Bit Bio

Cellular reprogramming platform
Last updated:
January 23, 2026
Company details
HQ
HEADCOUNT
100-499
ORG TYPE
Startup
SECTOR
Healthcare & Life Sciences
About the company
Bit Bio is a Cambridge synthetic biology company that programs human induced pluripotent stem cells into defined cell types using the opti-ox precision cell programming approach. Bit Bio sells these cells and disease models through the ioCells product line for research, drug discovery and safety testing, and also works on partnerships around cell therapies. Bit Bio was spun out of the University of Cambridge in 2016 and has reported raising around $225m to date. Public announcements in December 2024 and January 2026 describe a tools-first strategy and two funding rounds led by M&G Investments ($30m and $50m). External coverage reports a workforce reduction of about 25% in early 2025 during that strategic reset.
Locations and presence
Bit Bio is headquartered at the Dorothy Hodgkin Building on the Babraham Research Campus in Cambridge, UK. Bit Bio reports serving hundreds of customers and is expanding commercial reach beyond the UK.
Palpable Score
68.7
/ 100
Bit Bio offers real entry points through Research Assistant roles and publishes a structured interview process that candidates can prepare for. Recent restructuring and redundancy signals, plus the current lack of live vacancies, make the early-career bet feel less stable than the science suggests.
Pillar 1: Early-career access

Score

14.0
/ 20
  • The company has advertised Research Assistant roles across Production and Cell Type Development, with hands-on lab scope (cell culture, phenotyping, SOP contributions) and requirements that include BSc or MSc level backgrounds.
  • Bit Bio has also posted operational technician-style roles such as Logistics Technician, widening access beyond PhD-level scientist tracks.
  • The company’s public job board shows no current openings at the time of review, which limits immediate entry-level access.

Pillar 2: Hiring fairness and transparency

Score

16.0
/ 20
  • The company’s “How we hire” page lays out an up-to-3-stage process, including a first-stage video call and a second stage built around up to four 30-minute interviews.
  • Bit Bio states that interview stages leave time for candidate questions and frames the process as “rigorous yet flexible,” which sets expectations clearly before applicants invest time.
  • The company has candidate interview reports describing role-relevant case studies and culture-fit interviewing, including a Laboratory Technician experience where limited experience was accepted when attitude and basics fit.

Pillar 3: Learning and support

Score

14.0
/ 20
  • The company’s Research Assistant postings describe working under supervision from senior scientists and team leads, with collaborative delivery rather than “sink or swim” lab ownership.
  • Bit Bio includes scope that builds capability early, such as contributing to protocol development, creating SOPs, and reporting experimental results in assistant-level roles.
  • The company has mixed learning signals in public employee feedback, with some reviews describing strong development opportunities and others describing weak promotion linkage to appraisals.

Pillar 4: Pay fairness and stability

Score

14.7
/ 20
  • The company has advertised full-time, permanent Research Assistant roles (not rolling short contracts), which is a stability plus for early-career hires.
  • Bit Bio’s publicly listed benefits include pension plan, health insurance, sick pay, annual leave, flexible working and stock options, which supports baseline pay fairness even when cash comp is not shown.
  • The company rarely publishes salary ranges in role adverts (often “competitive”), and third-party salary estimates are available but are not a substitute for upfront banding.

Pillar 5: Early-career outcomes

Score

10.0
/ 20
  • The company has been linked to a strategic reset with reported workforce reduction around early 2025, and employee reviews also describe redundancies across 2024–2025, which is a real risk marker for early-career stability.
  • Bit Bio has at least one public Research Assistant review indicating more than three years’ tenure, suggesting some early-career retention through multiple business cycles.
  • The company has employee feedback describing promotions not tracking appraisals and rapid leadership change, which makes progression planning harder for juniors without strong internal sponsorship.

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