Recursion
We are a clinical-stage biotechnology company decoding biology by integrating technological innovations across biology, chemistry, automation, machine learning and engineering to industrialize drug discovery. We are leveraging new technology to create virtuous cycles of learning around datasets to build a next-generation biopharmaceutical company. A bold ambition to industrialize drug discovery requires a strong culture, one intentionally designed to inspire its people to work together to achieve industry-leading outcomes. Our values are incredibly important to us because they are the simplest definition of how we will achieve our mission.
Company details
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- Business Type:
- Manufacturer
- Industry Type:
- Pharmaceuticals
- Market Focus:
- Nationally (across the country)
- Year Founded:
- 2013
- Employees:
- 101-1000
About us
Our bold ambition:
Decode biology to radically improve lives.
From our earliest days, our story was unlikely. We are a company started by two graduate students and a professor, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. Our humble and unlikely beginnings are foundational to what we’ve built today.
We were underdogs, and felt that way.
Now we are leaders in this space, and we vow to stay hungry and focused on our mission.
We are a biotechnology company scaling more like a technology company, and we are just getting started.
Our Values
Values are the core behaviors that define our culture.
A bold ambition to industrialize drug discovery requires a strong culture, one intentionally designed to inspire its people to work together to achieve industry-leading outcomes. Our values are incredibly important to us because they are the simplest definition of how we will achieve our mission.
We care
We care about our drug candidates, our Recursionauts, their families, each other, our communities, the patients we aim to serve and their loved ones. We also care about our work. We are willing to do and say the hard things to make each other and the company better - because we care.
We learn
Learning from the diverse perspectives of our fellow Recursionauts, and from failure, is an essential part of how we make progress. We seek to create cross-functional teams so that we can teach and learn about the myriad ways to approach the problems we tackle. We have never been static, nor should we be.
We deliver
We are unapologetic that our expectations for delivery are extraordinarily high. We have the potential to radically improve the lives of millions of people, and we do not want any of them to wait a day longer than is necessary. There is urgency to our existence. The deep caring for our people is an enabler for them to rise to these expectations.
We act boldly with integrity
No company changes the world or reinvents an industry without being bold. Part of being bold is creating a culture where failure is embraced if it leads to learning and growth. Boldness, however, must be balanced; not by timidity, but by doing the right thing even when no one is looking. We lead with data, optimize relationships for the long-term, and aim for the highest levels of integrity in everything we do.
We are One Recursion
We operate with a ‘company first, functions second’ mentality. Our success comes from working as one interdisciplinary team.
We focus on areas of impact that are aligned with our values and our strengths, and this guides our philosophy for corporate social responsibility. Given that, we are active in the following areas:
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in technology and biopharma - e.g., we put immense focus on DEI internally to build our company with intention and act as role models for others.
The growth and sustainability of our local life science and technology ecosystems - e.g., we were a founding sponsor and member of BioHive, helping to build and highlight the life science industry in Utah, and we re-purposed our prior headquarters to launch Altitude Lab
The promotion of sustainable environmental practices - e.g., we chose our current headquarters to maximize public transit utilization and received an award for being one of the most ‘bike-friendly’ startups in the country from Bike League.
Recursion Foundation
The Recursion Foundation was established in 2019 as a vehicle through which we could drive our charitable and philanthropic efforts over time. In late 2020, our Board of Directors committed to putting 1% of our equity into the Recursion Foundation to help demonstrate the strong commitment we have to social responsibility and to ensure a sustainable future for our work in this arena.
Altitude Lab
Altitude Lab was the first effort of the Recursion Foundation. In partnership with the University of Utah, Altitude Lab was formed as an incubator/accelerator with a focus on creating a new generation of biotechnology founders in Utah, and supporting founders from under-represented groups in the industry. Altitude Lab commenced operations in the fall of 2020 and has already received applications from dozens of local, national and international startups and admitted six of these startups. We seek to help these companies with early growth and fundraising while offering them access to laboratories and equipment that might otherwise be prohibitively expensive. Our goals are for these startups to grow permanently in Utah and to create a more sustainable and representative life science ecosystem.