# Blank Bio Inc. (B20250187217)

> Blank Bio Inc. is a San Francisco-based applied AI research lab building RNA foundation models for precision oncology and precision medicine, using transcriptomic data to improve patient selection, disease-progression prediction, biomarkers, clinical trials, and diagnostics.

Company page on Leadbay: https://mad-max.leadbay.ai/company/blank.bio · loaded 2026-10-28

## At a glance

- Website: https://blank.bio
- Team based in: San Francisco (ycombinator.com and 3 more)
- Founded: 2025 (ycombinator.com and 1 more)
- Founders: Jonny Hsu, Jonathan Hsu, Philip Fradkin, Ian Shi, Ruian Shi
- Industry: Biotechnology Research
- Employees: 6 (employees and founders, investors not counted; ycombinator.com; Sources disagree: 8 (blank.bio, a company database))
- Total funding: $7.3M (blank.bio and 1 more)
- Backed by: Define Ventures, Leonis Capital, Nova Threshold, Ripple Ventures, SignalFire, Y Combinator, Alumni Ventures-related SPV
- Seen in its site's code: Google Analytics (googletagmanager.com/gtag/js), Google Workspace (MX alt2.aspmx.l.google.com) (read 2026-10-30)
- Email: founders@blank.bio
- Address: 1010 16TH ST 
 APT 452
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94107

## What it sells, to whom

- Blank Bio Inc. is a San Francisco-based applied AI research lab building RNA foundation models for precision oncology and precision medicine, using transcriptomic data to improve patient selection, disease-progression prediction, biomarkers, clinical trials, and diagnostics. ([lifestyle.capitalcityrock.com](https://lifestyle.capitalcityrock.com/story/235073/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-and-strategic-collaboration-with-pacbio-to-advance-rna-foundation-models-for-precision-oncology/), [barchart.com](https://www.barchart.com/story/news/2015110/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-and-strategic-collaboration-with-pacbio-to-advance-rna-foundation-models-for-precision-oncology), [au.finance.yahoo.com](https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-130000853.html))

## Products and services

- RNA foundation models for precision oncology ([lifestyle.capitalcityrock.com](https://lifestyle.capitalcityrock.com/story/235073/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-and-strategic-collaboration-with-pacbio-to-advance-rna-foundation-models-for-precision-oncology/), [barchart.com](https://www.barchart.com/story/news/2015110/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-and-strategic-collaboration-with-pacbio-to-advance-rna-foundation-models-for-precision-oncology), [au.finance.yahoo.com](https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-130000853.html))
- Predictive biomarker and patient-selection tools ([lifestyle.capitalcityrock.com](https://lifestyle.capitalcityrock.com/story/235073/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-and-strategic-collaboration-with-pacbio-to-advance-rna-foundation-models-for-precision-oncology/), [barchart.com](https://www.barchart.com/story/news/2015110/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-and-strategic-collaboration-with-pacbio-to-advance-rna-foundation-models-for-precision-oncology), [au.finance.yahoo.com](https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-130000853.html))
- Prognostic biomarker and disease-trajectory modeling ([lifestyle.capitalcityrock.com](https://lifestyle.capitalcityrock.com/story/235073/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-and-strategic-collaboration-with-pacbio-to-advance-rna-foundation-models-for-precision-oncology/), [barchart.com](https://www.barchart.com/story/news/2015110/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-and-strategic-collaboration-with-pacbio-to-advance-rna-foundation-models-for-precision-oncology), [au.finance.yahoo.com](https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-130000853.html))
- RNA-seq clinical-diagnostics augmentation ([lifestyle.capitalcityrock.com](https://lifestyle.capitalcityrock.com/story/235073/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-and-strategic-collaboration-with-pacbio-to-advance-rna-foundation-models-for-precision-oncology/), [barchart.com](https://www.barchart.com/story/news/2015110/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-and-strategic-collaboration-with-pacbio-to-advance-rna-foundation-models-for-precision-oncology), [au.finance.yahoo.com](https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-130000853.html))
- Open-source/academic RNA model work related to Orthrus; current commercial models are independently developed ([lifestyle.capitalcityrock.com](https://lifestyle.capitalcityrock.com/story/235073/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-and-strategic-collaboration-with-pacbio-to-advance-rna-foundation-models-for-precision-oncology/), [barchart.com](https://www.barchart.com/story/news/2015110/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-and-strategic-collaboration-with-pacbio-to-advance-rna-foundation-models-for-precision-oncology), [au.finance.yahoo.com](https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-130000853.html))

