Jason Kelly

Founder, Ginkgo Bioworks
Cambridge, Massachusetts,United States
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Who Is Jason Kelly?

Total Experience20 years
CompanyGinkgo Bioworks
CountryUnited States

Jason Kelly is a visionary entrepreneur and a pioneer in the field of synthetic biology. He is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ginkgo Bioworks, a leading biotechnology company that specializes in using genetic engineering to produce bacteria with industrial applications. With a Ph.D. in Biological Engineering from MIT, Kelly has dedicated his career to making biology easier to engineer. He leads Ginkgo's mission to build a platform that enables programming cells as easily as computers, aiming to revolutionize industries from agriculture and food to pharmaceuticals and materials.

How Did Jason Kelly's Career Path Shape Their Journey?

Jason Kelly's work history includes a series of influential roles in various companies. Here is a detailed list of his professional journey:

Ginkgo Bioworks - Founder(2008 to Present)
OpenWetWare - Founder(2005 to 2008)

What Are Jason Kelly's Key Achievements?

Co-founder & CEO of Ginkgo Bioworks

Co-founded Ginkgo Bioworks in 2009 with fellow MIT scientists Tom Knight, Drew Endy, Reshma Shetty, and Barry Canton. He has since scaled the company into a publicly traded leader in the synthetic biology industry.

Led Major Public Offering

Successfully guided Ginkgo Bioworks through its debut on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in September 2021 via a SPAC merger, which was one of the largest of its kind at the time, raising over $1.6 billion to fuel the company's growth.

Young Global Leader

Selected by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader, a recognition given to the world's most promising leaders under the age of 40 for their contributions to society and their respective fields.

MIT Ph.D. in Biological Engineering

Earned his doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where his research laid the foundational knowledge for his later work in making biological engineering more systematic and scalable.

What's Jason Kelly's Educational Background?

PhD, Biological Engineering

Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Year 2003

B.S., Biology & Chemical Engineering

Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Year 1999

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Notable news
Hiring actively
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Company Overview

Ginkgo Bioworks
Total employees1313
HeadquartersBoston
Founded2009

Ginkgo Bioworks is a leading synthetic biology company that specializes in engineering microorganisms for a wide range of applications. Operating as a 'foundry' for cell programming, the company provides a horizontal platform that allows customers across diverse markets—including pharmaceuticals, agriculture, food, and industrial chemicals—to design, build, and test custom organisms. Ginkgo's mission is to make biology easier to engineer, enabling customers to develop new products and solutions more efficiently and sustainably.

Ginkgo Bioworks Stock Information
Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc. is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol DNA. The company went public on September 17, 2021

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