What does a startup at the borders of AI and biology look for in a new hire? Astromech, a spinout from Colossal Biosciences, has just raised $20 million and has posted a long list of roles it seeks to fill.
Leaning into its sci-fi vibe, the official call on its website is “starfighter pilots & mechanics wanted,” however, the company really wants an “AI prompt engineer” and a “pangenome Analysis expert,” among other roles across seven categories covering AI, data science, biology, and robotics.
The $20 million funding round, reported by Sasha Richie at The Dallas Morning News, was led by Bob Nelsen of Arch Venture Partners, alongside Peak 6, NeoGenesis Capital, Builders VC, and CAZ investments. In addition to hiring, Astromech plans to use the funding to expand its data sets to new species and scale model training. It brings Austin, Texas-based Astromech’s total funding to $60 million.
“Astromech is building the AI system predicting how living systems will change and where they are most likely to break,” Cofounder Ben Lamm, also the Cofounder of Colossal, told Richie. The company plans to initially turn its technology towards learning more about longevity.
Harvard University’s George Church is also an Astromech cofounder, as he was with Colossal.
As reported by D Magazine, Astromech raised $10.5 million in March.
Colossal has also spun off Form Bio, a computational biology software company. According to Pitchbook, Form Bio raised $34 million in December 2024.