Brazil Biotech BioLinker Secures Funding for Amazon AI and DNA Lab
Synthetic biology startup BioLinker raised BRL 8.4 million to build an automated, robot-equipped laboratory in Manaus to bypass imported DNA supply chains.
In a bid to bypass global supply chains and harness the biological wealth of the rainforest, Brazilian synthetic biology startup BioLinker has raised BRL 8.4 million (approximately USD 1.5 million) to build an automated, robot-equipped laboratory in the Amazon. Announced on October 6, 2026, the funding round was led by Axcell, an Amazon-focused venture accelerator, with additional research grant funding from FAPESP, the state of São Paulo’s scientific research foundation.
The capital will fund a new facility at the Center for Amazon Bio-Business (CBA) in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state. Manaus is widely known for its industrial Free Trade Zone, where manufacturing companies are legally mandated to reinvest a portion of their revenues into regional research and development. By establishing a footprint in the Amazon, BioLinker will tap into these localized innovation funds while committing to regional growth targets.
Founded in 2018 by scientists from the University of São Paulo (USP), BioLinker specializes in engineering and manufacturing custom recombinant proteins used in pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and cosmetics. Currently, Brazilian researchers and companies face a major bottleneck: the country has no domestic production of large synthetic DNA blocks, forcing the entire domestic biotech sector to rely on slow and expensive imports. BioLinker’s new Amazonian lab aims to establish domestic enzymatic DNA synthesis, creating an independent supply chain within Brazil.
Training AI on Rainforest Biodiversity
The planned facility will be highly automated, relying on imported robots to perform high-throughput screening—a method of running thousands of rapid biological tests. This automation is designed to generate the massive, structured datasets required to train BioLinker's proprietary artificial intelligence models for protein engineering.
According to BioLinker co-founder and CEO Mona Oliveira, the high cost of generating physical laboratory data is the biggest hurdle for deep-tech startups trying to build AI models. By automating this process in Manaus, the startup plans to map local genomes, such as those of native bacteria and phages, to feed its AI design-build-test cycle.
The project represents a concrete step toward building a high-tech "bioeconomy" in the Amazon, proving that the region can attract advanced scientific infrastructure rather than just raw material extraction. While the startup’s commercial-scale production will remain in São Paulo, the Manaus facility is scheduled to open in January 2027, with the commercial launch of its AI protein-design platform slated for late 2027.