Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (DNA) Business Model Canvas

Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (DNA): Business Model Canvas [Dec-2025 Updated]

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You're looking at Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. and trying to make sense of their complex pivot from pure service provider to an AI-driven platform selling tools-a common challenge when analyzing deep-tech shifts. As someone who has spent two decades mapping these transitions, I can tell you the core value is still in their massive, automated Foundry and proprietary data, but the future revenue mix is key. Honestly, seeing projected 2025 Cell Engineering service fees between $117-$137 million alongside at least $40 million from Biosecurity, all while holding $474 million in cash (Q2 2025), shows a company managing a high-fixed-cost build-out. This canvas breaks down exactly how Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. is structuring its nine building blocks-from government deals like the PNNL contract to selling their new Automation tools-to turn that massive R&D spend into scalable, predictable income streams. Dive in below to see the precise structure behind this synthetic biology giant.

Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (DNA) - Canvas Business Model: Key Partnerships

You're looking at the core relationships that fuel Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc.'s platform business, which is heavily reliant on external funding and validation from major players, especially in the government and biopharma sectors. These partnerships are crucial for both revenue generation and advancing the Codebase (the company's proprietary biological data set).

Government Contracts and Federal Funding

Government work provides significant, multi-year revenue streams and validates the company's automation and biosecurity capabilities. The latest major award is a substantial commitment from the Department of Energy (DOE).

  • Awarded a four-year contract by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) valued at up to $47 million to build a High-Throughput Automated Phenotyping Platform (HTP-APP) for the Microbial Molecular Phenotyping Capability (M2PC).
  • The HTP-APP will leverage Ginkgo Automation's Catalyst scheduling software and Reconfigurable Automation Carts (RACs).
  • Secured a $29 million contract from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) for the two-year WHEAT program, focusing on wheat germ cell-free manufacturing of APIs.
  • Other recent government-related awards include a BARDA BioMaP project potentially worth up to $22.2 million and a contribution to an ARPA-H EMBODY contract up to $8.4 million.

Strategic Collaborations with Large Biopharma

These deals are the engine for the Cell Engineering segment, often structured with upfront fees, milestone payments, and potential licensing revenue. The scale of these potential payouts shows the high-value nature of the work.

Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. has deep, expanding relationships with major pharmaceutical entities:

Partner Focus Area Potential Value/Term
Merck Biologics manufacturing optimization; enzyme production Up to $490 million for biologics; up to $144 million for biocatalytic enzyme platform
Novo Nordisk Improving manufacturing for diabetes and obesity medications Framework agreement contemplated to run over five years

Also, the company extended a multi-year partnership with Bayer, focusing on agricultural biological solutions. As of Q3 2025, the Cell Engineering segment generated $29 million in revenue.

Academic and Research Institutions

While the ARPA-H contract is a key government-academic bridge, the PNNL deal is a direct collaboration with a national laboratory, emphasizing the company's role in national scientific infrastructure. The PNNL platform is specifically designed to generate multimodal data suitable for artificial intelligence and machine learning applications.

Technology Partners for AI/ML Model Development and Data Generation

Data is the fuel for the platform, and partnerships ensure access to both the computing power and the specialized AI tools needed to process that data. The relationship with Google Cloud is foundational here.

  • Entered a five-year strategic partnership with Google Cloud to build a generative AI platform for engineering biology and biosecurity.
  • Ginkgo's strategy centers on the principle that "Data is Queen," leveraging its proprietary data resources to power machine learning.
  • Proprietary data assets include approximately 2 Billion protein sequences in the DNA database and over 5 Million+ enzyme designs built and tested in the foundry.
  • The company performs over 100 Million+ multiplex genome edits each year.
  • A partnership with Inductive Bio and Tangible Scientific integrates Ginkgo Datapoints' ADME profiling with model-driven design to accelerate small molecule drug discovery.

Acquisition Targets that Integrate New Capabilities or Codebase Assets

Acquisitions are used to rapidly integrate specific technologies or talent pools, though the most recent publicly detailed acquisition occurred prior to 2025. The company has made a total of 12 acquisitions historically.

  • The most recent acquisition listed was Patch, a gene therapy developer, in February 2024.
  • In February 2024, Ginkgo Bioworks also acquired Proof Diagnostics and Reverie Labs.

Finance: review the cash burn rate against the $47 million PNNL contract inflow schedule by next Tuesday.

Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (DNA) - Canvas Business Model: Key Activities

You're looking at the core engine of Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (DNA), which is all about making biology programmable at scale. The key activities center on running that massive automated lab, expanding its biosecurity footprint, and commercializing the tools that power it all.

