Red Queen Bio
Boston-based AI biosecurity company building systems to map AI-generated biological threats and pre-design medical countermeasures, backed by OpenAI's Startup Fund.
Founded in 2025 by Hannu Rajaniemi (also co-founder/CEO of clinical-stage biotech HelixNano) and Nikolai Eroshenko (HelixNano co-founder/CSO, now Red Queen Bio CEO), Red Queen Bio is a Public Benefit Corporation using frontier AI models, lab automation, and reinforcement learning to map AI-enabled biological threats and pre-design medical countermeasures against them, without conducting gain-of-function research itself. It spun out of HelixNano after OpenAI's o3 model reproduced 18 months of HelixNano vaccine-design work in a single zero-shot run. The company raised a $15M seed round in November 2025 led by OpenAI's Startup Fund, with Cerberus Ventures, Fifty Years, and Halcyon Futures participating. No confirmed DoD/DARPA/IARPA/BARDA contracts or government funding have surfaced publicly; its biosecurity framing is currently a private-sector research bet rather than a demonstrated government program.
Overview
- Headquarters
- Boston, MA
- Founded
- 2025
- Employees
- Total funding
- $15M
- Stage
- Seed
- Status
- active
- Domains
- redqueen.bio
- Website
- www.redqueen.bio/
Founders2
- FounderHannu RajaniemiCo-founder of Red Queen Bio, an AI biosecurity company, and co-founder/CEO of HelixNano, an mRNA-therapeutics company; a Finnish mathematical physicist and science-fiction author.
- FounderNikolai EroshenkoCo-founder and CEO of Red Queen Bio, an AI biosecurity company; co-founder and CSO of HelixNano, an mRNA-therapeutics company.
Investors2
- FundOpenAI Startup FundVenture investment vehicle affiliated with OpenAI, founded 2021, investing in AI-adjacent startups across health, law, education, energy, and science; led Red Queen Bio's $15M seed round.
- FundLongeVCVenture capital firm investing in longevity and biosecurity science; backed HelixNano and its spinout Red Queen Bio.
Cap table0
Approximate ownership by holder. Indexed holders link to their records.
Raised per round
Percentages marked ~ are not disclosed. Some are a generic VC-pattern model (founders/team weighted heaviest, option pool lightest, other holders evenly) sized to whatever's left undisclosed — a standard industry shape, not this company's actual cap table.
Contracts0
No linked records yet.
Programs0
No linked records yet.
Frequently asked
- What does Red Queen Bio do?
- Founded in 2025 by Hannu Rajaniemi (also co-founder/CEO of clinical-stage biotech HelixNano) and Nikolai Eroshenko (HelixNano co-founder/CSO, now Red Queen Bio CEO), Red Queen Bio is a Public Benefit Corporation using frontier AI models, lab automation, and reinforcement learning to map AI-enabled biological threats and pre-design medical countermeasures against them, without conducting gain-of-function research itself. It spun out of HelixNano after OpenAI's o3 model reproduced 18 months of HelixNano vaccine-design work in a single zero-shot run. The company raised a $15M seed round in November 2025 led by OpenAI's Startup Fund, with Cerberus Ventures, Fifty Years, and Halcyon Futures participating. No confirmed DoD/DARPA/IARPA/BARDA contracts or government funding have surfaced publicly; its biosecurity framing is currently a private-sector research bet rather than a demonstrated government program.
- Where is Red Queen Bio headquartered?
- Red Queen Bio is headquartered in Boston, MA and was founded in 2025.
- How much funding has Red Queen Bio raised?
- Red Queen Bio has raised $15M in disclosed funding.
- What does Red Queen Bio specialize in?
- Red Queen Bio works across redqueen.bio.
Sources & citations4
Each claim links to its underlying source. Confidence reflects how directly the source supports the claim.
- 1
Red Queen Bio is an AI biosecurity company mapping AI-generated biothreats and pre-designing medical countermeasures, spun out of HelixNano after OpenAI's o3 model reproduced 18 months of HelixNano's vaccine-design work in one zero-shot run
X (Hannu Rajaniemi): Red Queen Bio launch announcementVerified2025-11-14 - 2
Red Queen Bio raised a $15 million seed round led by OpenAI, with Cerberus Ventures, Fifty Years, and Halcyon Futures participating
TechInformed: OpenAI leads $15 million seed in Red Queen Bio for AI biosecurityVerified2025-11-14 - 3
Red Queen Bio is headquartered in Boston, MA and co-founded by Hannu Rajaniemi and Nikolai Eroshenko
Cerberus Ventures: Red Queen BioVerified2026-08-10 - 4
LongeVC, an existing HelixNano investor, also participated in Red Queen Bio's $15M OpenAI-led seed round.
LongeVC: LongeVC Portfolio Company Red Queen Bio Raises $15M to Strengthen AI-Driven BiosecurityVerified2025-11-14