There’s a new biotech startup focused on cancer research. And the way they got funded might just be the future of scientific ventures.
What’s happening:
- VitaDAO is a decentralized autonomous organisation aiming to fund breakthrough scientific ventures in biotech and longevity
- The venture arm of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer previously invested in VitaDAO’s seed round
- VitaDAO is now backing a new venture called Matrix Bio which aims to make scientific breakthroughs in cancer research
Why it matters:
- Decentralized science, sometimes referred to as DeSci, is an emerging area of biotech in which capital is crowdfunded and ownership is distributed in a decentralized manner
- VitaDAO is the first ever DAO to receive an investment from a publicly traded biotech or pharmaceutical company such as Pfizer
- This could be foreshadowing into the future of what funding new scientific ventures looks like
How it works:
- VitaDAO is governed by token holders who take a vote as a community on different proposals for new startup concepts
- Future funding for those startups comes from what they call ‘IP-NFTs’ which is fractionalized ownership powered by VitaDAO's associated platform known as Molecule
Going deeper:
- Other notable investors in VitaDAO include Shine Capital, L1 Digital and Balaji Srinivasan
The intrigue:
- Matrix Bio will be studying why naked mole rates live on average ten times as long as ordinary rats and why they seem to be immune to cancer
- The core focus of the study is around the anti cancer and pro longevity effects of high molecular weight hyaluronic acid