Operating and expanding the automated Foundry for cell programming

This is the heart of the operation, where the design-build-test-learn loop happens. You need to know the throughput and the investment required to keep that engine running. For the third quarter of 2025, Ginkgo Bioworks supported a total of 102 revenue-generating Cell Engineering programs. That number represented a 5% decrease year-over-year, which management attributed to ongoing program rationalization as part of their restructuring efforts. To give you a sense of the platform's growth trajectory before rationalization, the company noted that its revenue-generating programs increased from 93 in Q1 2024 to more than 123 in Q1 2025, spanning industries like pharma, agriculture, and government. The investment in this activity is substantial; Cell Engineering Research and Development expense for Q3 2025 was $51 million.

Developing and deploying Biosecurity infrastructure globally

The Biosecurity segment is about building out a detection network. As of Q1 2025, this infrastructure maintained a global footprint with 11 key international airports and 45 collection nodes. This activity is also supported by government contracts; for instance, Ginkgo Bioworks secured a project with BARDA to advance monoclonal antibody biomanufacturing, with an agreement valued up to $22.2 million. For the full year 2025, the company reaffirmed its guidance for Biosecurity revenue to be at least $40 million.

R&D for novel enzymes, therapeutics, and bio-based materials

This activity is inherently tied to the Foundry's operational output, as R&D drives the data generation. The Cell Engineering R&D expense in Q3 2025 was $51 million. That figure included a $21 million shortfall obligation related to their multi-year strategic cloud and AI partnership with Google Cloud, which was subsequently settled for $14 million in October 2025. The Cell Engineering segment's operating loss for Q3 2025 was $37 million. The company's full-year 2025 Cell Engineering revenue guidance sits between $117 million and $137 million.

Selling Reconfigurable Automation Carts (RACs) and Catalyst software

Ginkgo Bioworks is increasingly commercializing the technology that runs its Foundry as standalone tools. This is a clear shift toward a tools-driven revenue mix. A concrete example of this activity is the recent award from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Ginkgo Automation was selected for a four-year contract, valued up to $47 million, to co-design, build, and integrate a High-Throughput Automated Phenotyping Platform (HTP-APP). This platform explicitly uses Ginkgo Automation's Catalyst scheduling software and modular Reconfigurable Automation Carts (RACs). Furthermore, the company launched a new in vitro ADME profiling Service built on its proprietary RAC automation system.

Here's a quick look at how the platform technology is being deployed commercially:

Metric/Contract Value/Count Period/Duration
PNNL HTP-APP Contract Value Up to $47 million Four-year contract
RAC-based Service Launch In vitro ADME profiling Service Q2 2025
Cell Engineering Revenue (Q3 2025) $29 million Quarterly
Full Year 2025 Cell Engineering Guidance $117 million to $137 million Annual

Generating large, proprietary Datapoints for AI-powered bioengineering

The data generation is the direct output of the automated Foundry and the RAC systems in action. The HTP-APP contract with PNNL is designed to generate multimodal data intended for AI/ML analysis. This activity feeds the data flywheel, which improves the accuracy and success rates of the AI models used in design. The company's strategy is heavily focused on leveraging its in-house automation to generate these large lab data sets to power its AI models, which is central to its goal of achieving a dominant tools-driven revenue mix by 2030. The company ended Q3 2025 with a cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities balance of $462 million, providing the liquidity to fund this data-intensive R&D.

Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (DNA) - Canvas Business Model: Key Resources

You're looking at the core assets Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (DNA) relies on to execute its cell programming platform. These aren't just line items on a balance sheet; they are the engines of their business.

Proprietary Codebase of Biological Data and Engineered Organisms

The foundation here is a massive, integrated genetic database. This codebase houses extensive gene sequence information and data gathered from Ginkgo Bioworks' various experiments. It's the data-driven backbone that guides the design and optimization of new microorganisms. This capability has been honed over more than 200 R&D projects in agricultural, industrial, and pharmaceutical biotechnology, giving them deep, hard-won experience in what works at high throughput. This platform supports machine learning-guided approaches for enzyme engineering and protein optimization. It's definitely the accumulated knowledge that matters most.

Highly Automated Foundry (Labs) and Automation Assets

Ginkgo Bioworks operates its own automated, state-of-the-art laboratories, which they call Foundries. They have roughly 200,000 ft2 of lab space in Boston, MA, where they build their own robotics. A key physical asset is the Reconfigurable Automation Carts (RACs), which are modular units equipped with lab instruments and robotic arms. The value of this automation capability is underscored by recent contract wins; for instance, a recent award from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is a four-year, up to $47M contract to build a High-Throughput Automated Phenotyping Platform utilizing these RACs.

The operational efficiency derived from this automation is significant, as evidenced by the achievement of their annualized cost reduction target.

