Colossal Biosciences has made headlines as the de-extinction startup primed to bring back the woolly mammoth. Here's how the business model actually works.

April 11, 2024

Remember InGen, the company at the center of Jurassic Park?

InGen, short for International Genetic Technologies, had a seemingly insane business plan that goes something like this: Bring the Tyrannosaurus rex back from the dead, have an amazing theme park, and rule the world.

Never mind that theme park economics are tough, even before you add previously-extinct creatures into the mix. Never mind this theme park is truly in the middle of nowhere. And never mind that it's incredibly unclear what the best-case scenario margins could possibly be.

Am I being facetious? Of course, I know Jurassic Park's economics are beside the point. But it does raise a question: As advances in technology make the once science fiction idea of "de-extinction" closer to becoming a reality, what does it actually mean for a de-extinction company to be a real business?

That's what I sat down to talk to Colossal Biosciences CEO and founder Ben Lamm about. Colossal has made headlines pursuing the de-extinction of the woolly mammoth, the Tasmanian tiger, and the dodo. The company's raised more than $225 million to date, and its backers include USIT, Bold Capital Partners, Breyer Capital, Bob Nelsen, At One Ventures, and more.

“We're currently on track for our mammoth calves in 2028," Lamm told me on a video call recently. "Nothing is ahead of schedule, but nothing’s behind."

And yes, I'm like everyone else, and am obsessed with the idea of seeing a woolly mammoth. But what I really wanted to know was this: How do you make money doing it? Thankfully, the answer's not the woolly mammoth meatball—that's a project cooked up by a different company focused on lab-grown meat. Colossal's mammoth monetization model emphasizes two near-to-medium term efforts, and a longer-term play. Let's start with the near-term:

"There's consumer education, where we already get billions of media impressions," said Lamm. "We're doing a docuseries, and we do lots of different educational content. Transparently, those do make money…Then, the midterm is the technology companies that we spin out, as we monetize, but those take a while to get to the point where they're successful."

These aren't fantasies, they're already happening. For one, filmmaker James Reed, noted for Oscar winner My Octopus Teacher, was revealed in February to be making a docuseries about Colossal, devoting And of the earliest spinouts is Form Bio, a computational life sciences platform built at Colossal and spun out in 2022, raising a $30 million Series A led by Jazz Venture Partners (also a Colossal investor).

Then there's the longer-term strategy, which is tied to Colossal's already-extensive conservation efforts.

"De-extinction and species preservation are connected," said Lamm. "Sometimes people want to separate out species preservation, conservation, and I say, no, they're all one thing."

Colossal's conservation efforts are wide-ranging. For example, the startup is currently working with the University of Alaska and University of Stockholm on one of the largest-ever studies focused on radiocarbon dating mammoths. Likewise, Colossal last year joined the BioRescue group working to save the northern white rhino from extinction. And, there's the Victorian grassland earless dragon—a miniscule Australian lizard believed to be extinct in 1969. The lizard was recently rediscovered in the wild, and Colossal's set up a breeding and release colony with the Melbourne Zoo devoted to the fetching little reptile.

Lamm even envisions getting a piece of the carbon credit market, which is projected to be as big as $2.4 trillion by 2027, according to some estimates. "In the long-term, if we get to sustainable populations of, say, the Thylacine [Tasmanian tiger] in southern Australia, we'll get government subsidies, carbon credits, biodiversity credits."

Lamm is no dodo and fully realizes that to many ears this all still seems far-fetched—but he isn't worried about it. "We have a view that it’s not our job to persuade: It’s our job to educate and be transparent," he said.

Some of Colossal's critics have even switched gears and joined the company. Take Colossal's new Chief Science Officer Beth Shapiro, a famed evolutionary molecular biologist who originally wanted to see Colossal publishing more scientific papers and doing deeper research on what the ecological impacts of rewilding mammoths would be like (a first study is now in peer review). This year, Shapiro took a leave of absence from UC Santa Cruz to join Colossal.

"I'm not worried about it not working," said Lamm. "Of all the things that keep me up at night, that's not one."

Asking Andy…In this week's edition of Ask Andy, Bonobos cofounder Andy Dunn tackles a question about how to retain a company's culture in a remote work era with characteristic candor: "I think for some startups, particularly if they are pre-product-market fit, we can and should reconsider the in-office model. Not three days a week. Five days a week." Read the whole column here.

