Ginkgo Bioworks
HiringPublic
What they do:
Our mission is to make biology easier to engineer.
Quick facts:
HQ: Boston, MA, United States
Top Synthetic Biology Startups
This list has 33 startups and was last updated on Oct 15, 2026. 6 of them are hiring right now. Biggest hubs: San Francisco (17), New York (4), and Boston (3). Largest teams: Ginkgo Bioworks, Opentrons, and Ansa Biotechnologies.
33 startups
What they do:
We make robots for biologists.
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HQ: New York, NY, United States
What they do:
Next-generation DNA synthesis using enzymes
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
What they do:
Lygos (W16) built and commercialized sustainable, high-performance…
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
What they do:
Unlocking the next generation of mRNA medicines
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HQ: Oxford, United Kingdom
Living Carbon
Hiring
What they do:
maximizing biomass on low quality land
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
What they do:
Makes guilt-free plastics from food waste
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Adaptyv
Hiring
What they do:
We're building fully automated labs for protein engineering
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HQ: Lausanne, Switzerland
Invert
Hiring
What they do:
Data analytics software for biomanufacturing.
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
What they do:
ZBiotics makes genetically engineered probiotics.
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
What they do:
We create activating antibodies to treat diseases others can’t.
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
Epinoma
Hiring
What they do:
We engineer proteins that control the operating system of biology.
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
What they do:
We recycle plastic using engineered enzymes
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HQ: Portland, OR, United States
Molagri
Hiring
What they do:
Resistance free pesticides.
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What they do:
Building programmable therapeutics for the immune system
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
What they do:
Elevated mRNA for transformative medicines.
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
What they do:
A platform to make artificial viruses as cancer therapeutics.
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HQ: New York, NY, United States
What they do:
Gen-AI Designed Enzymes for Pharmaceutical Innovation
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HQ: Boston, MA, United States
What they do:
Synvivia applies chemical control over cell behavior
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
What they do:
Helping Plastic Surgeons Rebuild Fat
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HQ: Durham, NC, United States
What they do:
We teach your immune system to attack and cure cancer
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What they do:
Next-generation biocides for sustainable agriculture at scale
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HQ: New York, NY, United States
What they do:
Enzyme design models.
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
What they do:
The AI scientist for always-on biodefense
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HQ: London, United Kingdom
What they do:
Engineering microbes for miners to unlock billions in trapped metal
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
What they do:
AI infrastructure for biosecurity
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HQ: New York, NY, United States
What they do:
Enabling Tissue Targeting of Therapies
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
What they do:
High quality mRNA for therapeutic application
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HQ: San Diego, CA, United States
What they do:
Genetically engineering plants for disease resistance.
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
What they do:
"If-then" conditional logic for protein drugs
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HQ: Boston, MA, United States
What they do:
Genetically engineered viruses that teach your immune system to kill…
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
What they do:
Vaccines for any cancer or infection in weeks.
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HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
Engage Bio
Acquired
What they do:
Potent, durable, and redosable non-viral genetic medicines
Quick facts:
HQ: San Francisco, CA, United States
Questions and answers
How many startups are on this list?
There are 33 startups on this list, last updated on Oct 15, 2026.
Which of them are hiring?
6 of them are hiring right now, including Ginkgo Bioworks, Living Carbon, and Adaptyv.
Which of them have the largest teams?
By team size: Ginkgo Bioworks (641 employees), Opentrons (300 employees), and Ansa Biotechnologies (72 employees).
Where are they based?
The biggest hubs are San Francisco (17), New York (4), and Boston (3).