- CompanyThe software company behind CURIO™.
Curio Genomics builds the data and analysis infrastructure for agrigenomics, so plant and animal breeders can get better products to market, faster. Focused on agriculture. Built for the people doing the work.
The Curio Genomics story
We like hard problems.
Curio Genomics didn't start in genomics. The founders ran a software company building high-volume commerce systems for major retailers, and a friend, an ALS researcher, was drowning in NGS data: slow turnaround, tools only a specialist could operate. It looked like a big-data problem wearing a lab coat, so they took it on. For years CURIO was a nights-and-weekends project, thousands of hours of it, used by a small circle of academic researchers who kept asking for more.
Then in 2019, Arbor Biosciences arrived with a problem. They'd built an exome kit for the newly published wheat genome and couldn't validate it; the standard tools, all built for human data, choked on a genome five times that size and hexaploid besides. Six weeks later it was running in CURIO.
That settled it: agriculture was underserved in a way human genomics wasn't, and a platform that could handle wheat could handle anything. Curio Genomics spun out on its own in 2021 and built its early years on deep whole-genome research in grains: massive datasets, polyploid genomes, the work that was fun. Production turned out to have its own kind of hard. Sixty thousand cattle a year, breeding-season deadlines, where the platform doesn't get to have a bad week. Three years in, it hasn't. And, we're still having fun.
Curio Genomics didn't start in genomics. The founders ran a software company building high-volume commerce systems for major retailers, and a friend, an ALS researcher, was drowning in NGS data: slow turnaround, tools only a specialist could operate. It looked like a big-data problem wearing a lab coat, so they took it on. For years CURIO was a nights-and-weekends project, thousands of hours of it, used by a small circle of academic researchers who kept asking for more.
Then in 2019, Arbor Biosciences arrived with a problem. They'd built an exome kit for the newly published wheat genome and couldn't validate it; the standard tools, all built for human data, choked on a genome five times that size and hexaploid besides. Six weeks later it was running in CURIO.
That settled it: agriculture was underserved in a way human genomics wasn't, and a platform that could handle wheat could handle anything. Curio Genomics spun out on its own in 2021 and built its early years on deep whole-genome research in grains: massive datasets, polyploid genomes, the work that was fun. Production turned out to have its own kind of hard. Sixty thousand cattle a year, breeding-season deadlines, where the platform doesn't get to have a bad week. Three years in, it hasn't. And, we're still having fun.
About us
Things we care about.
Integrity
Tell the truth and do the right thing. We promise carefully and keep our promises. When we share results we provide real numbers, no claims we can’t back, and don’t hide any disappointments.
Transparency
In the software and in the relationship. CURIO shows you the data behind every result: open the alignments, check the calls, see the algorithms we run. We work the same way, internally and externally.
Innovation
Agriculture is changing fast. It needs to. Agrigenomics is central to making this change happen. Our innovation amplifies/accelerates your innovation. Applying innovation at scale is hard. We love hard and making sure solved hard problems stay solved.
Respect
We meet people where they are at: customers, partners, teammates. All bring their unique value, perspectives, and expertise. We each strive to provide the same in return.
