Ginkgo Bioworks alternatives
TL;DR: 12 companies doing similar work to Ginkgo Bioworks in Healthcare, ranked by how closely they match what Ginkgo Bioworks actually does — not just by category.
How this list was built: every company here is Y Combinator-backed and shares at least one category with Ginkgo Bioworks. They are scored on how closely their own description overlaps with Ginkgo Bioworks's, and all facts shown come from the YC company records — nothing is estimated.
What are the best alternatives to Ginkgo Bioworks?
| Alternative | What it does | Batch | Team | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mytos | Robotic human cell manufacturing | Summer 2018 | 26 | Active |
| Ligo Biosciences | Enzyme design models. | Summer 2024 | 4 | Active |
| Lygos | Lygos (W16) built and commercialized sustainable, high-performance… | Winter 2016 | 55 | Active |
| Volta Labs, Inc. | Unlocking the utility of genomics for the world. | Winter 2019 | 50 | Active |
| Culture Biosciences | We grow cells for biotech companies. | Winter 2018 | 40 | Active |
| Industrial Microbes | We design and build microbes to make chemicals greener at lower cost. | Winter 2015 | 12 | Active |
| Rebellyous Foods | Rebellyous Foods is a food manufacturing technology and production… | Summer 2018 | 12 | Active |
| AesculaTech | Responsive materials, better lives. | Winter 2018 | 6 | Active |
| Pando Bioscience | Gen-AI Designed Enzymes for Pharmaceutical Innovation | Winter 2023 | 5 | Active |
| ACX | Next-generation biocides for sustainable agriculture at scale | Summer 2024 | 4 | Active |
| Kern Systems | Using DNA to store data. | Summer 2019 | 3 | Active |
| Shiru | Shiru leverages ML to create proteins to feed the world sustainably. | Summer 2019 | 4 | Active |
Is Ginkgo Bioworks still active?
Ginkgo Bioworks is a public company. Expect enterprise pricing and procurement, which is why smaller teams look at the alternatives above.
How was this list put together?
Every company here is Y Combinator-backed and shares at least one category with Ginkgo Bioworks. They are then ranked on how closely their own description overlaps with Ginkgo Bioworks's, so the closest matches come first rather than whoever happens to share a tag.