section_path: History/Launch
section_name: Launch
paragraph_text: Launch
  
  Colossal was officially launched on September 13, 2021. The launch included a $15 million seed round led by Thomas Tull, Tim Draper, Tony Robbins, Winklevoss Capital Management, Breyer Capital, and Richard Garriott. In addition to the de-extinction of the woolly mammoth, Colossal, in partnership with Dr. Paul Ling of Baylor College of Medicine, hopes to synthesize the elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus, a virus which infects and kills many young Asian elephants.
  
  Colossal also announced that the company's mission was to preserve endangered animals through gene-editing technology and use those same animals to reshape ecosystems to combat biodiversity loss.
  
  The company's genomic modeling software development could potentially bring forth advancements in disease treatment, multiplexed genetic engineering, synthetic biology, and biotechnology. Colossal recruited mammoth and modern elephant experts Michael Hofreiter and Fritz Vollrath, as well as bioethicists R. Alta Charo and S. Matthew Liao for their consultation. Other scientific advisory board members include: Carolyn Bertozzi, Austin Gallagher, Kenneth Lacovara, Helen Hobbs, David Haussler, Elazar Edelman, Joseph DeSimone, Erez Lieberman Aiden, Christopher E. Mason, and Doris Taylor. Colossal's team includes over 170 scientists and 95 advisors that specialize in fields such as genomics and paleontology.
  
  In October 2021, Colossal announced its partnership with VGP; through this collaboration, Colossal will provide funding for VGP to sequence and assemble Asian, African bush, and African forest elephant genomes for preservation purposes. These genomes were made publicly accessible for research without use restrictions in July 2022 and May 2023, respectively.
  
  In March 2022, Colossal raised $60 million in a Series A funding round led by Thomas Tull, bringing the total funding to $75 million. Other participants in this funding were Untamed Planet, Animoca Brands, Breyer Capital, Animal Capital, Arch Ventures co-founder Robert Nelsen, Paris Hilton, Bold Capital, First Light Capital Group, Boost VC, Jazz Ventures, Builders VC, Green Sands Equity, Draper Associates, and Charles Hoskinson.
  
  Colossal spun out its software platform, Form Bio, in September 2022 with $30 million in funding. Lamm has stated that Colossal is run like a software company, and monetization will stem from technologies developed by the company. Form Bio has developed an AI-based software platform designed to help scientists manage large and complicated datasets.
  
  In January 2023, Colossal completed a Series B funding round, raising an additional $150 million and putting the company's valuation at over $1 billion. The same month, Colossal launched its Conservation Advisory Board, which includes Forrest Galante, Iain Douglas-Hamilton, Mead Treadwell, and Aurelia Skipwith as its members.
  
  In October 2024, Colossal announced $50 million in funding for its launch of the Colossal Foundation.
  
  The company secured $200 million in Series C funding in January 2025, bringing its total valuation to $10.2 billion and making it Texas' first decacorn. With the new funding, Colossal announced its intention to expand its work in artificial wombs and de-extinction species. As of January 2025, Colossal has raised $435 million in total funding since its foundation.