Twist Bioscience has spun off its DNA storage business as Atlas Data Storage, a commercializing startup led by Varun Mehta, co-founder and CEO of HPE-acquired Nimble Storage.
The DNA fragmentation and data writing capabilities developed by Twist enable DNA-based archival data storage. This encodes binary data (base-2 numbering scheme) into a four-element coding scheme using the four DNA nucleic acid bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine, (C) and thymine (T). For example, 00 = A, 01 = C, 10 = G and 11 = T. The transformed data is encoded into short DNA fragments and packed inside a container, such as a glass bead, for 1,000-year preservation and subsequent reading in a DNA sequencing operation.
Atlas Data Storage has closed a $155 million seed financing round and licensed DNA storage assets from Twist, using them in its aim to develop end-to-end DNA storage. The core technology combines new “semiconductor chips and enzyme engineering, ushering in a new era of high-throughput and massively parallel chemistry performed on a chip.” It claims its “datacenter products will equip hyperscaler, enterprise, and government customers to meet the data storage demands of the AI era with low cost, ultra-high density, secure, scalable storage. DNA data storage will be designed to enable greener datacenters with permanent storage that requires no ongoing migration or rewriting, reduced power demands, and minimized carbon impact and e-waste.”
Mehta stated: “The opportunity to create an entirely new storage medium does not arise often. At Atlas Data Storage, we are pioneering the use of DNA for high-capacity storage. DNA enables highly scalable, ultra-dense, secure, permanent data storage, and the potential to reshape storage is tremendous. Atlas has the right team and technology to realize this promise.
“By operating as an independent company, Atlas is able to focus solely on bringing DNA data storage from technology to commercialization and invest in all the functions needed to enter the commercial market. With technology licensed from Twist and an initial close, Atlas is well positioned to drive toward commercialization.”
The seed financing investors are ARCH Venture Partners, Deerfield Management, Bezos Expeditions, Tao Capital Partners, Rsquared VC, Earth Foundry, In-Q-Tel (IQT), and other undisclosed investors.
Atlas’s exec chairman is George Kadifa, co-founder and managing director of Sumeru Equity Partners, who has a background that includes roles at Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Oracle, and Silver Lake. Emily Leproust, CEO and co-founder of Twist, is also on the board, as Twist will retain a minority ownership of Atlas. Bill Banyai, Twist co-founder and general manager of DNA data storage, becomes Atlas’s CTO.
Twist has developed a proprietary semiconductor-based synthetic DNA manufacturing process featuring a high-throughput silicon platform that allows it to miniaturize the chemistry necessary for DNA synthesis. It has assigned and licensed its DNA data storage technology to Atlas in exchange for a minority ownership interest upon close, an upfront cash payment, and a secured promissory note. It may participate in the upside of DNA data storage through future technology and commercial milestone payments, and a revenue share through royalties on future sales of Atlas’s products and services. Twist and Atlas will operate independently with separate management teams.
Leproust said: “There are many applications of synthetic DNA with the potential to have an incredible impact on the world. With this spin-out, both Twist and Atlas are able to move with full force in growing those applications.
“With this transaction and a pure-play DNA data storage focused business, Atlas receives the investment needed to accelerate technology development and drive toward early access customer engagement while Twist continues to share in the upside opportunity for DNA data storage. This transaction also allows Twist to focus on continued revenue growth and our objective of achieving adjusted EBITDA breakeven and profitability. With the launch of Atlas, we now expect to achieve adjusted EBITDA breakeven by the end of fiscal 2026.”
Kadifa said: ”New technologies such as artificial intelligence are further accelerating demand for storage. I’m confident that the data storage technology that Atlas is creating will enable storing billions and billions of terabytes at low cost, power, and waste. Atlas is also driving US leadership in key technology domains, which will have an immense long-term economic and national security impact.”
Mehta has written a blog about product-market fit failures (PMF), including a company he ran, cloud database firm Sneller. He writes that the key “lessons” are:
- PMF requires more than a good product. You’ll need a deep understanding of your market (including competitors and potential disruptors) and your customers.
- Technical founders often jump into building without adequate market research, which can lead to products that don’t meet a true market need.
- Engaging with a broad and representative customer base — starting even before building a product — is essential to avoid the false positives that can lead you down the wrong track with your product development.
- To remain competitive in an existing market, you’ll need to be 10 times better than your competition.
Existing DNA storage companies include Biomemory in France and US-based Catalog Technology. Although DNA storage can hold vast amounts of data in a tiny physical space for a very long time, it has long data writing and reading times compared to, for example, Cerabyte’s ceramic-coated, glass tablet-based technology. No DNA storage technology has yet achieved widespread commercial adoption.
