Michael Polansky's Outer Biosciences emerges from stealth with AI-powered living skin research platform

Outer Biosciences, a biotechnology startup co-founded by Michael Polansky, has emerged from stealth after four years of private development. The Massachusetts-based company has raised $23 million to support its platform, which keeps surgically discarded human skin tissue alive for up to a month. By feeding physical test results from this living tissue back into an on-premise AI model, the startup has accelerated its discovery of cosmetic ingredients, generating a new candidate compound roughly every six weeks. Polansky's partner, Stefani Germanotta (Lady Gaga), serves on the company's board.

Outer Biosciences stealth emergence

• ▪Early financial backers of Outer Biosciences include Wing Ventures, Initialized, and Michael Polansky's investing firm Hawktail.
• ▪Outer Biosciences was co-founded in 2022 by Michael Polansky, Kyung-Jin Jang, Chris Hinojosa, and Stanley King.
• ▪Outer Biosciences has raised approximately $23 million in funding to date.
• ▪Outer Biosciences has emerged from stealth after operating in near-total silence for four years.
• ▪Outer Biosciences employs 19 people, with almost the entire team based just outside Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Living tissue preservation platform

• ▪Outer Biosciences sources human skin tissue from cosmetic surgeries through biobanks and brokers, paying fees on a cost-recovery basis.
• ▪The human skin tissue used by Outer Biosciences is de-identified by supplying organizations to protect donor privacy before arrival.
• ▪Outer Biosciences uses a proprietary support system to feed nutrients to the skin tissue and remove metabolic waste.
• ▪Outer Biosciences keeps surgically discarded human skin tissue viable for up to one month outside the body.

AI-powered compound discovery

• ▪Outer Biosciences generates a new skin-active candidate compound roughly every six weeks using its AI-integrated loop.
• ▪Outer Biosciences has six active development programs and has logged several dozen additional compound hits.
• ▪Outer Biosciences runs its AI models on-premise rather than in the cloud to keep its proprietary biological data secure.
• ▪Outer Biosciences' AI model predicts which untested chemical compounds will affect specific skin functions, then refines itself using physical test results.

Cosmetic ingredient licensing model

• ▪Outer Biosciences bypasses the FDA drug approval process by focusing on cosmetic ingredients, which require safety testing under OECD guidelines.
• ▪Outer Biosciences plans to license or sell its finished cosmetic ingredients to beauty and pharmaceutical brands rather than launching its own consumer brand.
• ▪Outer Biosciences generates revenue through collaborative research partnerships, including a pharmaceutical partner studying cancer drug skin rashes.

Michael Polansky career background

• ▪Michael Polansky studied applied mathematics and computer science at Harvard University, graduating in 2006.
• ▪Michael Polansky worked at the hedge fund Bridgewater Associates for three years before moving to Silicon Valley in 2009.
• ▪Michael Polansky managed Sean Parker's family office and serves as the executive director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy.

Lady Gaga partnership

• ▪Outer Biosciences' chief scientist, Kyung-Jin Jang, serves on the scientific advisory board of Stefani Germanotta's cosmetics brand, Haus Labs.
• ▪Stefani Germanotta sits on the board of directors of Outer Biosciences.
• ▪Michael Polansky is the romantic, creative, and business partner of Stefani Germanotta, professionally known as Lady Gaga.