Key Takeaways
- Barnwell Bio has raised $6 million in seed funding led by Twelve Below, with participation from multiple agtech and venture investors.
- The funding will support expansion across the U.S. poultry belt and further development of the company’s metagenomic insights platform.
- Barnwell Bio’s system provides early warning signals for disease by analyzing the full microbial ecosystem of poultry barns.
- The platform is designed to support biosecurity and profitability amid rising regulatory and disease pressures.
- The founding team previously helped build the U.S. COVID-19 wastewater monitoring infrastructure.
Barnwell Bio Secures Seed Funding to Scale Poultry Biosurveillance Platform
Barnwell Bio, a precision animal health intelligence company, has announced the close of a $6 million seed funding round to scale its metagenomic biosurveillance system for the poultry industry. The round was led by Twelve Below, with participation from Max Ventures, Dorm Room Fund, Banter Capital, Planeteer Capital, AgVentures Alliance, Daybreak Ventures, Alumni Ventures, and AgLaunch Farmers.
The company plans to use the capital to expand its footprint across the U.S. poultry belt, with an initial focus on the Midwest and Southeast, while also investing in the continued development of its proprietary data and analytics capabilities.
Barnwell Bio's Metagenomic Intelligence for Early Disease Detection
Unlike traditional diagnostic tools that test for individual pathogens, Barnwell Bio’s platform analyzes the entire microbial ecosystem within a poultry barn. By processing hundreds of thousands of data points, the system creates a facility-specific “microbiome fingerprint” that can signal emerging disease risks before clinical symptoms appear.
“We saw in human health that data is the missing link between guessing and knowing,” said Michael Rhys, co-founder and CEO of Barnwell Bio. “In the poultry industry, veterinarians often must rely on limited diagnostics and intuition. Barn-level intelligence gives producers confidence to manage flocks sustainably.”
The company is recruiting additional talent in bioinformatics, data science, and AI/ML to strengthen its predictive analytics and decision-support tools for producers and veterinarians.
Addressing Regulatory and Biological Pressures in Poultry Production
The funding comes amid growing challenges for the global poultry sector, including tighter restrictions on routine antibiotic use and the ongoing threat of infectious diseases such as Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI). The bird flu crisis alone has cost the U.S. economy more than $14 billion during 2024–2025.
Barnwell Bio’s approach aims to support proactive biosecurity while maintaining operational efficiency.
“Barnwell Bio is applying proven data infrastructure to a massive, underserved market,” said Byron Ling, partner at Twelve Below. “They are building an essential data layer for the future of animal protein production.”
From Reactive Management to Predictive Biosecurity
Veterinary and industry stakeholders highlighted the potential value of microbiome-level insights in day-to-day flock management.
“For vets managing dozens of barns, diagnosing issues can be trial and error,” said Dr. Liz Beilke, DVM, MPH, of West Liberty Foods. “Microbiome intelligence can provide more clarity to intervene with precision.”
By shifting monitoring from individual birds to whole-barn environments, Barnwell Bio positions its platform as a tool for earlier intervention, improved biosecurity, and data-driven decision-making across the poultry supply chain.
