Caspr Bio
Caspr Bio is a company.
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Leadership Team
Key people at Caspr Bio.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who founded Caspr Bio?
Caspr Bio was founded by Guillermo Repizo (Cofounder).
Caspr Bio is a company.
Key people at Caspr Bio.
Caspr Bio was founded by Guillermo Repizo (Cofounder).
Key people at Caspr Bio.
CASPR Biotech is a seed-stage biotech company founded in 2018 that develops rapid, portable molecular diagnostics using novel CRISPR-Cas enzymes discovered from extremophiles.[1][2][3] It targets infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), offering kits like the Caspr Lyo-CRISPR SARS-CoV-2 test for COVID-19 detection in under 60 minutes with minimal equipment.[2][3] The company serves healthcare professionals and has pivoted from early cancer therapy concepts to diagnostics, raising $150K from investors including IDB Lab, SOSV, and IndieBio; it was acquired by a Fortune 100 company (likely Amazon, which hired its cofounders for COVID testing).[1][3]
Growth momentum included rapid COVID-19 response post-IndieBio graduation, with scientists relocating to San Francisco for test development and subsequent acquisition enabling scaled production of cheap CRISPR-based kits.[3]
CASPR Biotech emerged from IndieBio, an SOSV accelerator, when founders—including CEO Franco Goytia and Chief Strategy Officer Carla Gimenez—traveled to extreme environments like high-altitude mountains and volcanoes in Argentina to discover novel, temperature-resistant Cas proteins amid CRISPR IP constraints.[3] Founded in 2018 in Barreiras, Brazil (with later San Francisco operations), the idea stemmed from bypassing "CRISPR wars" by sourcing undiscovered enzymes from extremophiles for robust diagnostics.[1][3]
Pivotal moments included COVID-19 hitting one month after graduation, prompting 15 scientists to live communally in San Francisco to build tests; this led to Amazon hiring key team members for Project Artemis (employee COVID testing at scale) and full acquisition by a Fortune 100 firm.[1][3]
(Note: Distinct from Casprtech.com's NC2I air/surface disinfection systems, which use unrelated photocatalytic tech.[4])
CASPR Biotech rides the CRISPR diagnostics wave, accelerating post-COVID demand for decentralized, point-of-care testing amid antimicrobial resistance crises and pandemic preparedness.[1][2][3] Timing aligned perfectly with 2020's testing shortages, positioning it as a key player in biotech's shift from gene editing to accessible diagnostics via novel Cas variants.
Market forces like IP bottlenecks in mainstream CRISPR favored its extremophile sourcing, influencing the ecosystem by proving accelerator models (e.g., IndieBio) can yield acquisition exits and scale via Big Tech (Amazon/Fortune 100).[3] It advances global health equity by enabling low-resource diagnostics in Brazil/Latin America hubs.[1]
Post-acquisition, CASPR Biotech scales CRISPR kits for broader infectious diseases, leveraging Fortune 100 resources for global distribution.[3] Trends like AI-enhanced enzyme discovery and multiplex testing will amplify its edge, potentially expanding to AMR surveillance and biothreat detection.
Its influence may evolve from startup innovator to embedded tech in enterprise health screening, tying back to its origins: extremophile hunting unlocked diagnostics that met a global crisis head-on, redefining rapid testing's potential.
Caspr Bio was founded by Guillermo Repizo (Cofounder).
