Benchling

Benchling, Inc.
TypePrivate
IndustrySoftware
Founded2012; 14 years ago (2012)
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
,
United States
Key people
  • Sajith Wickramasekara (Co-founder and CEO)
  • Ashu Singhal (Co-founder and President)
  • Cory Li (Co-founder)
Number of employees
810 (2026)
Websitebenchling.com

Benchling, Inc. is an American software company that develops electronic lab notebook, lab management, and cloud computing software for use in life sciences and biotechnology R&D.

History

Benchling was founded in 2012 by MIT students Sajith Wickramasekara, Ashu Singhal, and Cory Li. Having received enthusiastic feedback from researchers at MIT and Stanford on prototypes of software for designing and analyzing CRISPR gene editing experiments, Benchling's co-founders participated in the summer 2012 batch of Y Combinator. The company raised a $7 million Series A in 2016, a $14.5 million Series B in 2018, a $34.5 million Series C in 2019, a $50 million Series D in 2020, a $200 million Series E in 2021, and a $100 million Series F in 2021 that valued the company at $6.1 billion. Benchling filed Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in November 2021, but as of 2026 had not yet completed an initial public offering.

Benchling's headquarters are located in the SoMa neighborhood of San Francisco, and its East Coast office is located in Boston. In 2021, the company established its EMEA headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. In 2022, the company added an office in Belfast, United Kingdom via its acquisition of Belfast-based startup Overwatch Research.

As of 2025, Benchling is used by more than 200,000 scientists at more than 1,300 companies and 7,500 academic institutions worldwide. Much of its software is offered free of charge for academic use. The company's annual recurring revenue is estimated to be more than $200 million.

References

  1. ↑ Rob Matheson (7 December 2016). ""Google Docs" for life sciences accelerates discovery". MIT News. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
  2. ↑ Ayushi Goyal and Apoorva Bajj (27 June 2023). "Benchling: A Cloud-Based Platform for Biotechnology Research and Development". StartupTalky. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
  3. ↑ FORM D: Notice of Exempt Offering of Securities (Report). U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. 13 October 2016. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
  4. ↑ Sarah Buhr (3 October 2016). "Google Docs for life sciences startup Benchling raises $7 million in growth funding from Thrive Capital". TechCrunch. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
  5. ↑ Kim-Mai Cutler (20 February 2014). "SV Angel-Backed Benchling Is Modernizing Software For Biotech Labs". TechCrunch.
  6. ↑ Paul Schloesser (19 November 2021). "Benchling adds another megaround into the fold, looking even more unicorn-y as a possible IPO approaches". Endpoints News. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
  7. ↑ Erin Griffith (10 February 2019). "The Next Wave of 'Unicorn' Start-Ups". The New York Times. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
  8. ↑ Roberta Kwok (6 August 2018). "How to pick an electronic laboratory notebook". Nature. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
  9. ↑ Michelle F Davis (18 November 2021). "Biotech Platform Benchling Valued at $6.1 Billion in New Funding". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
  10. ↑ Anirban Sen and Krystal Hu (18 November 2021). "Life sciences software startup Benchling files for U.S. listing -sources". Reuters. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
  11. ↑ John Campbell (24 February 2022). "Benchling: US firm buys Belfast-based software start-up Overwatch". BBC. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
  12. ↑ Annie Zhou (12 September 2024). "Benchling". Contrary Research. Retrieved 4 October 2026.
  13. ↑ "Benchling". Silicon Valley Investclub. Retrieved 4 October 2025.