# Steven Banerjee

> Steven Banerjee is the Founder and CEO of Nextnet, a life sciences AI platform that organizes and connects the world's biomedical knowledge. A serial biotech entrepreneur originally from New Zealand, he trained as a mechanical engineer at the University of Canterbury, served as a Doctoral Fellow at IBM Labs, and collaborated with gene sequencing pioneer Ron Davis at Stanford before founding his first venture, Mekonos - a cell and gene therapy company that raised over $40 million and was acquired. He then founded Nextnet in late 2020 to bring AI-native research tools to scientists, building a platform now used across 100+ countries by researchers at Harvard, MIT, MD Anderson, and UCSF. Nextnet's Copilot and Explorer tools are powered by a purpose-built biomedical ontology unifying data from PubMed, ChEMBL, Ensembl, and millions of scientific sources.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Nextnet
- **Organizations:** Nextnet, Mekonos
- **Nationality:** New Zealander
- **Education:** Bachelor of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, University of Canterbury, Visiting Scholar / Graduate Research, University of California, Berkeley, Doctoral Fellow, IBM Research Labs, San Jose
- **Known for:** Founded and exited Mekonos - a biotech that raised $40M+ and was acquired, Doctoral Fellow at IBM Research Labs, San Jose, Collaborated with Ron Davis, pioneering Stanford gene sequencing scientist

## Career timeline

- **~2010** — Began graduate research in semiconductor technologies with biotech applications; became a Doctoral Fellow at IBM Labs, San Jose
- **~2012** — Collaborated with gene sequencing pioneer Ron Davis at Stanford on federal grant research
- **~2013** — Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley for advanced graduate research
- **2017** — Founded Mekonos, a Silicon Valley biotech company pioneering cell engineering and gene editing delivery platforms using semiconductor technology
- **2019** — Mekonos acquired after raising over $40 million from top-tier investors
- **2020** — Founded NExTNet Inc. to leverage breakthrough NLP and AI for life sciences research
- **2021** — Nextnet formally incorporated; began building the biomedical semantic web platform
- **2023** — Raised $1.3M seed round from investors including Hike Ventures, ODF, and Propel(x)
- **2024-01** — Launched Nextnet MVP; platform grew 1,200% organically within a year
- **2024** — Nextnet platform adopted by 100+ countries, used at Harvard, MIT, UCSF, MD Anderson, UC San Diego, Columbia, and 25+ other top institutions

## Achievements

- Founded and exited Mekonos - a biotech that raised $40M+ and was acquired
- Doctoral Fellow at IBM Research Labs, San Jose
- Collaborated with Ron Davis, pioneering Stanford gene sequencing scientist
- Built Nextnet's biomedical ontology unifying 90M+ scientific relationships
- Grew Nextnet 1,200% organically in under a year after MVP launch
- Nextnet adopted in 100+ countries and 25+ top research institutions
- Advisor and board member to multiple Silicon Valley technology startups
- Featured in media across the US, Europe, New Zealand, Japan, and China

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Email verified active - Steven Banerjee still active as CEO of Nextnet
- **2024-12** — Nextnet reports 1,200% organic growth since MVP launch in early 2024; now active in 100+ countries
- **2023-05** — Nextnet raises $1.3M seed round

## Links

- Website: https://getnextnet.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-banerjee-5836ab112
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E-Rk8eqApY

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/steven-banerjee
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-06