## Customers and markets

- **Customers**: Pharmaceutical companies and diagnostic companies are the stated target customers/partners; specific customer names were not publicly confirmed in the primary announcement. ([barchart.com](https://www.barchart.com/story/news/2015110/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-and-strategic-collaboration-with-pacbio-to-advance-rna-foundation-models-for-precision-oncology), [br.advfn.com](https://br.advfn.com/noticias/BW/2026/artigo/98563775), [au.finance.yahoo.com](https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-130000853.html))
- **Markets**: Primary market: pharmaceutical companies making clinical-development decisions in oncology. ([blank.bio](https://blank.bio/), [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/O8Z-blank-bio-computational-toolkit-for-rna-therapeutics), [nasdaq.com](https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-and-strategic-collaboration-pacbio-advance-rna))
- **Markets**: Biotechnology and therapeutics companies, including teams working on mRNA and other RNA therapeutics. ([blank.bio](https://blank.bio/), [ycombinator.com](https://www.ycombinator.com/launches/O8Z-blank-bio-computational-toolkit-for-rna-therapeutics), [nasdaq.com](https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-and-strategic-collaboration-pacbio-advance-rna))

## Team

- Jonny Hsu, Founder/CEO · [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanhsuuw)
- Jonathan Hsu, Co-Founder & CEO
- Philip Fradkin, Founder · [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-fradkin-330a417b)
- Ian Shi, Founder/CTO · [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruian-shi-4b5215b9)
- Ruian Shi, Co-Founder
- Michael Zhang, Founding scientist

Backed by: Define Ventures, Leonis Capital, Nova Threshold, Ripple Ventures, SignalFire, Y Combinator, Alumni Ventures-related SPV

## Where to find more

- [This page in Markdown, for agents](https://mad-max.leadbay.ai/company/blank.bio.md)

## Decision makers

- [Jonny Hsu](https://mad-max.leadbay.ai/person/jonny-hsu--blank.bio.md), Founder/CEO · [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanhsuuw)
- [Jonathan Hsu](https://mad-max.leadbay.ai/person/jonathan-hsu--blank.bio.md), Co-Founder & CEO
- [Philip Fradkin](https://mad-max.leadbay.ai/person/philip-fradkin--blank.bio.md), Founder · [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-fradkin-330a417b)
- [Ian Shi](https://mad-max.leadbay.ai/person/ian-shi--blank.bio.md), Founder/CTO · [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruian-shi-4b5215b9)
- [Ruian Shi](https://mad-max.leadbay.ai/person/ruian-shi--blank.bio.md), Co-Founder

Work emails and direct phones come with a Leadbay account: https://wow.leadbay.ai/?register=true

Where it comes from: 15 sites read (blank.bio, lifestyle.capitalcityrock.com, barchart.com, au.finance.yahoo.com, markets.chroniclejournal.com, br.advfn.com, healthcareventurecapitalfund.com, bizprofile.net, …).

## Best angle

2026-05-19 · Fundraising: Announced a $7.2 million seed financing and strategic collaboration with Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) (3 sources)

## Best way in

- LinkedIn message to Jonny Hsu: Founder/CEO · profile linked from the company's record
- LinkedIn message to Philip Fradkin: Founder · profile linked from the company's record
- Write to founders@blank.bio (generic): A shared mailbox, in Leadbay's record, verified 2026-04-02

## Signals: what happened

- 2026-05-19 · Fundraising: Announced a $7.2 million seed financing and strategic collaboration with Pacific Biosciences (PacBio) (3 sources: [barchart.com](https://www.barchart.com/story/news/2015110/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-and-strategic-collaboration-with-pacbio-to-advance-rna-foundation-models-for-precision-oncology), [br.advfn.com](https://br.advfn.com/noticias/BW/2026/artigo/98563775), [au.finance.yahoo.com](https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-130000853.html))

## Working on now

- Precision oncology: RNA foundation models for patient-level prediction from tumor transcriptomes.
- Disease trajectory modeling: predicting disease progression from molecular profiles to support risk stratification and more efficient clinical-trial design.
- Patient selection and predictive biomarkers: identifying likely responders, resistance mechanisms, and combination opportunities for pharma trials.
- Clinical diagnostics: augmenting RNA-seq tests, with emphasis on sensitivity and specificity.
- Ladon bulk-transcriptomics foundation model and AI-agent workflows for biology; the latest listed company post is dated July 27, 2026.
- The company has shifted its public positioning from its 2025 YC launch focus on mRNA therapeutic sequence design toward oncology, clinical-trial decisions, biomarkers, and diagnostics.

