species. The biobank will act as an “insurance policy” for biodiversity, safeguarding genetic diversity in the event of extinction.
The foundation’s work will begin with crucial species-focused projects. These include efforts to stabilize the critically endangered Vaquita, with only 10 to 13 left in the Gulf of California, and support for Indonesia’s Sumatran rhino conservation program through advanced reproductive technologies.
Matt James, Executive Director of the Colossal Foundation, emphasized the urgent need for innovative conservation tools. “There is no more time to wait to protect the species we have on Earth today if we want to make sure they are still here in 10, 50, and 500 years,” he said.
The Colossal Foundation is set to empower conservation efforts globally, bringing cutting-edge science into the hands of those working to preserve our planet’s most vulnerable species.
Colossal Biosciences, founded in 2021, has raised $235.5 million to de-extinct species. Lamm founded the company with George Church, a Harvard geneticist and pioneer in personal genomics and synthetic biology. Colossal also spun out Form Bio, a software platform, which raised $30 million. The company is based in Dallas but has offices in Austin, Boston, Santa Cruz, California, and Melbourne, Australia.
Colossal Biosciences is pioneering species de-extinction using CRISPR technology to restore endangered ecosystems. The company aims to use these technologies to protect critically endangered species. It is working to bring the Woolly Mammoth, Thylacine, and Dodo birds back to their natural habitats.