# Alec Nielsen

> Alec Nielsen is the co-founder and CEO of Asimov, a Boston synthetic biology company building computer-aided design tools for living cells. His MIT PhD work in the Voigt Lab produced Cello, a programming language that compiles plain-text logic instructions into thousands of DNA letters. Asimov turned that academic breakthrough into a commercial platform for designing and manufacturing biologics, cell therapies, and gene therapies, backed by Andreessen Horowitz, DARPA, and a $175M Series B led by CPP Investments.

- **Role:** Co-founder & CEO at Asimov
- **Organizations:** Asimov, Pillar VC, MIT (Voigt Lab, alumnus)
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Bioengineering, University of Washington, Ph.D. in Biological Engineering (Voigt Lab), Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- **Known for:** Co-created Cello, an open programming language that compiles logic instructions into working genetic circuits, Co-founded and leads Asimov, scaling synthetic biology CAD tools into commercial Edge Systems (CHO, LV, AAV, RNA), Raised more than $200M in total funding from a16z, DARPA, CPP Investments, Fidelity, Horizons Ventures, and others

## Career timeline

- **2016** — Earned PhD at MIT in the Voigt Lab; co-released Cello, a platform for automated genetic circuit design, with collaborators at NIST
- **2017** — Co-founded Asimov with Chris Voigt, Doug Densmore, and Raja Srinivas; raised seed round led by Andreessen Horowitz
- **2018** — Speaker at SynBioBeta; Asimov featured in MIT Technology Review
- **2019** — Presented at the a16z Summit on the future of genetic engineering
- **2023** — Asimov announced $200M in funding including a $175M Series B led by CPP Investments

## Achievements

- Co-created Cello, an open programming language that compiles logic instructions into working genetic circuits
- Co-founded and leads Asimov, scaling synthetic biology CAD tools into commercial Edge Systems (CHO, LV, AAV, RNA)
- Raised more than $200M in total funding from a16z, DARPA, CPP Investments, Fidelity, Horizons Ventures, and others
- Venture Partner at Pillar VC

## Latest updates

- **2023-01** — Asimov closed $200M in funding, including a $175M Series B led by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, to scale its biologics, cell/gene therapy, and RNA tools business.

## Links

- Website: https://www.asimov.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/alec-nielsen
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/alectricity
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxWhiZKsvb0

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/alec-nielsen
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-04