Resource Metric Value/Detail
Lab Space 200,000 ft2 (Boston, MA)
Automation Contract Value (PNNL HTP-APP) Up to $47M (Four-year contract)
Annualized Cost Reductions Achieved $250 million (Achieved three months ahead of schedule)
Cell Engineering Revenue (Q2 2025) $39 million

Financial Liquidity

You need to know the current financial cushion to support ongoing operations and strategic pivots. As of the end of the second quarter of 2025, the company's liquidity position was solid.

Cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities totaled $474 million as of June 30, 2025. This figure supports their path toward Adjusted EBITDA breakeven targeted for the end of 2026.

Intellectual Property (IP) and Specialized Talent

The IP is embedded within their proprietary synthesis of automation, high-throughput screening, and deep data engineering. This forms the core technological framework that makes biology easier to engineer for their partners. The talent required to maintain and advance this platform is highly specialized.

Key talent characteristics include:

  • High degree of biology and software cross-domain knowledge required.
  • Expertise in computational design and machine learning-guided approaches.
  • Experience in designing and implementing custom bioinformatics pipelines.
  • Specialists capable of working in a mode with a high tolerance for unknowns in early-stage projects.

Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (DNA) - Canvas Business Model: Value Propositions

You're looking at the core reasons customers choose Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (DNA) for their synthetic biology needs. It's about speed, efficiency, and a unique infrastructure that turns biology into a more predictable engineering discipline. Here are the hard numbers backing up those claims as of late 2025.

Accelerated R&D timelines via a scalable, automated platform.

The value here is turning slow, manual lab work into high-throughput, data-driven cycles. The company's frontier autonomous lab in Boston is a prime example, scaling up to feature 46 major instruments mounted on 36 Reconfigurable Automation Carts (RACs). This setup allows for applying AI reasoning models directly to scientific challenges. For instance, a partnership with Octant reportedly achieved a 7x throughput increase and an 88% reduction in hands-on time for a specific workflow, which directly translates to faster development cycles for clients. That's real acceleration.

Reduced cost and risk for developing new biological products.

Cost reduction is a major theme, driven by internal discipline and platform efficiency. The platform aims to de-risk development by generating more data faster. A concrete example of this focus is the project agreement awarded by the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) with a total contract value of up to $22.2 million, specifically aimed at developing innovations in monoclonal antibody biomanufacturing and producing an anti-filovirus medical countermeasure. Internally, the focus on efficiency is evident in the expense structure; Cell Engineering R&D expenses decreased 63% from $84,000,000 in 2024 to $31,000,000 in 2025 (Q2 data), showing the platform is becoming leaner to run. This operational discipline helps lower the cost basis passed on to customers.

End-to-end cell programming services across diverse industries.

Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. offers a full service, from initial design to final product optimization, spanning multiple sectors. As of the third quarter of 2025, the company supported a total of 102 revenue-generating Cell Engineering programs. These programs cover a wide spectrum of markets, including industrial & environmental, pharma & biotech, government, food & agriculture, and consumer & technology. The company also maintains a significant relationship with the US Government, holding approximately $180 million in contracted backlog and unfunded potential backlog across Cell Engineering and Biosecurity.

Global biosecurity network for pathogen detection and response.

This value proposition centers on providing infrastructure for national and global health security. The Biosecurity segment maintains a global footprint with 11 key international airports and 45 collection nodes for biological radar monitoring. For the full year 2025, the company continues to expect Biosecurity revenue to be at least $40 million.

Modular tools and data access for customer-owned AI models.

The shift toward tools is central to the long-term strategy, enabling customers to use Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc.'s infrastructure for their own AI development. This is supported by the Datapoints offering, which generates large lab data sets. For instance, Datapoints published an antibody developability dataset, GDPa1, covering 246 IgGs across 10 assays. Furthermore, the strategic restructuring of the Google Cloud partnership resulted in a reduction of over $100 million in go-forward commitments, showing a focus on more flexible, tool-based commercial arrangements.

Here's a quick look at the financial context supporting the platform's scale and the company's path to profitability, which underpins the ability to deliver these value propositions:

Metric 2025 Guidance/Actual (Late 2025 Data) Context
Total Full-Year 2025 Revenue Guidance $167 million to $187 million Reaffirmed outlook signals confidence in platform scaling.
Cell Engineering Revenue Guidance (FY 2025) $117 million to $137 million Primary revenue driver from programming services.
Biosecurity Revenue Guidance (FY 2025) At least $40 million Stabilized guidance after pandemic-related revenue normalization.
Annualized Cost Reduction Achieved $250 million target achieved by Q3 2025 Driven by restructuring, facility consolidation, and staff reductions.
Q3 2025 Cash Burn $28 million A 75% reduction compared to Q3 2024's $114 million burn.

