The world’s first de-extinction company, Colossal Biosciences, today announced a $200 million Series C financing from TWG Global, a diversified holding company led by Mark Walter and Thomas Tull that has operating businesses and investments in technology/AI, financial services, private lending, sports, and media. In sum, Colossal has raised $435 million since its September 2021 start. With its most recent round of funding, the firm is valued at $10.2 billion. Colossal will use this most recent round of funding to further develop its genetic engineering capabilities and develop new, ground-breaking hardware, software, and wetware solutions that have uses beyond extinction, including as human healthcare and species preservation.
The investment community has responded enthusiastically to our recent achievements in developing the technologies required for our end-to-end de-extinction toolbox. Ben Lamm, the CEO and co-founder of Colossal, stated, “TWG Global and our other partners have been bullish in their desire to help us scale as quickly and efficiently as possible.” “With this funding, we will continue to carry out our mission to make extinction a thing of the past while growing our team, supporting the development of new technologies, and expanding our list of de-extinction species.”
Colossal has labs in Boston, Dallas, and Melbourne, Australia, and employs more than 170 scientists. Furthermore, Colossal supports more than 40 full-time postdoctoral scholars and research initiatives in 16 partner laboratories at some of the world’s most esteemed institutions. More than 95 of the leading experts in the fields of ecology, conservation, developmental biology, palaeontology, genomics, and ancient DNA are now on Colossal’s scientific advisory board. These teams are working together to address some of the most challenging issues in biology, such as the mapping of genotypes to traits and behaviours, the understanding of developmental pathways leading to phenotypes such as coat colour patterning, tusk formation, and craniofacial shape, and the creation of new tools for multiplex and large-insert genome engineering.
According to Mark Walter, CEO of TWG Global, “Colossal is the leading company working at the intersection of AI, computational biology, and genetic engineering for both de-extinction and species preservation.” “Colossal has put together a top-notch team that has quickly advanced important technological advancements and had an influence on conservation, which is a fundamental principle of TWG Global. As Colossal expands and speeds up its efforts to address the animal extinction catastrophe, we are excited to help them.
A groundbreaking genetics business called Colossal is turning science fiction into reality. We are developing the technology to scale conservation biology and develop de-extinction research, especially for at-risk and endangered species. George Church, Ph.D., Colossal Co-founder, Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, and Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), expressed his gratitude for the investor support of this crucial cause. A sibling 501(c)(3) organisation, the Colossal Foundation was established in October 2024 with the goal of directing the implementation and usage of scientific and technological advancements created by Colossal. At the moment, the group assists 48 conservation partners and their worldwide projects worldwide. This includes collaborators such as Birdlife International, Conservation Nation, Sezarc, Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, Aussie Ark, International Elephant Foundation, Re:wild, Save The Elephants, Biorescue, and Saving Animals From Extinction. In order to help address the biodiversity extinction crisis, the Colossal Foundation is currently concentrating on assisting conservation partners who are developing novel technologies that can be used for conservation as well as those who gain from the creation and application of new genetic rescue and de extinction technologies.
Monitoring the Development of Colossal’s De-Extinction Initiatives
Every de-extinction study begins with the recovery and analysis of preserved genetic material, which is then used to determine the essential genomic components of each species. In addition to recruiting Dr. Beth Shapiro, a global leader in ancient DNA research, as Colossal’s Chief Science Officer, Colossal has built a team of Ph.D experts in ancient DNA among its scientific advisors, including Love Dalen, Andrew Pask, Tom Gilbert, Michael Hofreiter, Hendrik Poinar, Erez Lieberman Aiden, and Matthew Wooler. This group, Colossal keeps advancing ancient DNA research by funding university labs and in-house scientific investigations. This convergence of knowledge has already helped the three main species: the dodo, thylacine, and mammoth. For instance, for each of these three species, Colossal currently possesses the most complete and continuous ancient genomes to date; these genomes serve as the blueprints from which the essential characteristics of these species will be developed.
Refinement and tweaking at every stage of the de-extinction pipeline must take place concurrently, necessitating a systems model approach to innovation spanning computational biology, cellular engineering, genetic engineering, embryology, and animal husbandry. For each of the three flagship species, Colossal’s scientists have so far made enormous strides at every stage.
