Lifebit
Lifebit provides federated data infrastructure for biomedical research, enabling analysis of sensitive health data without moving it from its source. The company has raised $71M and powers research programs for Genomics England and ten of the world's largest biobanks.
The growth story
Lifebit grew from 65 to 69 employees between 2021 and 2026, raising $71M along the way, most recently a Series B in September 2021.
About
Lifebit sells a platform that lets pharmaceutical companies, biobanks, and governments analyze genomic and health data while keeping it securely stored at its original location. Their system uses a Trusted Research Environment based on the ONS Five Safes framework, allowing population-scale genomics and cross-border biomedical AI.
The company raised $71M in a Series B round in September 2021, backed by investors including Beacon Capital and Eurazeo. With 69 employees, Lifebit supports major research initiatives across the UK, US, and Asia, including Genomics England's national program.
Founders and leadership
Engineering is Lifebit's largest function with 18 employees. The company has a median tenure of 3 years, suggesting stable leadership and team retention.
The Lifebit org chart
Dr. Maria C. Dunford (Chief Executive Officer & Founder) leads 33 mapped leaders with 4 direct reports. Click +N to expand a team; names link to the person’s public profile.
Departments, and which ones grew
Headcount by function: Engineering 21 (-5% YoY), Research 7 (0% YoY), Sales 5 (-29% YoY), Product Management 5 (-17% YoY), Information Technology 5 (+150% YoY), Business Development 4 (0% YoY).
Talent flow
Lifebit recruits heavily from academic and research institutions, with top sources including Instituto de Medicina Molecular and the European Bioinformatics Institute. Alumni frequently move to biotech and health data companies like BC Platforms and Boehringer Ingelheim.
Most common previous employers of Lifebit staff: Instituto de Medicina Molecular (4), Innovation Forum (2), Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) (2), European Bioinformatics Institute | EMBL-EBI (2), IQVIA (2), Seven Bridges (2). Former Lifebit employees most often moved to BC Platforms (2), Kiin Bio (2), Wasp (2), Funding Xchange (2), Boehringer Ingelheim (2), Our Future Health UK (2).
Alumni worth knowing
The Lifebit mafia
Lifebit alumni have founded 7 companies, including Wasp (12 staff) and Kiin Bio (10 staff) in the biotech space, and safely.bio in data security.
8Matija Šošić, was Software Engineer until 2019Martin Šošić, was Software Engineer until 2019Filippo Abbondanza, was Director of Product Management until 2024Phil Palmer, was Bioinformatician until 2020Eric McDavid, was Accelerating Precision Medicine through Multimodal Data Solutions until 2024Samuel Cudjoe, was Senior Product Manager (AI/Machine Learning) until 2024
Shilpa Ramesh, was Global Marketing Manager / Marketing Director until 2022
Margarida Garcia, was Director of Finance (Interim) until 2021Web traffic
Traffic mix: 49% direct, 36% search, 7% social, 1% paid.
What this company is made of
Most common skills at Lifebit: Python (Programming Language) (24), Amazon Web Services (AWS) (22), Git (21), Research Skills (21), JavaScript (21), Bioinformatics (19), Data Analysis (18), Linux (18).
Where the team actually sits
Lifebit people are concentrated in England, United Kingdom (20), Catalonia, Spain (4), Greece (3), Attiki, Greece (3).
Search footprint
Lifebit attracts about 1,369 organic search visits a month, traffic worth roughly $41K a month if bought through ads. It gained 716 ranking keywords and lost 702 in the last period.
What employees say
- Compensation
- 3.30 / 5
- Career opportunities
- 3.40 / 5
- Senior management
- 2.80 / 5
- Work-life balance
- 3.20 / 5
Frequently asked
Lifebit has 69 employees as of September 2026.
Lifebit has raised $71M in total, most recently a Series B round in September 2021.
Lifebit was founded in 2017 by Dr. Maria C. Dunford, Pablo Prieto Barja, PhD.
Dr. Maria C. Dunford (Chief Executive Officer & Founder) sits at the top of Lifebit's reporting structure, with 4 direct reports.
The most common previous employers of current Lifebit staff are Instituto de Medicina Molecular (4 people), Innovation Forum (2 people), Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) (2 people).
Former Lifebit employees most often move to BC Platforms (2), Kiin Bio (2), Wasp (2).
At least 7 companies have a founder who previously worked at Lifebit, including Wasp, Kiin Bio, safely.bio.
Lifebit attracts about 1,369 organic search visits a month, worth roughly $41K a month in equivalent ad spend.
The most common skills among Lifebit staff are Python (Programming Language), Amazon Web Services (AWS), Git, Research Skills, JavaScript.
Lifebit staff are concentrated in England, United Kingdom (20), Catalonia, Spain (4), Greece (3).
Lifebit has about 21 people in Engineering, down 5% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Lifebit has about 7 people in Research, up 0% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Computed from 58 current and 159 former Lifebit profiles, as of September 2026. Source: Crustdata.
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