Key Takeaways
- Living Models has raised $7M in seed funding to develop AI foundation models for plant genomics, exiting stealth mode.
- The company introduced BOTANIC, a family of transformer models trained on genomic sequences from 43 different plant species.
- The funding round was co-led by Asterion Ventures and The Galion Project, with participation from Kima Ventures, STATION F, and several strategic investors.
- Living Models uses AI to interpret DNA as a language, aiming to accelerate the 8-year seed development cycle to better address climate-driven agricultural needs.
- The team has released its first research paper and made the BOTANIC open-weight foundation model available on Hugging Face for the research community.
Living Models Applies Transformer Technology to DNA
Living Models, an AI-driven biotechnology firm, has officially exited stealth with the announcement of a $7 million seed funding round. The company specializes in creating foundation models that treat DNA sequences as a “language of life,” moving beyond traditional computer vision and phenotype-based analysis to address biological challenges at the genomic level.
The company’s flagship release, the BOTANIC series, represents a significant technical milestone. These models are trained on genomic data from 43 phylogenetically diverse plant species. By applying the transformer architecture—the same technology behind large language models like ChatGPT—to nucleotides, Living Models aims to interpret, predict, and engineer biological outcomes with unprecedented precision.
Strategic Funding and Industry Alignment for Living Models
The $7 million round saw broad participation from the venture capital and academic sectors. Co-led by Asterion Ventures and The Galion Project, the round included support from Kima Ventures, STATION F, and the University of California, Berkeley. Other strategic investors included Artesian (Alternative Investments), Juniper Square, and Pascual Innoventures.
