PORTFOLIO COMPANY
Emulate, Inc.
A spin-out from Harvard Univeristy’s Wyss Institute.
MISSION & VISION
We’re creating a new living system that emulates human biology, to understand & benefit human health.
Emulate, Inc.
A spin-out startup venture from Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.
Role: Founding Team & Chief Strategy Officer
Technology: Organs-on-Chips & The ‘Human Emulation System®’
Seed: $37 million
Series-A: $12 million
Series-B: $45 million
Series-C: $36 million
Series-D: $28 million
Series-E: $82 million
PURPOSE
How might we replace inaccurate animal-based testing in scientific research with a new human-centered sustainable technology, to understand disease, improve drug development, and rapidly create solutions to biological threats?
SYNOPSIS
Lewis was invited to work with an amazing team of scientists and engineers at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering (starting in 2013) - to help create & scale the radical ‘Organs-on-Chips’ technology.
The tech was originally funded by a $37m grant from DARPA and the FDA.
Lewis worked with the founding team to form a spin-out - named ‘Emulate, Inc.’ - to translate and democratize the ‘Organs-on-Chips’ technology for broad impact on human health.
Lewis was appointed as the Chief Strategy Officer of the spin-out company (founded 2015), where he helped to raise significant funding ($200m+ Series A > D) and led the organization through the first five years of operation and growth (to 2020).
The resulting ‘Human Emulation System®’ is a disruptive new biological computing platform that recreates ‘true-to-life’ living human biology, outside of the body. The system is enabling new insights into uncured diseases, R&D for new breakthrough medicines, development of safer foods and consumer products, and a new era of precision medicine to improve patient treatment outcomes in the clinic.
The platform was named as a "top 10 emerging technology" by the World Economic Forum with ‘the power to improve lives, transform industries and safeguard the planet’. Organs-on-Chips was voted ‘design of the year’ by London’s Design Museum, is inducted into the MoMAs permanent collection, and was featured on the front cover of National Geographic magazine as the 'Future of Medicine'. Additionally, Emulate, Inc. was named ‘company of the year’ by PETA for its work to reduce and replace animal testing.
Most importantly the technology has been widely adopted by leading biopharma companies, top academic researchers, medical centers, and government agencies for broad impact on human health.
Lewis is named as a co-inventor of over thirty patents for Organs-on-Chips and the related and the related ‘Human Emulation System®’.
RECOGNITION
World Economic Forum
Emulate’s Organs-on-Chips technology was named as a Top 10 Emerging Technology by the WEF. Published in collaboration with a Scientific American report, the annual showcase highlights technological advances its members believe have “the power to improve lives, transform industries and safeguard the planet”.
NatGeo: the Future of Medicine
National Geographic featured Emulate’s Organ-Chip design on its front cover for a special health edition named ‘The Future of Medicine’. The feature describes how “personalized medicine is transforming your health care” and how “stunning advances will predict diseases and devise treatments tailored to each of us”.
Design of the Year
"Organs-on-Chips" won London Design Museum’s prestigious ‘Design of the Year’ award. It is the first time an entry from the field of medicine won. Paola Antonelli, from the MoMA in New York said the chips were the "the epitome of design innovation - elegantly beautiful form, arresting concept and pioneering application".
WORK
TECHNOLOGY TRANSLATION
Lewis worked with the technology’s founding team at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute - to design a long-term strategic vision, build a narrative to introduce the concept to the world, and attract initial Series-A ($12m) funding.
PURPOSE + IDENTITY
Lewis led development of the purpose and identity for the new spin-out organization - including establishing a mission, naming, positioning, design language, corporate and product branding, and guidelines.
STRATEGIC VISION
Lewis worked with the technology’s founding team and partners to establish a long-term strategic vision for the new technology - the ‘Patient-on-a-Chip’ program is designed to enable a new era of precision medicine.
STRATEGY + FUNDING + ROADMAPS
Lewis led creation & implementation of strategic business plans, platform roadmaps, and product management functions - including guiding the organization through Series-B ($45m) and Series-C ($36m) growth stages.
CULTURE + WORKPLACE DESIGN
Lewis led development of the organization’s vision for a collaborative culture to attract and retain a broad spectrum of multidisciplinary talent - this included design of an integrated workplace, where innovation could thrive.
PRODUCT R&D
Lewis led design for translating the initial technology into a commercially available platform - including rapid development, prototyping, and MVP launch of the hardware, software, and biological product portfolio.
ECOSYSTEM + ADOPTION
Lewis helped to enable rapid adoption of the platform through a collaborative community based design ethos - an ecosystem of partners helped to develop & validate the new tech, from R&D, to beta program, to commercial use.
BRAND + COMMUNICATIONS
Lewis led brand development and communications strategy - building the organization’s reputation to become the unrivaled market leader with the new space, and driving early adoption of the new platform.