Outer Biosciences emerges from stealth with AI platform that keeps human skin alive for weeks

Outer Biosciences has emerged from stealth with $23 million in funding and a proprietary platform, Yuna, that keeps donated human skin alive for up to four weeks. Co-founded by CEO Michael Polansky alongside board member Lady Gaga, the startup uses discarded surgical tissue to train an AI model. This closed-loop system predicts how chemical compounds affect skin biology, accelerating the discovery of new cosmetic ingredients to one candidate every six weeks. The company plans to license these ingredients to commercial brands, capitalizing on global regulatory shifts away from animal testing.

Living tissue platform capabilities

• ▪The Outer Biosciences platform, named Yuna, preserves the day-zero epidermal, stromal, and immune-associated molecular programs of ex vivo human skin.
• ▪The Outer Biosciences platform has logged more than 10,000 treatments across 300 donors, with each sample yielding over 30,000 measurements.
• ▪Outer Biosciences emerged from stealth in August 2026 with a platform that keeps donated human skin alive and measurable for up to four weeks.
• ▪Outer Biosciences researchers induce UVB damage in living skin samples to track stress, inflammatory, and recovery responses over several weeks.

AI compound discovery acceleration

• ▪Outer Biosciences uses an AI model to predict which untested chemical compounds affect specific skin functions, then validates those predictions on living tissue.
• ▪Outer Biosciences currently has six active development programs, with four of those leads likely to reach commercialization.
• ▪By integrating AI, Outer Biosciences has accelerated its discovery rate to generate a new cosmetic ingredient candidate roughly every six weeks.
• ▪Outer Biosciences runs its AI models on-premise rather than in the cloud to protect its proprietary biological data.

Ethical tissue sourcing protocols

• ▪Outer Biosciences sources human skin discarded from cosmetic surgeries through biobanks and brokers operating under institutional review board oversight.
• ▪Outer Biosciences pays fees to tissue suppliers on a cost-recovery basis rather than purchasing the human tissue outright.
• ▪All human skin samples arrive at Outer Biosciences de-identified, with names and contact details stripped upstream by supplying organizations.

Cosmetics ingredient licensing model

• ▪Outer Biosciences plans to license or sell its finished cosmetic ingredients to beauty and pharmaceutical brands rather than building its own consumer brand.
• ▪Because Outer Biosciences discovers cosmetic ingredients rather than drugs, its products bypass the FDA drug approval process.
• ▪Outer Biosciences generates revenue from collaborative research partnerships, including a pharmaceutical partner studying cancer drug-induced skin rashes.

Animal testing regulatory bans

• ▪The European Commission adopted a roadmap on June 1, 2026, containing more than 30 recommendations to phase out animal testing in chemical safety assessments.
• ▪The European Union has enforced a full marketing ban on animal-tested cosmetics since March 2013, driving demand for human tissue alternatives.
• ▪The FDA issued a roadmap in April 2025 to reduce animal testing, noting that over 90% of drugs clearing animal studies fail in human trials.

Michael Polansky career trajectory

• ▪Michael Polansky co-founded Outer Biosciences in 2022 and serves as its chief executive officer, while his fiancée Lady Gaga sits on the board.
• ▪Michael Polansky previously managed Sean Parker's family office and serves as the executive director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy.
• ▪Outer Biosciences has raised approximately $23 million in funding from investors including Wing Venture Capital, Initialized Capital, SV Angel, and Hawktail.