Lila Sciences Raises $200M to Automate Scientific Discovery with AI and Robotics
Flagship Pioneering has announced the launch of Lila Sciences, a company developing an AI-based platform designed to automate scientific experimentation and discovery.
Lila’s platform combines generative AI with autonomous lab systems to create a closed-loop process where AI generates hypotheses, designs experiments, executes them using robotics, and refines future models based on experimental results. This feedback cycle is intended to accelerate research by allowing AI to adjust and improve its predictions through direct experimental outcomes.
Lila was founded in 2023 within Flagship's labs and has raised $200 million in seed funding from General Catalyst, March Capital, ARK Venture Fund, Altitude Life Science Ventures, Blue Horizon Advisors, the State of Michigan Retirement System, Modi Ventures, and a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).
The funding will support further development of the platform and the construction of AI-driven “science factories” focused on life sciences, chemistry, and materials science.
Geoffrey von Maltzahn, Lila’s CEO and co-founder, described the platform as designed to scale the scientific method itself. He noted that the ability to integrate AI-driven modeling with real-world experimentation at scale could uncover patterns and insights that are not observable through smaller-scale or manual approaches. According to von Maltzahn, solving the problem of automating each step of the scientific process—generating ideas, testing them, and feeding the results back into the model—is the core challenge Lila aims to address.
The platform has reportedly shown early capabilities across multiple domains, though specific details have not been publicly disclosed. It has been used to “optimal genetic medicine constructs that outperform commercially available therapeutics”, discover new antibodies and peptides, and identify novel non-platinum group metal catalysts for green hydrogen production. The AI has also been used to design new materials for carbon capture with improved capacity, thermal stability, and kinetic binding.
Lila Sciences' Team
Lila’s leadership team includes Andrew Beam as chief technology officer, and George Church, a geneticist known for his work in genome sequencing, as chief scientist. Kenneth Stanley joins as senior vice president, Rafael Gómez-Bombarelli as chief scientific officer of materials, and Christopher Fussell as president of operations, and Molly Gibson, Lila’s co-founder and president of future science.
Lila plans to expand its lab space at Flagship’s Cambridge facility and establish offices in London and San Francisco over the next two years. The platform will be available to external partners in life and materials sciences.
According to some reports, Lila’s launch follows a mixed period for Flagship’s biotech portfolio. Omega Therapeutics, a Flagship-backed company partnered with Novo Nordisk, recently entered restructuring proceedings. Ring Therapeutics and Sonata Therapeutics, also backed by Flagship, laid off staff and saw leadership changes at the end of 2024. Meanwhile, Flagship has positioned Lila as a long-term project, aiming to build a scalable, AI-driven approach to scientific discovery.
Topics: Startups & Deals
