OS Fund

Last updated
OS Fund
Company type Private
Founded2014
Founder Bryan Johnson, Jeff Klunzinger
Headquarters Chicago
Products Venture capital
Website OSFund.co

OS Fund is an American venture capital fund that invests in early-stage science and technology companies. [1]

Contents

Firm

Bryan Johnson created OS Fund in October 2014, a year after selling Braintree to PayPal for $800 million. [2] He devoted $100 million from the sale to establishing the fund. Johnson and Jeff Klunzinger serve as the fund's general partners. [3] [4]

The fund draws its name from the acronym for operating system (OS), the software that underlies the basic functions of computers and provides a foundation for other applications.[ citation needed ] OS Fund focuses on investment in technologies and platforms in genomics, synthetic biology, computationally derived therapeutics, advanced materials, and diagnostics. [5]

In September 2015, OS Fund published the methodology it uses to evaluate investments in the field of synthetic biology. In order to promote the brand, Johnson said the fund publicly released the "playbook" on its website to encourage others to invest in emerging sciences. [6]

Origins

Johnson has said he launched the fund in response to a pullback in federal support of research and development, [3] and because of a general reluctance by more traditional venture capital firms to make science-related investments. [7]

Investments

OS Fund focuses on early-stage, computationally driven companies that utilize artificial intelligence and machine learning to develop platform technologies in genomics, synthetic biology, computationally derived therapeutics, advanced materials, and diagnostics.

Notable OS Fund investments include the following:

References

  1. "OS Fund LLC: Private Company Information". Bloomberg. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  2. Dameron, Emerson (October 21, 2014). "Departed Braintree founder starts $100 million venture fund". Built In Chicago. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  3. 1 2 Mims, Christopher (October 20, 2014). "Humanity's Last Great Hope: Venture Capitalists". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  4. "About". OS Fund. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  5. Johnson, Bryan (October 20, 2014). "Rewrite the OS, Change the World". Medium. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  6. Knapp, Alex (September 15, 2015). "Braintree Founder Unveils Open Source Playbook For Science Investors". Forbes. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  7. "Manifesto". OS Fund. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  8. "Ginkgo Bioworks (DNA) - Market capitalization". companiesmarketcap.com. Retrieved 2025-06-17.
  9. Buhr, Sarah (June 3, 2015). "YC Alum Atomwise Raises $6 Million To Further The Advancement Of Artificial Intelligence In Drug Discovery". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  10. Klunzinger, Jeff (2018-07-24). "Moving drug discovery into the fast lane: OS Fund invests in twoXAR's AI-driven approach". Medium. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  11. Castellanos, Sara (2020-02-05). "Where Computing Is Headed—Beyond Quantum". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved 2020-05-25.
  12. Mullin, Emily. "An Entire Book Was Written in DNA—and You Can Buy It for $60". Wired. ISSN   1059-1028 . Retrieved 2025-06-17.
  13. Mangalindan, JP (October 20, 2014). "Crazy, insane start-ups are this tech investor's meat and potatoes". Fortune. Retrieved 8 June 2015.