Over the past three years, the Woolly Mammoth Project—Colossal’s first significant project to be announced—has produced new genomic resources, advanced cell biology and genome engineering, and investigated the ecological effects of de-extinction, with implications for elephants, mammoths, and species throughout the vertebrate tree of life.
Development of the Woolly Mammoth De-extinction Project:
The enormous team possesses:
created reference genomes at the chromosomal level for the rock hyrax, Asian elephant, and African elephant, all of which are available on the National Centre for Biotechnology Information website; created the first de novo assembled mammoth genome, which is a genome that isn’t aligned to a reference genome but is instead created using just the ancient DNA sequences. Several genetic loci that are absent from reference-guided assemblies were found in this genome; in cooperation with Tom van der Valk and Love Dalen, two important scientific advisors, more than 60 ancient genomes for woolly and Columbian mammoths were obtained and aligned. The accuracy of mammoth-specific variant calling has significantly risen thanks to this data and more than 30 genomes for living elephant species, including Asian, African, and Bornean elephants;
● Became the first to produce pluripotent stem cells for Asian elephants;
● characterised and biobanked over ten main cell lines from acquired tissue for aardvark, rock hyrax, and Asian elephants for use in company conservation and de-extinction pipelines. The ability of these stem cell populations is demonstrated by the generation of brain and cardiac precursor cells from elephant iPSCs, which are crucial for in-vitro embryogenesis and gametogenesis.
Utilising cutting-edge machine algorithms, transcription factors were refined and redesigned to produce novel proteins with enhanced cellular reprogramming capabilities; TP53 mutant variants and reversibly integrated over-expression cassettes were created to enable the immortalisation of elephant cells for use in downstream editing efficiency screening;
A crucial component of the biobanking endeavour is the use of optimised medium to promote the growth of immortalised cell lines and improve the survival of biosamples after cryopreservation.
In order to validate edit target selection, a hair organoid model was established to evaluate the effects of key genetic targets on hair follicle formation capacity and development. Multiplex gene editing was demonstrated at more than 20 target sites of high impact genes linked to core cold adaptation mammoth phenotypes.
The establishment of a state-of-the-art embryology lab for the study of endangered animals and the beginning of the process of improving procedures for the somatic cell nuclear transfer process in elephants
“These mammoth milestones represent a significant advancement for de-extinction technologies,” stated Love Dalen, a professor at the University of Stockholm’s Centre for Paleogenetics and a major consultant on the mammoth project. “The Colossal team’s commitment to accuracy and scientific rigour is incredibly motivating, and I am confident that they will successfully restore essential mammoth characteristics.”
Development of the Thylacine De-extinction Project:
Recent updates from the Colossal thylacine team showed advancements in the many work streams that are essential to the thylacine’s de-extinction. Since the start of that team two years ago, the teams from Australia and Texas have:
● Used ancient long reads and ancient RNA to create the world’s first and previously unachievable goal, the teams have created the highest-quality ancient genome to date for a Thylacine, at 99.9% complete, creating the genomic blueprint for Thylacine de-extinction;
● Generated ancient genomes for 11 individuals of Thylacines, allowing for a more precise prediction of de-extinction targets by understanding fixed variants versus population-level variation in pre-extinction;
● Assembled telomere-to-telomere genome sequences for all dasyurid species – the evolutionary cousins of thylacines– providing resources both to improve Colossal’s understanding thylacine evolution and underpin thylacine engineering efforts, and to aid in the conservation of threatened marsupial species;
● Became the first to derive pluripotent stem cells in fat-tailed dunnarts, propelling the company on the path towards advanced in vitro functional workflows as well as establishing state of the art conservation and genomic preservation capabilities in marsupials;
● Identified regions of the genome driving the development of the thylacine’s unique craniofacial shape and demonstrated, using genetic engineering in mice, that these regions drive morphological similarities between thylacines and wolves;
The first identified edits that provide the framework for the Thylacine hypercarnivore craniofacial morphology were produced by establishing multiplex editing pipelines in dunnart fibroblast cell lines; more than 300 distinct genetic edits were made into a cell line of a fat-tailed dunnart, the species that will serve as the basis for Colossal’s future thylacines and future surrogate of thylacine embryos; an artificial ex-utero development prototype for early-stage marsupial gestation was create A crucial first step towards the conservation of marsupials and the de-extinction of thylacines was the discovery and optimisation of a method to induce ovulation in a dunnart; fertilised single-cell marsupial embryos and cultivated them in an artificial uterine device for the duration of half of pregnancy.
