Prolific Machines

Prolific Machines

Illuminating biology’s limitless potential

We unlock unprecedented cellular control with light.

Prolific Machines is ushering in a new era of biotechnology using light. Our photomolecular platform leverages safe and effective tools — optogenetics, hardware, and AI — for dynamic control over virtually any cell function in any cell type.

From our favorite foods to lifesaving drugs, cells make our everyday necessities. Until now, biomanufacturing has been limited to indirect cell control via expensive, inefficient, and imprecise tools like chemicals. Our platform enables our partners to unlock direct control using light to produce new and superior biosolutions.

Light is an abundant, safe, and versatile way to control biology.

Temporal Control

Light can instantly turn “up” or “down” important cellular processes, allowing precise control over exactly when and for how long bioprocesses, like gene expression, receptor activation, and enzyme activity are active.

Tunable and multiplexable control

We can tune light intensity, color, and patterns to optimize cellular output and quality.

Spatial control

Light can precisely control individual cells, receptors, or genes without impacting surrounding cells or cellular processes.

Our platform can create complex tissue products such as steaks or organs by differentiating cells into specific cell types in a desired pattern.

We can precisely guide every major cellular process to unlock a world of possibility.

At the cell surface, we use light as a signal to control cell behaviors like proliferation.

Inside the cell, light can instantly turn “up” or “down” important cellular processes, like metabolism, by activating or deactivating any target protein.

In the nucleus, light can turn the expression of genes up, down, on, or off to precisely control protein production.

Unprecedented cellular control, when and where it matters most.

Applications

Our photomolecular platform allows you to control the exact level and duration of cellular action, providing big benefits for food and biopharmaceutical applications.

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Investors

Pre-seed

Led by Po Bronson

Indie Bio

Seed

Led by Arvind Gupta

Mayfield

Series A

Led by Cooper Rinzler

Breakthrough Energy

Series B1

Led by Campbell Grieve

Ki Tua Fund

Also supported by

Baruch Future Ventures
Conti Ventures
CPT Capital
Darco Capital
Breyer Capital
Footprint Coalition Ventures
In-Q-Tel
Purple Orange Ventures
Salt Fund
Shorewind Capital
Andrew Rubenstein
Ciara
Emily Ratajkowski
Kevin Love
Mark Cuban
Matthew Katz
Maverick Carter
Meek Mill
Russell Wilson
Tobias Harris

FAQs

Our photomolecular platform brings together genetic tools, hardware, and machine learning software to precisely control and optimize cellular behavior to more efficiently produce superior bioproduct solutions across wide-ranging applications, from food to pharmaceuticals.

Methods currently used to make bioproducts are limited to imprecise, inefficient, and expensive control levers, like temperature, chemicals, and proteins, to indirectly control cells. Prolific’s platform brings together safe and effective tools to unlock unparalleled, direct control and precision.