Biotech R&D Software Startup Benchling, Started By MIT Undergrads, Scores $850 Million Valuation Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

Sajith Wickramasekara started working on an idea for a cloud-based Crispr design tool for scientists during college at MIT eight years ago. Today, researchers at Regeneron, Gilead and other biotech giants rely on Benchling’s R&D software to help them track, measure and forecast their scientific work. With biotech in the spotlight as researchers search for vaccines and cures for Covid-19, Wickramasekara told Forbes that he scored a new investment of $50 million from investors led by Alkeon Capital this spring that brings Benchling’s total funding to $114 million at a valuation of $850 million.