Gaia Sciences Innovation, a bioscience commercialisation fund managed by Greensphere Capital, has added the Smithsonian Institution to its list of partners and raised $100 million.
Launched in early 2024, Gaia Sciences Innovation secured conditional commitments for up to £66.3 million in March that year.
The UK National Wealth Fund committed up to £50 million, and Frank Mars invested £15 million. Greensphere Capital itself put in £1.3 million.
At the time, Gaia Sciences Innovation said it had a £100 million target, which was later raised to £150 million. Its website advertises it as a £200 million fund at the time of publication.
UPDATE (14 July 2026): Impact Loop reports that Gaia Sciences Innovation has achieved its final close at $100 million. The publication has named members of the Sainsbury family and the Nest family office as LPs, though Nest’s website does not currently list Gaia in its portfolio. Last month’s press release referred to the amount as “an initial dedicated $100 million”.
Gaia Sciences Innovation launched with partnerships across Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, ZSL, the University of York, the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, and the Anglia Innovation Partnership (the Earlham Institute, John Innes Centre, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Quadram Institute, The Sainsbury Laboratory, and the University of East Anglia).
Adding the Smithsonian Institution brings its list of partners to 47, as the organisation comprises 21 museums, 14 education and research centres, and the National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute.
Gaia Sciences Innovation works with its partners to scale IP related to climate, biodiversity, agriculture and forestry, oceans and fisheries, waste systems, and resilient global supply chains.
It has made eight investments to date, of which five have been publicly disclosed, and another three are due to be revealed over the coming months.
Divya Seshamani, managing partner of Greensphere Capital, says: “Biological data is becoming one of the most strategically important datasets in the global economy. Advances in AI are now allowing biological systems to be analysed at unprecedented depth and speed — from ecosystem resilience and crop adaptation to disease detection and supply-chain verification.
“As these datasets become increasingly consequential, their governance, integrity and stewardship matter enormously. The Smithsonian and its extraordinary scientific breadth materially strengthen GSI’s ability to identify, evaluate and commercialise science addressing climate and biodiversity pressures across land- and ocean-based economies.”
