Benchling
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Investors
Founders
About
Benchling is a cloud-based R&D platform for life sciences, founded in 2012 by Sajith Wickramasekara and Ashu Singhal, who met at MIT 12. The company was part of Y Combinator’s Spring 2012 batch and provides digital lab notebooks, molecular biology tools, and workflow management to over 200,000 scientists 23. Benchling was valued at $6.1 billion as of its Series F in November 2021 4.
Funding History
| Date | Round | Amount | Lead | Co-investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2015 | Series A | $5M | Andreessen Horowitz | Thrive Capital, Y Combinator, SV Angel, Rock Health, FF Angel, Tim Draper, Matt Huang 1 |
| Oct 2016 | Growth | $7M | Thrive Capital | Andreessen Horowitz 5 |
| Jun 2018 | Series B | $14.5M | Benchmark | F-Prime Capital, Thrive Capital 3 |
| Jul 2019 | Series C | $34.5M | Menlo Ventures | Lead Edge Capital, Y Combinator Continuity, Benchmark, Thrive Capital 6 |
| May 2020 | Series D | $50M | Alkeon Capital | Spark Capital, Lux Capital, ICONIQ Partners, Thrive Capital, Benchmark, Menlo Ventures 7 |
| Apr 2021 | Series E | $200M | Sequoia Capital Global Equities | Altimeter Capital, Byers Capital, Elad Gil, Thrive Capital, Benchmark, Menlo Ventures, Alkeon Capital, ICONIQ, Lux Capital, Spark Capital, Lead Edge Capital 8 |
| Nov 2021 | Series F | $100M | Altimeter Capital, Franklin Templeton (co-lead) | Tiger Global, Lone Pine Capital 4 |
Total raised: approximately $412M 9. Valued at $6.1 billion as of November 2021 4.
What Investors Say
Eric Vishria, General Partner at Benchmark, on the Series B (June 2018):
“Benchling is coming in at the optimal time to supercharge the incredible work scientists are doing.” 3
Matt Murphy, Partner at Menlo Ventures, on the Series C (July 2019):
“Life science R&D has become incredibly complex…Benchling’s software replaces pen and paper workflows and becomes the system of record for a wide range of biotech and pharma R&D projects.” 6
Will Reed, General Partner at Spark Capital, on the Series D (May 2020):
“As the world increasingly runs on biotech, biotech will run on Benchling.” 7
Ram Woo, Partner at Altimeter Capital, on the Series F (November 2021):
“Now that scientists can read, write, and edit the code of life, biotechnology is becoming one of the most important platforms for innovation since the internet.” 4
What Founders Say
Sajith Wickramasekara, CEO and co-founder, on the Series D (May 2020):
“This funding enables us to bring that same speed to life science as a whole, no matter the research area – oncology, food and agriculture, energy, or materials.” 7
Sajith Wickramasekara on the Series C (July 2019):
“The next generation of scientists is already on Benchling and at the forefront of establishing the future of the life science and biotech industries.” 6
Sources
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Fortune, “With $5 million in new funding, Benchling wants to become the Salesforce of biotech,” April 2015. https://fortune.com/2015/04/15/benchling-funding-biotech/↩↩
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Y Combinator, “Benchling: Unlocking the power of biotech with modern software for modern science,” accessed March 2026. https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/benchling↩↩
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Benchling News, “Benchling Raises $14.5M from Benchmark to Advance Life Sciences Research,” June 2018. https://www.benchling.com/news/benchling-raises-14-5m-from-benchmark-to-advance-life-sciences-research↩↩↩
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Benchling News, “Benchling Raises $100M in Series F Financing Co-Led by Altimeter and Franklin Templeton,” November 2021. https://www.benchling.com/news/benchling-raises-100m-in-series-f-financing-co-led-by-altimeter-and-franklin-templeton↩↩↩↩
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TechCrunch, “Google Docs for life sciences startup Benchling raises $7 million in growth funding from Thrive, a16z, and others,” October 2016. https://techcrunch.com/2016/10/03/google-docs-for-life-sciences-startup-benchling-raises-7-million-in-growth-capital-from-thrive-a16z-and-others/↩
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PR Newswire, “Benchling Raises $34.5M Series C To Fuel Life Sciences R&D,” July 2019. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/benchling-raises-34-5m-series-c-to-fuel-life-sciences-rd-300890067.html↩↩↩
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Benchling News, “Benchling Raises $50M Series D To Accelerate Biotech Revolution,” May 2020. https://www.benchling.com/news/benchling-raises-50m-series-d-to-accelerate-biotech-revolution↩↩↩
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Benchling News, “Benchling Raises $200M Series E To Accelerate Biotech R&D,” April 2021. https://www.benchling.com/news/benchling-raises-200m-series-e-to-accelerate-biotech-rd↩
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Crunchbase, “Benchling - Company Profile & Funding,” accessed March 2026. https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/benchling↩