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§ Private Profile · New York City, NY, USA
We make robots for biologists.
Opentrons has raised $238.0M across 5 funding rounds.
Key people at Opentrons.
Opentrons was founded in 2014 by Nicholas Wagner (Founder) and Chiu Chau (Founder) and Will Canine (Founder/CPO).
Opentrons has raised $238.0M in total across 5 funding rounds.
Today, biologists spend too much time pipetting by hand. We think biologists should have robots to do pipetting for them. People doing science should be free of tedious benchwork and repetitive stress injuries. They should be able to spend their time designing experiments and analyzing data.
That's why we started Opentrons.
We make robots for biologists. Our mission is to provide the scientific community with a common platform to easily share protocols and reproduce each other's results. Our robots automate experiments that would otherwise be done by hand, allowing our community to spend more time pursuing answers to some of the 21st century’s most important questions.
Key people at Opentrons.
Opentrons was founded in 2014 by Nicholas Wagner (Founder) and Chiu Chau (Founder) and Will Canine (Founder/CPO).
Opentrons has raised $238.0M in total across 5 funding rounds.
Opentrons's investors include Angela Du, Khosla Ventures, Sierra Ventures, Social Capital, SOSV, John M. Mueller, Jeffrey B. Kindler, Lerer Hippeau, Y Combinator.
Opentrons has raised $238.0M across 5 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $200.0M Series C in September 2021.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 1, 2021 | $200M Series C | Angela DU | Khosla Ventures, Sierra Ventures, Social Capital | Announced |
| Aug 1, 2020 | $21M Series B | — | SOSV, John M. Mueller | Announced |
| Mar 1, 2018 | $10M Seed | Khosla Ventures | Sierra Ventures, Social Capital, Jeffrey B. Kindler, Lerer Hippeau, Y Combinator | Announced |
| Mar 1, 2016 | $7M Seed | — | SOSV, John M. Mueller | Announced |
| Jul 1, 2014 | $25K Seed | — | SOSV, John M. Mueller | Announced |
Opentrons Labworks Inc. designs and manufactures affordable, modular lab automation robots that automate repetitive liquid handling tasks for biologists. Their core products, including the OT-2 and Flex platforms, serve academic, biopharma, synthetic biology, and clinical research labs worldwide by increasing throughput, reducing human error, and standardizing experimental protocols. Opentrons’ mission is to free scientists from tedious benchwork so they can focus on experimental design and data analysis. Their open-source ecosystem and user-friendly software enable broad accessibility, fostering a strong community for protocol sharing and innovation[1][2][3][5].
Founded by a team with deep expertise in biology and robotics, Opentrons emerged to address the high cost and complexity of lab automation, which limited access for smaller labs and academic researchers. Early traction came from their first-generation OT-One robot, which demonstrated that affordable, open-source automation could democratize lab workflows. The company evolved into Opentrons Labworks, Inc., now a market leader with over $200 million raised and unicorn status, expanding its product line and integrating AI tools to further enhance automation capabilities[2][4].
Opentrons rides the growing trend of automation and digitization in life sciences, driven by increasing demand for reproducibility, efficiency, and scalability in research and healthcare. The timing is favorable due to advances in robotics, open-source software, and AI integration, which Opentrons leverages to lower barriers to entry for lab automation. Their influence extends beyond product sales, shaping the ecosystem by training the next generation of scientists and enabling more labs to adopt automation, thus accelerating innovation in biotech and pharma[1][4][5].
Looking ahead, Opentrons is poised to expand its impact by integrating generative AI tools and enhancing its Flex platform to automate more complex workflows. Trends such as AI-driven scientific discovery and increasing demand for scalable, reproducible research will shape their growth. As automation becomes essential in life sciences, Opentrons’ open, flexible, and affordable approach positions it to remain a key enabler of innovation, democratizing access to cutting-edge lab technology and influencing the future of biological research[4][5].