From: [Blank Bio | RNA intelligence for precision oncology](https://blank.bio/), [Blank Bio Announces Seed Financing and Strategic ...](https://www.blank.bio/seed-announcement), [Writing](https://www.blank.bio/writing), [AI agents will accelerate scientific discovery when ...](https://www.blank.bio/ai-agents-will-accelerate-scientific-discovery-when-grounded-in-biological-data), [Blank Bio Announces Seed Financing and Strategic Collaboration with PacBio to Advance RNA Foundation Models for Precision Oncology | Nasdaq](https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-and-strategic-collaboration-pacbio-advance-rna)

## Summary

Blank Bio is an applied AI research lab that develops RNA foundation models to improve clinical trial success rates and enable precision medicine [1][2][3]. The company, founded in 2025 by Jonathan Hsu, Philip Fradkin, and Ian Shi, creates models that analyze tumor transcriptomes to predict disease progression and patient response to treatment [1][2][3]. Its primary customers are pharmaceutical and diagnostics companies [2][3]. In May 2026, the company raised $7.2 million in seed funding from investors including Define Ventures, Leonis Capital, Nova Threshold, Ripple Ventures, SignalFire, and Y Combinator [2][3][4]. The company is currently collaborating with Pacific Biosciences to generate high-resolution RNA sequencing data for its models [2][3][4].

[1]: https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/blank-bio "Blank Bio: RNA intelligence for precision medicine | Y Combinator"
[2]: https://www.genomeweb.com/informatics/blank-bio-raises-72m-seed-funding-rna-foundation-model-development "Blank Bio Raises $7.2M in Seed Funding for RNA Foundation Model Development | GenomeWeb"
[3]: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/blank-bio_today-were-excited-to-announce-our-72m-activity-7462494649010663424-s_hS "Today, we’re excited to announce our $7.2M seed round alongside a strategic collaboration with PacBio! At Blank Bio, we help pharma make more informed decisions in clinical trials by capturing the biology … | Blank Bio"
[4]: https://www.technologynetworks.com/proteomics/product-news/startup-advances-ai-models-for-tumor-rna-analysis-413180 "New AI Platform Targets Precision Cancer Predictions | Technology Networks"
[5]: https://blankbio.substack.com/p/ai-will-accelerate-clinical-trials "AI will accelerate clinical trials by learning patient heterogeneity"
[6]: https://www.altis.vc/research/company/blank-bio "Blank Bio — AI for Life Sciences | Altis Research"
[7]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44986809 "Launch HN: BlankBio (YC S25) – Making RNA Programmable | Hacker News"
[8]: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pacbio_high-resolution-ai-models-require-high-resolution-activity-7463023262084673537-m4Z9 "High-resolution AI models require high-resolution genomic data. | PacBio"

## Sources

- [Blank Bio Inc. (B20250187217)'s website](https://blank.bio)
- [Blank Bio | RNA intelligence for precision oncology](https://blank.bio/)
- [Blank Bio Announces Seed Financing and Strategic ...](https://www.blank.bio/seed-announcement)
- [Writing](https://www.blank.bio/writing)
- [AI agents will accelerate scientific discovery when ...](https://www.blank.bio/ai-agents-will-accelerate-scientific-discovery-when-grounded-in-biological-data)
- [Blank Bio Announces Seed Financing and Strategic Collaboration with PacBio to Advance RNA Foundation Models for Precision Oncology | Nasdaq](https://www.nasdaq.com/press-release/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-and-strategic-collaboration-pacbio-advance-rna)
- [Blank Bio Announces Seed Financing and Strategic Collaboration with PacBio to Advance RNA Foundation Models for Precision Oncology](https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-130000853.html)
- [User | thepilotnews.com - Blank Bio Announces Seed Financing and Strategic Collaboration with PacBio to Advance RNA Foundation Models for Precision Oncology](https://markets.chroniclejournal.com/thepilotnews/article/bizwire-2026-5-19-blank-bio-announces-seed-financing-and-strategic-collaboration-with-pacbio-to-advance-rna-foundation-models-for-precision-oncology)
- [Blank Bio Inc. San Francisco, CA - filing information](https://www.bizprofile.net/ca/san-francisco/blank-bio-inc)