Science Exchange operates a SaaS-enabled marketplace that gives enterprise R&D teams instant access to a network of pre-qualified scientific service providers, including CROs, CMOs, and academic labs. The platform combines marketplace access with contracting, project management, and reporting tools to streamline outsourced R&D. It reports immediate access to over 3,000 service providers and serves more than 100 enterprise customers. The company says the platform increases scientist productivity by removing administrative barriers and consolidating R&D outsourcing spend. Science Exchange plans to use new funding to further develop its software platform and expand its footprint in the biotech and pharmaceutical market. Since founding in 2011, the company has raised in excess of $70 million from a group of investors named in the article. Science Exchange operates a marketplace platform that gives researchers access to more than 2,500 outsourced R&D service providers, including CROs, CMOs, academic labs and government facilities. Thousands of scientists, including users from 10 of the top 20 biopharma companies, have used the platform to support scientific research. The company also offers an enterprise program to help organizations consolidate R&D outsourcing spend. Science Exchange plans to use the new funds to expand beyond biopharma into agrosciences, cosmetics, aerospace and industrial chemicals, and to hire across product, engineering, sales, marketing and customer success. Financially, the company raised $28M in a Series C and has raised more than $58 since its inception in 2011. Elizabeth Iorns, Ph.D., leads the company as CEO. Science Exchange operates an online marketplace that connects academic, government, and industry researchers with third‑party laboratory service providers. The platform lets customers order outsourced lab services through its site and claims more than 2,500 institutions on the demand side. Over the last year the company has pushed into big pharma—working with Sanofi—and reports 500% growth. It says eight of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies use the platform, and that enterprise orders are roughly an order of magnitude larger than academic orders (academic orders average $3,000–$5,000). The startup plans to use new funding to hire across product, engineering, sales, marketing, and customer success and to expand into additional top research institutions in the U.S. and Europe. It also intends to pursue research categories such as food tech and cosmetics. Science Exchange operates the Reproducibility Initiative, created with PLOS, figshare, and Mendeley, to provide a mechanism for independent replication and to reward scientists who reproduce findings. The initiative has validated more than 1,000 antibodies for antibodies-online and is expanding into cancer biology validation. The organization received a $1.3 million grant from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation to validate 50 landmark cancer biology studies. Elizabeth Iorns, cofounder and CEO, launched the effort after experiencing irreproducible results during her prior breast cancer research. The funding is intended both to verify influential cancer studies and to help institutionalize scientific replication practices. Science Exchange is a community marketplace that lets research scientists list, discover, access and pay for outsourced scientific services from institutions around the world. The platform allows scientists to search for experiment types, view and compare providers, and choose a provider to work with. The company was co-founded in May 2011 by Elizabeth Iorns Ph.D. (CEO), Ryan Abbott (Technical), and Dan Knox (Product, Operations) and is based in Palo Alto, CA. Science Exchange raised $3M in a Series A financing led by Union Square Ventures, with participation from O’Reilly Alpha Tech Ventures and multiple angel and existing investors. In conjunction with the funding, USV partner Andy Weissman joined the company’s board. The company will use the funds to expand its engineering team and to grow its marketplace by adding solutions in new scientific disciplines, including bio-chemistry and clinical services, over the coming year.

Total raised

$79M

Funding rounds

7

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Oct 2019