Columbus startup DNA Nanobots raises $3.5 million

Columbus biotech startup DNA Nanobots announced this week it has raised $3.5 million from a single family office, funding the company’s operations for roughly the next 18 months and bringing it partway toward a targeted $5 million Seed round.

The Ohio-based company develops self-assembling DNA “nanobots”, nanoscale structures built using DNA origami techniques, intended to deliver genetic payloads to targeted cells. In its announcement, DNA Nanobots said the new capital will be used to advance preclinical studies, expand in-house manufacturing capacity, grow its intellectual property portfolio and hire specialists in molecular biology, nanotechnology and engineering.

Jim Lynch, the company’s CEO, said the financing “provides the capital needed to advance our programs” and the accompanying announcement added that the company is seeking an additional $1.5 million to close their Seed round. DNA Nanobots said completion of the round would support IND-enabling studies and preparation for first-in-human trials.

Translating DNA-based nanostructures into clinically safe, scalable therapeutics remains technically challenging. “Gene and cell therapies offer great promise to treat and potentially cure genetic diseases and cancers,” DNA Nanobots’ Chief Science Officer, Dr. Christopher Lucas had shared in a previous statement from the company in 2024, when announcing an exclusive License to use UC Berkeley’s Gene Editing Technology Platform. “But current viral gene delivery approaches have significant limitations including toxicity and immunogenicity, extremely high manufacturing costs, lack of particle uniformity, limited tissue targeting, and restrictions on gene size,” he added at the time.

The funding was lauded in the statement by the Ohio Life Sciences Association President and CEO, Eddie Pauline who said it was “encouraging to see capital flowing into Ohio-based companies, including innovative Ohio State spinouts that showcase the strength of our research, commercialization, and homegrown innovation.”

The startup emerged from research at The Ohio State University by Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Professor Carlos Castro, and adds to a broader trend of local university spinouts seeking to commercialize advanced concepts.

DNA Nanobots did not disclose more detailed terms of the investment or a timeline for IND-enabling studies beyond the general statement that the Seed round would support those activities.