We are ahead of schedule on many of the crucial technologies required to support de-extinction activities thanks to these breakthroughs. At the same time, it leads to significant advancements in genomes, stem cell production and engineering, and marsupial reproductive technologies, which are transforming marsupial conservation research and helping to de-extinguish the thylacine. Colossal’s work shows that we can provide ground-breaking solutions to protect biodiversity with creativity and tenacity—and the team is already doing this in many innovative ways,” stated Andrew Pask, Ph.D.
Progress of the Dodo De-extinction Project:
In contrast to several of the company’s mammalian programs, the Dodo project and the development of a unique set of tools for avian genome editing are the present priorities of the Colossal Avian Genomics Group. A full, high coverage genome for the dodo, its sibling extinct species, the solitaire, and the severely endangered manumea (also called the “tooth-billed pigeon” and “little dodo”) has been generated by the dodo-specific team.
The Nicobar pigeon is the closest relative of the dodo. A chromosome-scale assembly of the Nicobar pigeon was created and published, and a population-scale data set of Nicobar pigeon genomes was created for the purpose of computationally identifying dodo-specific traits; a machine learning technique was developed to identify genes linked to bird craniofacial shape for gene-editing targets in order to restore the dodo’s distinctive bill morphology; more than 10,000 eggs were processed, and the culture conditions for growing primordial germ cells (PGCs) for four bird species were optimised; created a flock of Nicobar pigeons to serve as donors for PGCs that will be edited into Colossal’s dodos; devised a novel method for separating editable cells from feather pulls; and proved that the RNA-binding protein La continuously improves precision editing efficiency in avian genomes, resulting in increased gene-editing efficiency; It was confirmed that recently discovered integrase variants have increased enzymatic activity, which is being used to create a technique for exchanging large fragments of DNA; Colossal successfully hatched its first chimeric chicks by using genome-editing tools to change the DNA sequence in chicken PGCs, injecting these modified PGCs into embryos, and using the offspring of these birds as surrogates for de-extinct dodos.
“As we advance our understanding of avian genomics and developmental biology, we’re seeing remarkable progress in the tools and techniques needed to restore lost bird species,” said Colossal’s Chief Science Officer Beth Shapiro. “The unique challenges of avian reproduction require bespoke approaches to genetic engineering, for example, and our dodo team has had impressive success translating tools developed for chickens to tools that have even greater success in pigeons. While work remains, the pace of discovery within our dodo team has exceeded expectations.”
Colossal’s Support of Global Conservation and De-Extinction Efforts
By 2050, it is projected that over 50% of the world’s animal species may be extinct. Now around 27,000 species per year go extinct, compared to the natural rate of 10 to 100 species per year. Over the past 50 years (1970–2020), the average size of monitored wildlife populations has shrunk by 73%. That extinction crisis will have cascading, negative impacts on human health and wellbeing including reductions in drinkable water, increases in land desertification and increases in food insecurity. While current conservation efforts are imperative to protecting species, more and newer technologies and techniques are required that can scale in response to the speed humanity is changing the planet and destroying ecosystems. Colossal was created to respond to this crisis. And, Colossal’s growing de-extinction and species preservation toolkit of software, wetware and hardware solutions provides new, scalable approaches to this systems-level existential threat and biodiversity crisis.
“The technological advances we’re seeing in genetic engineering and synthetic biology are rapidly transforming our understanding of what’s possible in species restoration,” said Shapiro. “While the path to de-extinction is complex, each step forward brings us closer to understanding how we might responsibly reintroduce traits from lost species. The real promise lies not just in the technology, but also in how we might apply these tools to protect and restore endangered species and ecosystems.”
