Hesperos
Orlando, US · Founded 2015 · 1 known investors
Find your way into Hesperos
1,544 people in our graph share verified history with the Hesperos team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.
Mike Zakunlockedknows Michael L. Shuler · together at Cornell (overlapped)
×8knows the team · via Cornell
knows the team · via Cognizant
×2knows the team · via Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
Hesperos develops "Human-on-a-Chip" organ-on-a-chip platforms, offering custom multi-organ models (up to 5 organ or tissue types) with functional readouts such as gene expression and electrophysiology. The systems provide pre-clinical efficacy and toxicity data on drugs and chemicals for the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industries.
Founders & leadership
Hesperos was founded in 2015 by Michael L. Shuler, James J. Hickman, James "J." Hickman, Ph.D, and Michael L. Shuler, Ph.D.
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Michael L. ShulerinCo-founderMichael L. Shuler holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and served as the Eckert Professor of Engineering at Cornell University for over 40 years; he is currently President and Co-founder of Hesperos and has spent three decades developing multi-organ systems and organ-on-chip platforms for predicting drug and chemical responses in the body.
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James J. HickmaninCo-founder & Chief ScientistJames Hickman holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from MIT and earned his M.S. and B.A. from Penn State; he has authored over 100 publications and multiple patents on in vitro cell culture systems and organ-on-chip technologies spanning neuronal, cardiac, hepatic, and other tissue types.
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James "J." Hickman, Ph.DinChief ScientistDr. James Hickman holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from MIT and an M.S. and B.A. from Penn State; he has conducted research on in vitro cell culture systems and microelectrode array toxicity studies since the 1990s, extending work across multiple cell types including neurons, cardiac, muscle, hepatocytes, and epithelial cells, and serves as Chief Scientist at Hesperos.
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Michael L. Shuler, Ph.DinCo-Founder & PresidentMichael Shuler holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota and a B.S. from Notre Dame, and spent decades at Cornell University developing multi-organ cell culture models for drug testing before co-founding Hesperos to commercialize organ-on-a-chip platforms.
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Lawrence FlorininChief Executive OfficerLawrence Florin has held senior leadership roles across pharmaceutical development, biotech, medical devices, and clinical research organizations, with experience in clinical operations, business development, corporate partnerships, and strategic consulting for the life sciences sector. He is CEO of Hesperos, which develops organ-on-a-chip platforms for preclinical drug and chemical testing.
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James StankerCFO
Investors · 1
Non-dilutive funding · 14 SBIR/STTR awards
Federal grants — no equity taken| Agency | Phase | Year | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Institutes of Health (NIH)National Institutes of Health | Phase II | 2022 | $1.7M |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH)National Institutes of Health | Phase II | 2021 | $2M |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH)National Institutes of Health | Phase II | 2021 | $1.5M |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH)National Institutes of Health | Phase II | 2020 | $4.5M |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH)National Institutes of Health | Phase I | 2020 | $216.3K |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH)National Institutes of Health | Phase II | 2019 | $4.5M |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH)National Institutes of Health | Phase II | 2019 | $3M |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH)National Institutes of Health | Phase II | 2019 | $1.5M |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH)National Institutes of Health | Phase I | 2018 | $669.3K |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH)National Institutes of Health | Phase I | 2018 | $450K |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH)National Institutes of Health | Phase I | 2018 | $224.9K |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH)National Institutes of Health | Phase I | 2018 | $220.1K |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH)National Institutes of Health | Phase I | 2017 | $454.3K |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH)National Institutes of Health | Phase I | 2017 | $225K |
Source: SBIR.gov award data (U.S. Small Business Administration). SBIR/STTR awards are competitive federal R&D grants and contracts — non-dilutive capital alongside any venture rounds above.
In the news
Frequently asked questions
- What does Hesperos do?
- Hesperos develops "Human-on-a-Chip" organ-on-a-chip platforms, offering custom multi-organ models (up to 5 organ or tissue types) with functional readouts such as gene expression and electrophysiology. The systems provide pre-clinical efficacy and toxicity data on drugs and chemicals for the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industries.
- Who founded Hesperos?
- Hesperos was founded by Michael L. Shuler, James J. Hickman, James "J." Hickman, Ph.D, Michael L. Shuler, Ph.D in 2015.
- Who are Hesperos's investors?
- Hesperos's investors include Btomorrow Ventures.
- Where is Hesperos headquartered?
- Hesperos is headquartered in Orlando, US.