Binance Labs, the cryptocurrency exchange’s venture capital arm, has made its first investment in decentralized science (DeSci) with an investment in BIO Protocol, an accelerator that seeks to transform the financing and commercialization of health sciences.
Diversifying the Binance venture portfolio
BIO Protocol supports a network of Biotech Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (BioDAOs) that create communities to fund, develop and co-own new drugs and therapeutics. The BioDAOs address gaps in traditional funding in areas such as rare diseases, longevity research, and emerging health challenges, according to Binance Labs.
Binance Labs’ investment, which was not disclosed, will expand the network by providing seed funding for new projects and strengthening the network that provides them with community and tokenomics support. Binance Labs investment director Andy Chang said:
“BIO Protocol represents a significant step forward in DeSci by merging biotechnology and DeFi. At Binance Labs, we are dedicated to unlocking groundbreaking advancements that drive long-term, real-world impact by supporting projects building meaningful technology.”
Binance Labs has a portfolio of over 250 projects. Its projects mainly contribute to the development of decentralized finance, but some involve gaming, artificial intelligence and other activities. For example, Binance Labs supports Pluto Studio, which launched the popular tap-to-earn Telegram mini-app Catizen.
Source: BIO Protocol
Related: Binance Labs-backed Velvet Capital repels potential phishing attack
BioDAOs already busy
BIO Protocol has a network of eight BioDAOs, which reached a market cap of $200 million in November 2023. BIO Protocol founder Paul Kohlhaas introduced intellectual property non-fungible tokens (IP-NFTs) as the co-founder of the Molecule platform. BIO Protocol supports the sale of IP-NFTs.
Longevity-focused VitaDAO, one of the cornerstone projects supported by BIO Protocol, was founded in 2021. It received $4.1 million in funding from pharmaceutical company Pfizer in February 2023 and funded the launch of Matrix Biosciences in October of that year.
BioDAO HairDAO became the first DAO to file a scientific patent in December.
BIO Protocol’s BioDAOs. Source: BIO Protocol
The protocol’s next cohort will include projects dedicated to finding a cure for Long COVID and rare diseases, and developing quantum microscopes to observe quantum biological phenomena, according to information provided to Cointelegraph by Binance Labs.
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