Binance Labs makes first foray into DeSci sector with investment in BIO Protocol

Binance Labs, the $10 billion venture capital and incubation arm of the crypto exchange Binance, has made its first foray into the decentralized science sector with an investment in BIO Protocol.

“BIO can be thought of as a Y Combinator for onchain Science,” Binance Labs explained in a statement shared with The Block. It is designed to change how early-stage scientific research is financed and commercialized using blockchain technology. The investment amount and structure were not disclosed.

In addition to the investment from Binance Labs, earlier this year, BIO began its token generation event, BIO Genesis, which raised $6 million in its first round, with Genesis BIO token holders including 1kx, Boost VC and Northpond Ventures — a $3 billion biotech fund. The protocol is now conducting its second public auction which ends on Nov. 14, with participation from Zee Prime Capital, Kosmos Ventures and Panga Capital — bringing its total funding at the time of this writing to over $13 million, a BIO Protocol spokesperson told The Block.

In contrast to the current system, which relies on centralized bodies for research and funding, decentralized science or DeSci aims to source research investment through crowdfunding initiatives and decentralized ownership.

The BIO platform allows scientists, patients and investors globally to fund, develop and co-own new drugs through biotech DAOs, addressing gaps in traditional scientific funding, especially in areas like rare diseases, longevity and emerging health challenges.

BIO’s existing network comprises seven “BioDAOs” on the Ethereum blockchain, with plans to expand to Solana and other blockchains in Q1 2025, the spokesperson said. The DAOs are currently focused on funding projects researching cryopreservation, women’s health and psychedelics for mental health, with the next cohort including projects working on cures for long COVID and rare diseases, as well as those developing quantum microscopes to observe quantum biological phenomena.

“We are also using blockchain to develop decentralized AI Research Agents that are integrated with BioDAOs and autonomously coordinate around-the-clock research efforts throughout the network and across the network’s specialized scientific fields,” the spokesperson added.

With the fresh capital in place, the protocol plans to expand its ecosystem further, providing seed funding for new BioDAOs and offering community and tokenomics support. BIO also plans to boost its existing team of 11, the spokesperson said, with the project’s ultimate goal to create autonomous infrastructure for scientific funding driven by AI, drug design and open-source computational biology.

"BIO Protocol represents a significant step forward in DeSci by merging biotechnology and DeFi,” Binance Labs Investment Director Andy Chang noted. “We are dedicated to unlocking groundbreaking advancements that drive long-term, real-world impact by supporting projects building meaningful technology — an approach that closely aligns with our investment in BIO."

Binance Labs has actively funded several crypto projects in recent months, including announcing investments in bitcoin liquid staking platform Lombard and ZKsync elastic chain Sophon in October, as well as Solana staking protocol Solayer in August.

Growing interest in decentralized science

BIO was founded by key members of VitaDAO — a decentralized autonomous organization dedicated to funding and advancing early-stage longevity research backed by the venture arm of global pharmaceutical firm Pfizer. 

VitaDAO launched its first biotech firm, Matrix Biosciences, in October 2023 following a community vote approving a collaboration with the University of Rochester’s Aging Research Center co-chair Dr. Vera Gorbunova. An initial tranche of $300,000 was made available for preclinical studies testing novel hyaluronic acid-based compounds found in long-living cancer-resistant naked mole rats.

ResearchHub — a startup co-founded by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong that rewards scientists in cryptocurrency for publishing content — is another project working on DeSci initiatives, having raised $5 million in a June 2023 funding round. ResearchHub argues that scientific research is too important to be hidden behind paywalls and advocates for an open-source software-style model that fosters collaboration and rewards valuable contributions in an “academic town square.”

Recently, venture capital firm a16z also made its move into the DeSci sector, leading a $5 million seed round investment in the “decentralized biobank” and Layer 2 network AminoChain — a project looking to bring “ownership, transparency and consent” into the field of medical data collection using blockchain technology.

“Science drives human progress, but we've trapped our brightest minds in an endless funding maze — they spend 80% of their time writing grants instead of solving humanity's greatest challenges,” BIO Protocol founder Paul Kohlhaas said. “Binance Labs’ support will help shatter this broken system, catalyzing patient-driven research at a scale that was impossible until now.”

Updated with additional details throughout.