Opentrons Raises $40M Series E Led by Avego for AI-Driven Lab Robots

New York City-based Opentrons Labworks has raised a $40 million Series E led by healthcare investor Avego, with participation from BroadOak Capital Partners. The lab automation company did not disclose a valuation.

Existing investors include SoftBank Vision Fund and Khosla Ventures, and the company also counts Sands Capital, Lerer Hippeau and Y Combinator among its backers. Opentrons, founded in 2014 and led by CEO James Atwood, did not disclose its total funding to date.

From Pipetting Robots to AI-Run Experiments

Opentrons builds benchtop robots and software that automate repetitive lab work. SiliconANGLE reported that its Flex system is an enclosed robot that transfers small volumes of liquid between samples and can add an optional robotic gripper to move plates, letting more experimental steps run without a human. The smaller, less expensive OT-2 handles repetitive liquid-handling tasks for labs that do not need that capacity. The robots can be configured for DNA extraction, PCR, protein purification and ELISA testing. The company also offers AI software for automating sample preparation and other repetitive experimental work, and it describes the Opentrons Flex platform as spanning both robots and AI systems.

The new funding will scale the company's robotics, software and data infrastructure. Opentrons says it will invest in AI-driven experimental execution, extend its automation capabilities, expand into new markets and geographies, speed up protocol development and deepen integration with the wider lab automation ecosystem.

"Millions of scientists spend much of their day on manual work a robot can do. Giving that time back to discovery is the biggest opportunity in science," Atwood said.

11,000 Robots in 80-Plus Countries

Opentrons reports more than 11,000 robots deployed across more than 80 countries. The company says its systems are used at 90% of the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies, and, in its corporate description, at 14 of the top 15 global biopharma companies and every top-20 U.S. research university.

That installed base is central to the pitch from its new lead investor. "Every AI-driven discovery still has to be tested in a real lab," said James Flexner, managing partner at Avego, adding that the firm sees a significant opportunity for autonomous science to converge around Opentrons' platform.

Why It Matters

AI models can now propose drug candidates, protein designs and experimental plans faster than human teams can test them. The bottleneck has shifted to the bench, where results still depend on physical samples, reagents and repeatable protocols.

Opentrons is positioning its hardware as the execution layer for that loop, with systems it says are built for AI to run experiments directly. Its robots already sit in academic and pharma labs across more than 80 countries, giving it a distribution advantage as more research groups look to automate. A late-stage round led by a healthcare-focused investor signals that backers see lab automation shifting from convenience to core infrastructure for AI-driven discovery.

The open question is whether "autonomous science" standardizes on one vendor's platform. Opentrons is using the Series E to make the case that it should be the default.

Source

Business Wire — Opentrons Announces $40M Series E Round to Standardize AI-Driven Science on Its Robots