December Edition: Reflecting on the year of 2022 and looking forward to 2023

In this edition we reflect on our year in 2022, give a glimpse into the strides and needs of our cohort bioDAOs in bio.xyz, and briefly explore what the future holds for us in 2023 - welcome back!

Dec 5, 2022

Notable Mentions, Appearances and Events

Newcastle University x Molecule

In a new blogpost by the University of Newcastle, they discuss not only the successful funding of one of their own labs through the IP-NFT in just 4 weeks, but explore in more detail how science can be funded through blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.

Business Insider

With the pandemic fuelling interest in novel methods for drug discovery, Business Insider recently compiled a list of the 14 drug discovery startups to watch. The list includes Molecule, Qubit and Ladder Therapeutics. Read it here.

Molecule in the HealthTech 250 Report

We have been highlighted as one of the 250 most promising early-stage digital health ventures globally (out of 12,500) by the HealthTech 250 report. The HealthTech 250 is Galen Growth’s selection of the 250 most promising early-stage Digital Health ventures across the globe in 2022 ranking the ventures based on indices, including their proprietary Alpha Score, recent partnerships, news sentiment, clinical strength, key team members and regulatory approvals.

A successful second symposium for VitaDAO

This symposium explored the Intersection of Longevity and Web3, with some insights including:

How longevity can reach a broader population,
What wrinkles have to do with longevity research,
Applications of AI in healthcare,
Secret of building longevity startups,
Harnessing the energy of light into mitochondrial chemical energy to increase lifespan,
Creative destruction of venture capital, DAOs & role of pharma,

The symposium featured a lineup of twenty-two experts from internationally recognized institutions, including scientists, blockchain specialists, and longevity professionals. The speakers discussed the intersection of longevity and blockchain technology. Watch the replay here.

DeSci, ReFi and Funding the Commons Meetup - Berlin

With friends from Menthol Protocol and Funding the Commons (Protocol Labs) we hosted a meetup at the largest Web3 co-working space in Europe, Full Node. This meetup was exciting as it provided us an opportunity to connect with lurkers, scientists, regens and enthusiasts in the field who came together to share ideas and experiences, and build connections.

bio.xyz - featuring our first cohort bioDAOs

AthenaDAO

AthenaDAO is actively looking for projects related to reproductive aging/menopause, PCOS, and endometriosis to support. If you know any, let them know or share this form with them.
They are looking for AthenaDAO contributors!

HairDAO

They launched an amazing new website!
They are nearing completion on their patient database design, allowing them to create a new repository for hair loss data.
They are in the early-stages of new researcher tools. If you’re a biology researcher or video game designer and are interested in hair loss, reach out to @andy1#6005 on Discord.

ValleyDAO

They are looking for a CEO candidate for SynBioCAD. Please don't hesitate to share the Job Description on your Twitter or LinkedIn feed.
Do you know an academic or independent researcher looking for funding in climate+food synbio fields? Connect them with ValleyDAO and receive 200 USDC. More details here.

PsyDAO

PsyDAO has 7 active deals in the pipeline and are working towards launching their first IP-NFT!
They're seeking a social media manager in the Community WG - reach out to @brittneyscott#7539 on Discord if you're interested.

To learn more about our cohort DAOs or get involved in their mission, follow them on Twitter, subscribe to their newsletters, and join their Discord Servers.👇

ValleyDAO | AthenaDAO | HairDAO | PsyDAO

DeSci.Global

DeSci.Global is a schelling point for connecting the scientific frontier through Events, Resources and Connections. It is designed to share ideas, bridge connections, and challenge what is being built, while also offering an open collective of people passionate about seeing the DeSci ecosystem thrive. A few upcoming DeSci events:

Team member spotlight - Stefan Adolf

Stefan recently joined us as senior web3 engineer and has already been a tremendous value to the team, always going above and beyond on literally anything. He is passionate about web3, the JAMStack, headless applications, and the decentralized revolution.

Stefan has taken away prizes at hackathons such as EthOnline21 and EthAmsterdam, and has served as tech lead for several decentralized innovation projects. He is also the curator for code.talks, one of Germany's largest conferences for developers.

Thank you, Stefan - we love you!

Getting involved in Molecule

Molecule is hiring!

Over the past ~3 years, we have grown the team from 3 to 20 core team members and we are still growing! We are currently hiring for the following positions, and more to come:

Senior Full Stack Engineer - Remote
Head of Marketing - Remote
Head of Finance and Operations - Remote
Sr. Product Manager - Remote
Product Owner - Remote
Operations Coordinator - Ideally Berlin based

To learn more about these positions, visit our careers page here. Should you wish to apply, discuss any of the positions or refer someone, please feel free to reach out to Ezanne at ezanne@molecule.to or on Discord at Ezanne#0386. For any successful referral on senior hires, we’re offering a 2 ETH bounty!

Molecule’s Open Bounties

We regularly update our Bounty Board with new and exciting bounties to undertake! If you’re interested in becoming a Molecule contributor and completing some of our open bounties, fill out this form, join our Discord, and visit our onboarding page.

Should you wish to start another project or have your own suggested bounty for completion, we’d love to hear from you! In this case, please fill out our Contributor’s Form with your proposal. Currently, however, we have the following Open Bounties:

Refer a successful hire to Molecule - 1000 Points
Secure a notable guest for The DeSci Podcast - 250 Points

Looking back at 2022 - Molecule in review

It's been a busy and exciting year for Molecule and we have a lot to look back on. From exciting new projects and initiatives, to important milestones and achievements, we could not have ended the year on a higher note. As we reflect on the past year, let's take a look at some of the highlights and key events that have shaped our organization and the industry.

We hosted DeSci.Berlin, with over 400 attendees and 3200+ online viewers,
We raised a $12,7m seed round,
Nature Biotechnology has written an extremely insightful article addressing our origin story and more about DeSci - read it here,
We explored DeSci with Balaji on The DeSci Podcast,
We launched bio.xyz - the first biotech DAO and DeSci accelerator,
The IP-NFT funded several new projects,
Big pharma took note of DeSci in a big way,
We came together for the most perfect company wide offsite in Lisbon - see here.

Focussing on 2023 - What’s to come

As we approach the end of the year, we can't help but feel excitement for what is to come in 2023! Our plans and ambitions for the year are big, and we are eager to see what we can achieve, both as a team and as a community. We are deeply grateful for the ongoing support and engagement of our community, and we look forward to continuing to collaborate with you to push the boundaries of what is possible. Let's make 2023 a year to remember - here’s a glimpse of the incredible things we have planned:

Several upgrades planned to the IP-NFT,
The Second DeSci.Berlin
Growing our team!
Launch a BioDAO School,
Successfully graduate the first bio.xyz cohort,
Take in a second and third bio.xyz cohort,
Much more!

Thanks for Reading!

If you enjoyed this read, subscribe to our newsletter and stay updated about our workings and collaborations within the DeSci space. Please reach out to us with any questions or ideas, visit our website, or join our Discord to interact directly with our team. We’re really looking forward to joining forces with our community to create a world where patients directly fund researchers developing the next therapeutic breakthrough they need and building an open, inclusive, and collaborative ecosystem.

From all of us at Molecule, we wish you a happy holiday season and a prosperous new year!