The breakthroughs in Colossal’s core projects create a ripple effect across species conservation. Each Colossal core species is tied to conservation efforts that support other endangered and at-risk species in the respective animal’s family group. The company’s work toward mammoth restoration has simultaneously advanced reproductive and genetic technologies that can help preserve endangered elephant species, while the dodo program is pioneering avian genetic tools that will benefit threatened bird species worldwide. Through the Colossal Foundation and its partnerships with leading conservation organizations, Colossal is transforming these scientific advances into practical solutions that can help protect and restore vulnerable species across multiple taxonomic families. Key initiatives include:
● Colossal’s $7.5M in new donations to fund ancient DNA research across a diverse selection of species;
● The development of a gene-engineering solution to create cane toad toxin resistance for Australia’s endangered Northern Quoll;
● A partnership with the international conservation organization Re:wild on a suite of initiatives to preserve the world’s most threatened species, including:
○ A joint 10-year conservation strategy to save some of the world’s most threatened species by leveraging the power of Colossal’s genetic technologies and Re:wild’s experience and partnerships for species conservation across the world;
○ The Lost Species project where the companies have partnered to find the world’s most wanted lost species and catalyze conservation for those rediscovered;
○ The Species Reintroduction Fund which was designed to support the reintroduction of threatened species back to the wild; and
○ The development of a distributed genetic repository of endangered species (a biobank) which will act as an insurance policy for species on the edge of extinction while building local capacity to provide a safety net for species facing extinction.
● Joining the BioRescue consortium in the fight to save the world’s most endangered rhino species: the northern white rhino. Through a novel technological platform, Colossal Foundation and BioRescue will provide the tools needed to create a genetically healthy population which can be reintroduced to the wild;
● A partnership with the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation to use the company’s novel genetic rescue platform to restore genetic diversity with the heavily threatened Pink Pigeon;
● A partnership with Save the Elephants to create an artificial intelligence platform to detect, identify and track African elephants movements in Samburu National Park to identify, analyze, and even predict elephant behaviors and movements;
● An AI-powered bird call detector to help partners at the Samoa Conservation Society, BirdLife International, and the IUCN’s Pigeon and Dove Specialist Group to identify the lost Tooth-billed pigeon which led to the first sighting of the Tooth-billed pigeon in several years;
● The distribution of critical funding to Zoos Victoria to kickstart the rapid rescue of the once-thought to be extinct Victorian grassland earless dragon upon its rediscovery after more than fifty-four years of being lost;
● Joining forces with ProNatura in support of Mexico’s National Commission of Natural Protected Areas Mexico (CONANP) and their Vaquita Monitoring Group’s efforts to protect the world’s most endangered marine mammal;
● Hosting an international meeting of the world’s leading voices in Sumatran rhino rescue effort that led to the development of a partnership between Colossal and IPB University in Indonesia to use advanced assisted reproduction and cutting edge genetic technologies to save this critically endangered species;
● Committing to reignite the search for America’s most infamous lost species, the Ivory-billed woodpecker;
● Forming Colossal’s Indigenous Council to a focus on wolf and buffalo conservation, and enhance and accelerate the conservation initiatives of the indigenous peoples of North America;
● A partnership with Dr. Paul Ling, Ph.D. and Baylor College of Medicine, who collaborated on the development of a vaccine for EEHV, the deadliest disease in elephants;
● A partnership with Dr. Andrew Pask at University of Melbourne including one of the largest investments ever into the creation of an avian genomics toolkit to develop conservation and de-extinction tools.
“Colossal is advancing the development of genetic technologies for conservation at a rapid pace. Their cutting-edge technologies are changing what is possible in species conservation and are permitting us to envision a world where many more Critically Endangered species not only survive but thrive,” said Barney Long, PhD, Senior Director of Conservation Strategies for Re:wild.
Colossal’s additional strategic investors include funds such as USIT, Animal Capital, Breyer Capital, At One Ventures, In-Q-Tel, BOLD Capital, Peak 6, and Draper Associates among others and private investors including Robert Nelsen, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Ric Edelman, Brandon Fugal, Paul Tudor Jones, Richard Garriott, Giammaria Giuliani, Sven-Olof Lindblad, Victor Vescovo, and Jeff Wilke.