Outer Bio, an artificial intelligence biotech venture co-founded by Michael Polansky and featuring Lady Gaga on its board of directors, has officially stepped out of stealth with approximately $23 million in committed backing. Polansky serves as chief executive of the company, which aims to address limitations in biological data for artificial intelligence training.
The startup utilizes a platform named Yuna to keep donated human skin alive for four weeks, extending the normal survival window of removed tissue from one week. This duration allows researchers to observe slow biological processes such as inflammation, cellular aging, and collagen breakdown. Tissue samples arrive at the lab within hours of surgery, primarily consisting of leftover material from cosmetic procedures across all six Fitzpatrick skin tones, both sexes, and multiple age groups.
Regulatory shifts have increased the demand for human-based testing models. The US Food and Drug Administration issued a roadmap in April to reduce unnecessary animal testing, noting that over 90% of drugs passing animal trials still fail in human clinical trials. Meanwhile, Europe has enforced a marketing ban on animal-tested cosmetics since March 2013.
Polansky, who previously ran Sean Parker's family office and started Outer Bio quietly in 2022, contends that the pace of biological experimentation, rather than computing power, currently limits artificial intelligence progress. Investors backing the startup include Wing Venture Capital, Initialized Capital, SV Angel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Polansky's firm, Hawktail.
To date, the platform has recorded more than 10,000 treatments across 300 donors, generating over 30,000 measurements per sample. Outer Bio currently sells access to its platform to biopharma teams and consumer brands, though the industry continues to face historical challenges in developing new proven anti-aging mechanisms.
