BioCrowd is building a decentralized platform that facilitates collaboration among researchers, institutions, investors, and patient advocacy groups in the medical research field. We focus on advancing translational research in areas such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, ALS, and other neurodegenerative diseases as well as rare diseases through a democratic process. BioCrowd is a pioneer in Decentralized Science (DeSci), having established the framework that makes it possible.
BioCrowd is also an innovator in building a new investment platform where researchers and research institutions can be fairly compensated for their work, expertise and investment. The BioCrowd model takes some of the financial dynamics around IP and licensing and royalty revenue streams and moves them earlier. We can reduce costs and friction in riskier earlier stage investments.
Investors have a new model for investing in exciting research developments they care about directly with a major investment or with fractional shares.
Investors can invest in pre-screened projects in their preferred sector, stage, indication or risk profile. We will partner with secondary market exchange options for faster exit options for their capital investment beyond any initial lock up periods per each project.
BioCrowd operates by creating a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO) and Sub-DAO’s by specialty area that allows stakeholders to collaborate, share data, and fund research projects. Our platform ensures transparency, data integrity, and community-driven decision-making in scientific research.
BioCrowd partners with space research agencies like NASA and the International Space Station Labs (ISS) and numerous patient advocacy groups and funding bodies.
NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, is the United States government agency responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research.
The International Space Station (ISS) is a large spacecraft that orbits in low earth orbit (LEO) and is the size of a football field, serving as a home where astronauts from various countries live and work conducting scientific research.
We believe in the use of advanced technologies that may not be as accessible in typical ground-based labs. This includes sophisticated imaging techniques, genomic analyses, and other state-of-the-art methodologies that can provide deeper insights into the disease areas that interest us.
Our collaboration with NASA and the ISS allows us to conduct innovative research on neurodegenerative diseases in microgravity environments. This unique setting can provide new insights into disease mechanisms and potential treatments that are not possible under Earth's gravity.
Microgravity is a research tool that helps studying diseases in microgravity. It allows scientists to test hypotheses about cellular and molecular behavior without the confounding factor of gravity. This can lead to new understandings of how neurodegenerative processes work and how they might be countered.
Research in microgravity can provide unique insights into the fundamental mechanisms of diseases, revealing aspects that might be masked by Earth's gravity, and leading to potential new therapeutic targets.
BioCrowd has been appointed as a Founding Member of The National DigiFoundry (NDF). NDF is a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant recipient, and other federal partners include the US Treasury Dept. This strategic partnership is opening new doors and NDF is marketing BioCrowd. BioCrowd is leading the decentralized science (DeSci) working group as part of NDF. Founder and CEO, Mark Stoner was a speaker at their first annual conference in January 2024 on the campus of the University of Texas, San Antonio.
NDF DeSci Working Group presentation by Mark Stoner https://youtu.be/7Q5pC-CJFi4?si=tKQLQwW62g4Ifgi6
UTSA establishes a new hub to improve management of digital assets. https://www.utsa.edu/today/2023/12/story/new-hub-to-improve-digital-assets.html
BioCrowd press release fall 2023.
DeSci is a movement aimed at transforming how scientific research is conducted by leveraging decentralization or also known as crowdsourcing principles. It promotes open access, transparency, collaboration, and democratization of research processes using blockchain and other decentralized technologies.
BioCrowd implements DeSci principles by using DAOs to manage research projects. These DAOs enable stakeholders to participate in decision-making by voting based on the number of shares they own, to share data openly, and ensure the integrity and traceability of research data through blockchain technology.
We support a wide range of medical research projects, particularly those focused on neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, ALS, and glioblastoma. One of the reasons also is these are the primary areas of research at ISS Labs we are working with that have unique data sets. We also support interdisciplinary projects that involve space biology and other innovative approaches.
In the United States, a disease is considered rare if it is affects fewer than 200,000 Americans. Some countries and the European Union have similar but slightly different definitions as a percentage of the population.
How many people have rare diseases? According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), there are approximately 7,000 rare diseases affecting between 25 and 30 million Americans.
