Bio Protocol raises $6.9 million in seed funding led by Arthur Hayes’ Maelstrom Fund

Decentralized science (DeSci) protocol Bio has raised $6.9 million after recently rolling out Bio V2, an upgraded platform designed to build an onchain “scientific superintelligence.”

The funding was led by BitMEX cofounder Arthur Hayes’ family office Maelstrom Fund, with participation from Mechanism Capital, Animoca Brands, Zee Prime Capital, Panga Capital, Mirana Ventures, Foresight Ventures, Big Brain Holdings, and others, Bio said Wednesday.

William Fang, head of strategy at Bio Protocol, told The Block the round is classified as a seed raise. He declined to disclose when fundraising began, when it closed, the round’s structure (equity, tokens, or mix), or the valuation. Fang also declined to share the project’s total funding to date, which includes earlier backing from YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs) and other investors.

As a DeSci protocol, Bio allows scientists to convert their work into decentralized AI agents, or BioAgents. These agents are designed to speed up and reduce the cost of scientific research while raising funding through token sales.

DeSci more broadly uses blockchain to widen access to research funding, promote open data, and reward scientists more directly. Instead of institutions making funding decisions behind closed doors, allocations are decided transparently onchain through DAOs, with research data shared publicly.

Paul Kohlhaas, Bio’s founder and CEO, compared the model to digital publishing.

“Just as digital publishing platforms have given content creators the ability to build and monetize audiences outside traditional media, Bio’s infrastructure can empower scientists to build and monetize research outside traditional pharma structures,” he said.

BioAgents

Bio’s first BioAgent, Aubrai — developed with VitaDAO and longevity researcher Dr. Aubrey de Grey — has minted more than 1,000 scientific hypotheses onchain and raised $250,000 in research funding since launching less than a month ago. Aubrai’s token (AUBRAI) surged 150x from a $269,000 pre-sale valuation to about $40 million at its peak; its fully diluted valuation is now around $35 million, according to The Block’s Aubrai price page.

The protocol’s native BIO token is trading at about $0.16, down 1.2% in the past 24 hours, with a market capitalization of roughly $309 million, according to The Block’s BIO price page.

Last month, Bio launched V2, an upgraded platform that introduces new fundraising tools, a rewards program called BioXP, and staking features. Its “Ignition Sales” model is designed for fast, low-cap fundraising of new BioAgents, tokenized intellectual property and BioDAOs. Users can earn BioXP points for activities such as staking, research contributions and engagement, which unlock access to Ignition Sales. The BIO token and other ecosystem tokens can also be staked to earn BioXP, supporting liquidity and long-term participation in DeSci projects.

More BioAgents and IP tokens covering other scientific fields are set to launch on Bio V2 in the coming months, spanning areas such as dermatology, microbiome health, brain health, and men’s health, Fang said.

Hayes, Maelstrom’s founder and CIO, said Bio Protocol could become a “category-defining launchpad” for community-driven scientific research. “If it works, it’s not just a launchpad — it’s the birth of an AI-native research market,” he said.

Beyond agents, Bio said projects in its ecosystem are advancing toward clinical milestones. These include VITA-FAST, a longevity program preparing for Phase 2 trials in the UAE; Percepta (CLAW), a patented brain health supplement entering human studies; and Curetopia (CURES), a pilot rare-disease program consolidating 40 conditions into a single treatment strategy.

Since last year, Bio said its network has directed more than $50 million in funding to labs worldwide. With the new seed funding, the project plans to expand its BioAgent framework globally, creating a network of decentralized AI “science machines” designed to compress drug development timelines from “decades to months.”

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