The Price of Survival: Colossal Foundation Raises $100 Million for Genetic Rescue

The escalating crisis of global biodiversity—a quiet, accelerating disaster often overshadowed by the day’s headlines—received a dramatic financial infusion today. The Colossal Foundation, the non-profit engine of the technology firm Colossal Biosciences, announced an additional $50 million in secured funding, bringing its total resources to $100 million in just over a year.

Clearly, $100 million is a mammoth amount, pun intended. But in the context of global conservation, where the annual funding deficit is estimated in the hundreds of billions, this money is more than just a considerable number. It represents a significant pivot—a high-stakes bet on biotechnology as the new frontline defense against extinction.

The Foundation was established to move the sophisticated tools of the de-extinction movement—think genomics, cloning, and advanced genetic engineering—out of the laboratory and onto the battlefield of species survival. Colossal’s core mission, to "Make Extinction a Thing of the Past," is less about nostalgia for the mammoth and more about securing a resilient future for endangered life.

In its first year, the Foundation has accelerated conservation. Dozens of projects across six continents, partnerships with over 55 organizations—conservation groups, academics, and Indigenous communities—and supporting more than 40 species. This new capital will now accelerate these efforts in key areas: genetic rescue, advanced monitoring, and rewilding.

“In just 12 months, we’ve doubled the Colossal Foundation’s funding, allowing us to massively expand our partners and projects—and deliver immediate impact for conservation," said Ben Lamm, Colossal CEO and co-founder. “As our technology advances, our role is clear: move these tools into the hands of those on the front lines of biodiversity loss, and scale conservation innovation fast enough to matter.”

Indeed, traditional conservation—while essential—is struggling to keep pace. Global wildlife populations have fallen by nearly 70%. When extinction rates exceed natural background levels by more than a hundredfold, it is clear that incremental solutions are no longer sufficient.

“This new funding allows us to expand the conservation toolkit and embrace science and technology not as replacements for nature, but as instruments to help recover it. We are at a critical moment that demands seeing de-extinction and breakthrough biotechnologies not as fringe concepts, but as frontline strategies in the fight for biodiversity.”, said Matt James, Executive Director of the Colossal Foundation.

This $100 million is not a final solution, but it is a powerful declaration that the era of relying solely on good intentions and small grants is over. The fight for biodiversity is now a high-tech, high-finance arms race, and the Colossal Foundation is leading the charge.