For BioCrowd we can add considerable value using blockchain to reduce costs and friction and improve communication between patients, researchers, caregivers, patient organizations and investors to better target specific researchers and clinical studies. As well as a newer way for all stakeholders to monetize their participation.
We facilitate collaboration by providing tools and resources for researchers to connect, share insights, and work together on interdisciplinary projects worldwide. We have technology that facilitates fractional shares for all stakeholders and a process to pay “bounties” for contributors to be rewarded.
Patients can participate by joining patient advocacy groups within BioCrowd or creating their own, contributing to discussions, voting on research proposals, and helping to shape the research agenda. Contact us with further questions here.
Patient involvement is critical to ensure that research priorities align with real-world patient needs and concerns, leading to more relevant and impactful research outcomes. The experience from one patient to the next can be quite significant and researchers need that information to design effective treatments.
Patient advocacy groups are critical to recruit member patients, participate in decision-making processes through decentralized governance (DAOs), help raise awareness, and ensure that patient perspectives are central to the research.
BioCrowd enables crowdsourced funding initiatives, connecting researchers with potential funding sources, including grants and crowdfunding campaigns.
BioCrowd offers a way to connect, access to high-performance platforms and tools for open data sharing to facilitate collaborative research. We are building out more value-added services to provide to researchers that will help their jobs move faster and provide better insight whether AI drug discovery tools to partnerships with universities, hospitals, clinical research organizations (CRO’s) or others. We are seeking a “wish list” of tools and services that researchers will find helpful if you wish to submit your needs to info@biocrowd.io
The BioCrowd widget is an interactive tool that allows users to access and engage with BioCrowd's platform features directly from their website or application. It enables seamless integration of BioCrowd’s collaborative research, funding, and networking functionalities.
To install the BioCrowd widget, you need to embed a small piece of code into your website's HTML. Detailed instructions and the code snippet can be found in the BioCrowd developer documentation on our website or contact us.
The widget provides access to various features including:
Patient advocacy groups that are approved will be able to do fundraising directly from their website that connects to BioCrowd.
Once the widget is installed, you can browse active research projects, read detailed descriptions, and participate by voting or contributing insights. Simply click on the project of interest to get started.
Yes, you can submit research proposals directly through the widget. Navigate to the "Submit Proposal" section, fill in the required details about your project, and submit for review and voting by the community.
To vote on proposals, log in to your BioCrowd account via the widget, browse the list of active proposals, and click on the "Vote" button for the proposals you support.
The widget includes a networking feature that allows you to search for and connect with other researchers and patient advocacy groups, facilitating collaboration and communication.
BioCrowd is building out this feature. Funding opportunities will be able to be accessed by navigating our website. Here, you can browse available grants, apply for funding, and manage your contributions.
You can manage your contributions and track the progress of funded projects through our website. A section provides detailed updates and metrics on the projects you have supported.
BioCrowd, Inc. is a Delaware C Corporation. The company is based in San Francisco, California.
As a for-profit startup, BioCrowd earns revenue from transactions, subscriptions, licensing and longer term from equity we hold in companies or projects.
With our commission model, we only charge a simple 5% + 3rd party transaction fees* on all funds received. *Credit card, minting, or gas fees.
With the blockchain model we will also charge a percentage of fees raised as this is implemented as part of the DAO model. The BioCrowd founding team will also have an allocation of tokens as the organizers and initial developers. There is no guarantee that these tokens will appreciate but that is the objective.
When BioCrowd invests in a project or company we will either get warrants (shares/tokens) issued following traditional venture capital practices in that future potential upside. In some situations, we might invest with only a revenue share arrangement.
We are looking for specifically translational research projects and companies that are or will be generating intellectual property (IP) and/or developing products or services that can be commercialized and be monetized.
The most substantial payoff for all stakeholders could be in 3-5 years or when agreed milestones are met that were set upfront for measuring the successful research project or company. At that point they may license their data or research work or sell the company to "big pharma" or other strategic buyers.
