$20M Astromech round backs predictive biology

Astromech raised $20 million at a $3.8 billion valuation to build models that forecast how living systems change, according to the funding report. The Colossal spinout says it is training on genomic and functional data across species, but its public evidence is still retrospective: a first demonstration mapped 46 longevity-associated genes, while prospective health and biosecurity pilots are planned rather than reported. Biotech builders should file this as a bet on prediction before intervention, alongside the site’s earlier evidence on AI-assisted wet-lab work, not as proof that evolutionary forecasts yet work in deployment.