Real strategy, real systems, real outcomes.
Here’s how we’ve helped clients navigate change — and build what’s next.
1. R&D Tools —> Platform Technology
Sector: Life Sciences
Layer: Strategy
Impact: Led to a 9-figure exit after strategic repositioning
Challenge
The company was relying heavily on selling consumables into academic labs — a transactional business model with flat margins and inconsistent growth. As they approached a critical funding inflection point, leadership needed clarity on how to position themselves for long-term value and acquisition interest.
Approach
We advised the executive team on repositioning the business around its true strength: its ability to power breakthrough research. Rather than optimizing consumables volume, we helped them reframe their offering as an essential platform for R&D, with bundled insights, strategic partnerships, and premium licensing models.
Outcome
The shift led to new interest from acquirers looking to deepen their position in innovation tools. The company was acquired in a 9-figure exit shortly after — though the pivot away from transactional sales also reduced the need for long-term strategic support. A trade-off we were proud to help engineer.
2. AI-Powered Gene Targeting for Smarter R&D
Sector: AgTech / Genomics
Layer: Systems
Impact: Accelerated development and reduced time and cost
Challenge
An agriculture company developing gene-edited crops needed a way to prioritize which genes to target to influence key traits like drought tolerance and yield. Internal data was limited — and the cost of trial-and-error R&D was high.
Approach
We built a custom recommendation algorithm that mined scientific literature to identify gene–trait relationships. Using NLP and network inference, we surfaced gene targets with the highest potential to influence desired phenotypes.
Outcome
The system gave the R&D team a prioritized, literature-backed list of gene targets — shifting the workflow from exploratory guesswork to strategic design. It became a core layer in their development pipeline.
3. Designing a Bio-Based Fragrance Future
Sector: Consumer / Biomanufacturing
Layer: Signals → Strategy
Impact: Recommended M&A targets for microbial fragrance production
Challenge
Rising costs and environmental pressure were pushing the company to explore alternatives to plant-based fragrance extraction. They were investigating microbial biomanufacturing but lacked clear framing and strategic direction.
Approach
We mapped emerging signals in biotech, sustainability regulation, and consumer preference — then helped the team craft a future-facing narrative and roadmap for synthetic fragrance production. The work bridged R&D, comms, and go-to-market framing.
Outcome
The company launched a pilot initiative for microbe-based fragrance production and initiated new research partnerships. The work helped shift the internal mindset — from nature as a constraint to biology as an engine.
The Senseai Institute 