Key Takeaways
- Colossal Biosciences is reportedly raising new capital at a $20B-$30B valuation, up from $10.2B in 2025
- The company has started generating revenue and spun out three startups, including one valued at $2B
- Artificial womb technology expected ready next year could open human fertility treatment markets
Colossal Biosciences, the Dallas-based startup trying to bring back the woolly mammoth and other extinct species, is in talks to raise new funding at a valuation between $20 billion and $30 billion, according to Axios. That would represent a near-tripling of the company's worth in roughly 16 months, up from its $10.2 billion valuation in 2025.
The report doesn't specify who might lead the round or how much capital Colossal is seeking. But one detail stands out: the five-year-old company has started generating revenue over the past year, a shift from pure R&D spending that likely explains investor appetite for a valuation jump of this scale.
Where is the money coming from?
CEO Ben Lamm outlined three revenue streams for Colossal last year. The most immediate is conservation technology sold to governments. The U.S. government and the UAE have both engaged with Colossal's offerings, with the UAE investing $60 million in the company according to Wired.
The second stream comes from spinouts. Colossal has launched three standalone companies: Breaking, which develops plastic degradation technology; Form Bio, a computational biology platform that raised $30 million; and Astromech, an AI-driven predictive modeling company for biology and life sciences that hit a $2 billion valuation in March 2026. These spinouts let Colossal monetize specific technologies without distracting from the core de-extinction mission.
The third potential revenue source is biodiversity credits. If Colossal successfully reintroduces extinct animals like the woolly mammoth or dodo to their native habitats, the company could sell credits similar to carbon offsets. This market doesn't exist yet in any meaningful form, but Lamm is betting it will.
The artificial womb wildcard
Colossal's most commercially promising technology might have nothing to do with extinct animals. The company is developing artificial womb technology to gestate its resurrected species, and Lamm told Rolling Stone in May that he expects the tech to be ready next year. He has also said Colossal plans to spin off this technology for human fertility treatment applications.
That's a massive market. The global fertility services industry is worth roughly $30 billion annually and growing. An artificial womb that could help parents who cannot carry pregnancies would face enormous regulatory hurdles, but the technology itself could be transformative for neonatal care and fertility medicine.
Six species and counting
Colossal has expanded its target species list steadily. The company started with the woolly mammoth, added the Tasmanian tiger (thylacine), then the dodo bird and dire wolf. In late April, it added the bluebuck antelope as its sixth target species.
Beyond resurrection projects, Colossal's nonprofit arm, the Colossal Foundation, is using the company's genetic technology for conservation of living species. Last month, it announced a partnership with the University of Tasmania to help protect Tasmanian devils from devil facial tumor disease, a contagious cancer that has devastated the population.
Why investors are paying up
A $30 billion valuation for a company that hasn't yet resurrected any extinct animal might seem aggressive. But Colossal's pitch has always been that de-extinction is the demonstration project, not the business model. The real value lies in the gene editing, stem cell, and reproductive technologies being developed along the way.
George Church, the Harvard geneticist who co-founded Colossal, put it this way: the technologies matter more than the species. Every breakthrough required to bring back a mammoth, whether in gene editing precision, cell reprogramming, or artificial gestation, has applications in conservation, agriculture, and human medicine.
The timing also helps. Deep tech is having a moment. Longevity biotech, alternative energy, and other capital-intensive research companies are attracting funding that would have seemed impossible a few years ago. Colossal is riding that wave.
Logicity's Take
The jump from $10.2B to potentially $30B in 16 months is extraordinary, but Colossal has done something most deep-tech startups fail to do: it found ways to monetize intermediate technologies before achieving its moonshot goal. The spinout strategy is smart. Form Bio and Astromech generate revenue and validate Colossal's underlying science without waiting for a woolly mammoth to be born. For founders building capital-intensive R&D companies, this is the playbook: identify technologies developed en route to your primary goal that can stand alone as businesses. The artificial womb spinout, if it materializes next year, could dwarf everything else.
What happens next
Colossal hasn't commented on the reported fundraise. If it closes at the high end of the range, a $30 billion valuation would make Colossal one of the most valuable private biotech companies in the world, in the same tier as companies like Stripe or SpaceX in terms of private market cap.
The real test comes when Colossal has to deliver. The company has set aggressive timelines, including having artificial womb technology ready in 2027. Missing those targets would make the next fundraise harder. But if even one of the spinouts, especially the fertility technology, proves out, the current valuation might look cheap.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Colossal Biosciences' current valuation?
Colossal was last valued at $10.2 billion in 2025. The company is now reportedly in talks to raise at a $20 billion to $30 billion valuation.
How does Colossal Biosciences make money?
The company generates revenue through conservation technology contracts with governments, including the U.S. and UAE. It has also spun out three companies: Breaking, Form Bio, and Astromech.
What animals is Colossal trying to bring back?
Colossal is working on six target species: the woolly mammoth, Tasmanian tiger, dodo bird, dire wolf, bluebuck antelope, and others. None have been fully resurrected yet.
What is Colossal's artificial womb technology?
Colossal is developing artificial gestation technology to birth resurrected species. CEO Ben Lamm says the technology will be ready in 2027 and may be spun out for human fertility treatment applications.
Who founded Colossal Biosciences?
Colossal was co-founded by entrepreneur Ben Lamm and Harvard geneticist George Church in 2021.
Another deep-tech startup raising significant capital for infrastructure technology
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Source: Startups | TechCrunch / Marina Temkin
Manaal Khan
Tech & Innovation Writer
Produced with AI assistance and reviewed by the Logicity editorial team. Learn more in our Editorial Policy.