BioCrowd uses blockchain technology to ensure data integrity and security. All research data and transactions are recorded on a secure, immutable ledger, making it easy to trace and verify information. This approach guarantees transparency and trust in the research process.
Blockchain ensures transparency and immutability that therefore makes it possible for the DAO to operate.
A blockchain is a distributed database or ledger shared among a computer network's nodes. They are best known for their crucial role in cryptocurrency systems for maintaining a secure and decentralized record of transactions, but they are not limited to cryptocurrency uses. Blockchains can be used to make data in any industry immutable—the term used to describe the inability to be altered.
Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO)s are organizations that are governed by smart contracts and function on a blockchain. Our DAOs are research hubs focused on a specific disease or a specific area of medical research. They enable and promote collaboration among global researchers.
It is a self-executing contract that encompasses the terms of the agreement that is written into code. A smart contract defines the rules of the DAO and execute decisions based on votes.
A smart contract automates each step in the process as agreed and is triggered by the next step in the process.
What Are Smart Contracts on the Blockchain and How Do They Work?
Tokens represent voting power within the DAO. They can be used to vote on proposals and make decisions.
ERC-1155 is a multi-token standard used on the Ethereum blockchain, designed to support a variety of token types within a single contract. Developed by Enjin, this standard enables the creation, transfer, and management of both fungible (identical) and non-fungible (unique) tokens under one smart contract, making it highly efficient and versatile for various applications, particularly in gaming and digital collectibles.
An IP-NFT (Intellectual Property Non-Fungible Token) is a digital asset that represents ownership rights over intellectual property, such as patents, trademarks, copyrights, or trade secrets, using blockchain technology. Unlike traditional NFTs that are often associated with digital art or collectibles, IP-NFTs are specifically designed to handle intellectual property rights and transactions, ensuring transparency, traceability, and security.
Within biotech and life sciences this is the primary technology that BioCrowd uses to reward researchers that submit their work for investment as well as to offer shares to investors and shares to patients and patient groups and other stakeholders as value is created by the work that researchers do and or by value others do such as submitting their patient records or helping to sell licensing rights to a pharma company or other buyer.
IP-NFTs can facilitate automatic licensing agreements and royalty payments through smart contracts. This means that creators can set terms and conditions for the use of their intellectual property (IP), and payments can be automatically distributed according to these terms.
This is the set of rules and procedures that administers the way decisions are made within the DAO. They encompass mechanisms for submitting proposals, voting, and implementing decisions.
Members vote using their tokens once a proposal is submitted.
If a proposal passes, the smart contracts execute the decision (For example, if the proposal was to fund a new research project, the smart contracts will release the required funds to the designated wallet). This process ensures that decisions are implemented without the need for manual intervention.
See above.
Stakeholders can participate in BioCrowd’s DAOs by becoming members, contributing to decision-making processes, and voting on project proposals. Membership levels and the number of tokens held determine the extent of their participation and influence.
Earning bounties or rewards for work performed from a needed tasks list is also another way to earn tokens. DAOs can post bounties for tasks and other pieces of work, and contributors can claim and complete bounties for rewards. The organizers need to approve the work done.
BioCrowd will be hosting regular training webinars explaining this process and other events or with partners.
You can join us by signing up on our platform. Once registered, you can participate in existing projects, propose new research ideas, collaborate with other scientists, and apply for funding.
Yes if there is a big enough audience and affected number of people and other factors. The selection process of what to support and fund will be done by DAO members then funding is sent from the Treasury for that specific DAO or Sub-DAO.
We can develop smart contracts on a blockchain to create a new DAO. The creators will issue tokens to raise funds and distribute voting power.
A researcher can become a member by acquiring tokens either through purchase, contribution, or other means specified by the DAO. Each token typically represents a vote, and the weight of your vote in proportional to the number of tokens you hold.
You can submit proposals for new projects, funding allocations, or any other decision the DAO needs to make. Proposals are submitted through our platform and reviewed by a committee of experts in your field.
Apply here for research funding
Contact us if you have more questions.