AI-generated from publicly available materials.Harlan Robins, co-founder of Adaptive Biotechnologies, has launched a new venture, Harell Data, which recently secured $15 million in funding to address the challenges of AI training in life sciences.
Robins identified a significant issue in the biotech sector: while substantial investments are made to generate high-quality research data, the creators of this data often do not receive adequate compensation when AI developers utilize these assets for commercial purposes. Harell Data aims to bridge this gap by connecting AI modelers with proprietary training datasets, allowing researchers to monetize their data effectively.
The startup's platform offers a secure cloud environment where data creators can host their datasets, enabling machine learning teams to train models without exposing the underlying data. This innovative approach includes a direct revenue-sharing model, allowing data owners to earn income from the computational resources used during training. As AI models improve through access to these datasets, the value of the data itself also increases.
Robins plans to initially focus on computational medicine but acknowledges that the data-silo issue affects various scientific fields. With a dedicated team and early partnerships already established, Harell Data is poised to facilitate significant advancements in tackling complex scientific problems. This initiative not only represents a new business model in biotech but also highlights the importance of equitable data sharing in advancing scientific research.