LabDAO, a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) dedicated to open-source drug discovery, has successfully secured $3.6 million in a funding round co-led by Inflection.xyz and Village Global. Notable participants in this funding round included North Island Ventures, Seed Club Ventures, ID Theory, Road Capital, Curve Labs, gmjp.lol, Molecule, Gnosis DAO, The LAO, Orange DAO, Beaker DAO, Spaceship DAO, and Balaji Srinivasan, the former Chief Technology Officer of Coinbase.
The announcement of the funding coincides with the launch of the PLEX software platform. PLEX serves as the interface through which scientists can interact with the Lab exchange. Initially, PLEX will enable the execution of computational services, with the intention of incorporating physical laboratory services in the future. To streamline data processing, LabDAO has containerized resource-intensive computational services, simplifying their execution.
To establish ownership of their data, scientists can associate the output with non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This integration allows scientists to verify their data and assert ownership rights.
Niklas Rindtorff, the co-founder and CEO of the Openlab Association, emphasized the importance of empowering scientists as creators, paralleling the opportunities afforded to artists in the NFT movement. Rindtorff highlighted that while science is a collaborative endeavor, scientists should still be able to create and share their work. Recognizing this need, LabDAO aims to provide a platform where scientists can exchange laboratory and computation services.
Openlab, a Swiss-based non-profit organization, was established by the LabDAO team to oversee their initiatives.
LabDAO is still in the process of establishing its decentralized autonomous organization structure. According to Rindtorff, the organization is currently dedicated to developing the exchange platform and ensuring its usefulness for scientists within and outside academia. The primary objective of LabDAO is to have the exchange platform fully operational so that it can be governed effectively when the DAO and associated token are launched. This will facilitate the formation of an engaged community.
Decentralized science (DeSci) is an emerging sector within the cryptocurrency industry, garnering increasing interest from various investors. As an example, VitaDAO, a company focusing on health longevity, recently secured $4.1 million in funding. Notably, their funding round included participation from the venture capital division of pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer.