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BioRender
YC W18Toronto, CA · Founded 2018 · 205 employees · Hiring · 13 known investors
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BioRender is a software tool that enables scientists to create and share professional scientific illustrations and figures. The platform serves researchers and scientists across life sciences disciplines globally.
Also known as Science Suite Corp. · BioRender.io
Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (W18)
BioRender was founded in 2018 by Ryan Marien, Katya Shteyn, and Shiz Aoki.
Investors · 13
How we know: the company's own site · the Y Combinator directory · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us
How we know: Fifty Years's portfolio page · the VCSheet dataset · Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
How we know: FundersClub's portfolio page · Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
How we know: Olima Ventures's portfolio page · Not right? Tell us
How we know: Standard Capital's portfolio page · Not right? Tell us
How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us
How we know: the VCSheet dataset · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
How we know: the VCSheet dataset · Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us
Also in the syndicate · 1
Funding
SEC filings, press & company announcements- Undisclosed amountSeedFeb 2026
YCombinator
Source ↗
Source: company announcements and press reports — follow each round's link for the claim.
The YC application· Winter 2018 batch
BioRender YC Demo Day (W18) - Figma/Canva for scientists
Startup Pitches
Alumni Q&A
- How did your company get started? (i.e., How did the founders meet? How did you come up with the idea? How did you decide to be a founder?)
- CEO and co-founder Shiz Aoki spent a decade as lead medical illustrator at National Geographic before starting a medical illustration firm in Toronto, where she noticed rising demand from scientists who needed help visualizing their work and often lacked the resources to hire illustrators. In 2017 she teamed up with Katya Shteyn and Ryan Marien to found BioRender. The company went through Y Combinator, has users in over 100 countries, and offers a library of icons and templates spanning more than 30 fields of biology.
Summarized from the founders' answers on their Y Combinator profile.
Images
Founder mafia
2 people who came through BioRender went on to found or lead other companies.
Related companies · 7
Companies working in the same space as BioRender.
Legal entities · 1
corporate structureFrequently asked questions
- What does BioRender do?
- BioRender is a software tool that enables scientists to create and share professional scientific illustrations and figures. The platform serves researchers and scientists across life sciences disciplines globally.
- Who founded BioRender?
- BioRender was founded by Ryan Marien, Katya Shteyn, Shiz Aoki in 2018.
- Who are BioRender's investors?
- BioRender's investors include Y Combinator, Fifty Years, FundersClub, Olima Ventures, Standard Capital, Braewick Holdings, Bragiel Brothers, Coyote Ventures and 4 more.
- Where is BioRender headquartered?
- BioRender is headquartered in Toronto, CA.