See you tomorrow,

Allie Garfinkle
Twitter: @agarfinks
Email: alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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Joe Abrams curated the deals section of today’s newsletter.

Advice on leading teams, building things, and surviving the startup life from Andy Dunn, the founding CEO of Bonobos and Pie and the author of Burn Rate: Launching a Startup and Losing My Mind.

Have a question for Andy? Ask it here.

Ask Andy: Can a startup build a strong culture around remote work?

Is 'work from home' bad for startups? How do I deal with a difficult cofounder? Startup columnist Andy Dunn answers readers' burning questions.

VENTURE DEALS

- Collaborative Robotics (Cobot), a Santa Clara, Calif.-based developer of practical collaborative robots for industries like manufacturing, healthcare, and retail/e-commerce, raised $100 million in Series B funding. General Catalyst led the round and was joined by Bison Ventures, Industry Ventures, Lux Capital, and existing investors Sequoia Capital, Khosla Ventures, and others.

- FloQast, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based financing and accounting operations platform, raised $100 million in Series E funding. ICONIQ Growth led the round and was joined by BDT & MSD Partners, WiL, Meritech Capital, and Sapphire Ventures.

- Auradine, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based provider of blockchain, security, AI, and other web infrastructure solutions, raised $80 million in Series B funding from StepStone Group, Top Tier Capital Partners, MVP Ventures, Maverick Capital, and others.

- Novidea, a London, U.K.-based cloud-based enterprise insurance management platform, raised $80 million in Series C funding from HarbourVest Partners, Battery Ventures, Cross Creek, Israel Growth Partners (IGP), KT Squared, and JAL Ventures.

- Yoshi Mobility, a Nashville, Tenn.-based automotive mobility services provider, raised $26 million in Series C funding from General Motors Ventures, Bridgestone Americas, Universal Motors Agencies, Shikra Limited, and others.

- Proxima Fusion, a Munich, Germany-based startup building fusion power plants, raised €20 million ($21.7 million) in seed funding. redalpine led the round and was joined by Bayern Kapital, DeepTech & Climate Fonds, the Max Planck Foundation, and existing investors.

- Udio, a New York City-based AI-powered music production platform, raised $10 million from a16z, will.i.am., and others.

- MODE, a San Mateo, Calif.-based AI assistant for factories, construction sites, and other work sites, raised $8.8 million in Series B funding from SBI Investment, True Ventures, JR East Startup, and Daiichi Jitsugyo.

- GTM Buddy, a Durham, N.C.-based AI-powered platform designed to guide sales reps through the sales process, raised $8 million in Series A funding. Archerman Capital and Leo Capital led the round and were joined by Neon Fund and existing investor Stellaris Venture Partners.

- PVML, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based data access platform for enterprises, raised $8 million in seed funding. NFX led the round and was joined by FJ Labs and Gefen Capital.

- PeerDB, a San Francisco-based data movement platform for PostgreSQL, raised $3.6 million in seed funding. 8VC and Y Combinator led the round and were joined by Wayfinder Ventures, Webb Investment Network, Flex Capital, Rogue Capital, Pioneer Fund, Orange Collective, and angel investors.

- Veremark, a London, U.K.-based employee background screening company, raised $3 million in pre-Series B funding. Samaipata and Stage 2 Capital led the round and were joined by ACF Investors and Vulpes Investment.

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PRIVATE EQUITY

- BearCom, backed by Siris Capital Group, acquired The Surveillance Shop, a Calgary, Canada-based provider of security solutions for small, medium, and enterprise customers. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Behrman Capital acquired Vista Apex, a Racine, Wisc.-based manufacturer of consumable dental products for preventative oral hygiene, endodontics, and restorative dentistry. FInancial terms were not disclosed.

- eHouse Studio, backed by Periscope Equity, acquired Commerce12, a Rockville, M.D.-based e-commerce agency. Financial terms were not disclosed.

- Osceola Capital recapitalized Trauma Services, a Mansfield, Mass.-based provider of biohazard cleaning and remediation. FInancial terms were not disclosed.

- RESA Power, a portfolio company of Investcorp, acquired AVATT, an Edmonton, Alberta-based provider of transformer installation, service, maintenance, and other services and Mountain States Transformer Service, a Pocatello, Idaho-based provider of transformers. Financial terms were not disclosed.

FUNDS + FUNDS OF FUNDS

- Lone View Capital, a Los Angeles, Calif.-based private equity firm, raised $850 million for its first fund focused on software, information services, and tech-enabled businesses.