Biobot

Biobot analyze viruses, bacteria, and chemical metabolites that are excreted in urine and stool and collected in sewers. This information is a readout of our health and wellbeing as a community. They map this data, empowering communities to tackle public health proactively.

Their mission is to transform wastewater infrastructure into public health observatories.

Founded by a biologist and an architect, the team has exemplified the power of interdisciplinary collaboration from its beginning. As a first-year PhD student at MIT, Dr. Mariana Matus was inspired to start wastewater epidemiology research, so she could apply her technical skills to improve public health. With the support of Professors Eric Alm and Carlo Ratti, her research grew into the MIT Underworlds Project. Newsha Ghaeli, an urban studies researcher, joined the project with an interest in how new technologies can improve cities and urban life. The two led Underworlds for three years, working with the cities of Cambridge, Boston, Kuwait City, and Seoul. Their work resulted in Dr. Matus’ PhD dissertation in Computational Biology, several scientific publications, and coverage by dozens of local and national media outlets.

Inspired by the potential of wastewater epidemiology, Biobot is the first company in the world to commercialize data from sewage. After winning multiple entrepreneurship competitions at MIT, including a place in the DeltaV and DesignX accelerators, Biobot completed the Y Combinator accelerator in San Francisco. Headquartered in the Boston area, we aim to extend our wastewater epidemiology platform across all five continents.