The company is targeting a 2030 revenue mix of 80% tools and 20% services, showing how the value proposition is evolving from pure service delivery to scalable tool adoption.

Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (DNA) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Relationships

You're looking at how Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. monetizes its platform through various customer interactions as of late 2025. The relationships are a mix of deep R&D partnerships, government service delivery, and a growing tools component.

Dedicated, long-term R&D service contracts with milestone payments

Long-term R&D service contracts are structured with upfront payments and subsequent milestone achievements. For instance, a research milestone payment of $9 million in cash was received under the partnership with Merck for improving biologic manufacturing, signaling progress in these multi-stage agreements. Also, the multi-year strategic partnership with Bayer for developing microbial nitrogen fixation technology was recently extended, showing commitment to these deep, ongoing collaborations.

Strategic equity stakes in spin-out companies from the platform

While specific valuation data on spin-outs isn't always public, the structure involves taking equity positions alongside service work. As of early 2025 context, Ginkgo Bioworks held royalties on 62 programs and equity stakes in 11 programs, indicating a portfolio approach to capturing downstream value from platform utilization.

Direct sales and support for the new Ginkgo Automation tools business

The push toward making biology easier to engineer is increasingly supported by selling the underlying technology. The Automation business secured a deal with Aura Genetics, marking its first diagnostics company customer. Management has a clear long-term view, aiming for a dominant tools-driven revenue mix by the year 2030.

Government-as-a-customer model for Biosecurity and defense projects

Government entities represent significant, high-value customers, particularly for the Biosecurity segment. Ginkgo Bioworks was awarded a four-year contract from the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory valued at up to $47 million to build an automated phenotyping platform. Furthermore, a Definitive Contract with the CDC Office of Acquisition Services for the Traveler-Based Genomic Surveillance Program was valued up to $85,741,227, with a reported total backlog of $32.0M as of February 2025. A specific payment of $54 million from the Department of Health and Human Services was recorded on 2025-01-17. Also, a BARDA BioMaP agreement was noted to be worth up to $22.2 million.

Flexible, comprehensive service offerings for cell programming

The core Cell Engineering segment shows the breadth of service adoption across biopharma and government clients. For the full year 2025, Cell Engineering revenue is guided to be between $117 million and $137 million. Looking at quarterly performance, Q2 2025 Cell Engineering revenue was $39 million, an 8% year-over-year increase. Even with a large non-cash item impacting Q3 2024, Q1 2025 Cell Engineering revenue, excluding the non-cash release, was $31 million, up 10% year-over-year, driven by growth with biopharma and government customers. The company reaffirmed its overall 2025 revenue guidance to be in the range of $167 million to $187 million.

Here's a quick look at some key financial figures tied to these customer engagements:

Metric Amount/Range Context/Period
Full Year 2025 Cell Engineering Revenue Guidance $117 million to $137 million Full Year 2025
Full Year 2025 Biosecurity Revenue Guidance At least $40 million Full Year 2025
PNNL/DOE Contract Value (Up To) $47 million Announced December 2025
CDC Contract Total Backlog $32.0M As of February 2025
Merck Milestone Payment Received $9 million Reported Late 2024/Relevant to contract structure
Q2 2025 Cell Engineering Revenue $39 million Quarter Ended June 30, 2025

You should track the mix of revenue between Cell Engineering and Biosecurity closely, as the Biosecurity segment revenue was $10 million in Q2 2025, flat compared to $10 million in Q2 2024, but down from $20 million in Q2 2024.

  • Programs with Royalty/Equity Stakes: 62 (Royalties), 11 (Equity)
  • Q3 2025 Cash Burn: $28 million
  • Cash, Cash Equivalents, and Marketable Securities (End of Q3 2025): $462 million

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (DNA) - Canvas Business Model: Channels

Direct sales force targeting large enterprise R&D departments.

The Cell Engineering segment, which relies heavily on direct engagement with R&D departments across pharma, biotech, and other sectors, generated $29 million in revenue for the third quarter of 2025, and is guided for $117 million to $137 million for the full year 2025. This segment supported 102 revenue-generating Cell Engineering programs in Q3 2025. For comparison, in Q1 2025, Cell Engineering revenue, excluding non-cash adjustments, was $31 million, up 10% year-over-year, driven by growth with biopharma and government customers. The company is focused on scaling its platform, which includes services like protein engineering and cell-free systems.

  • Revenue-generating programs increased from 93 in Q1 2024 to more than 123 in Q1 2025.
  • Cell Engineering R&D expense was $51 million in Q3 2025.

Government procurement channels for Biosecurity and defense contracts.

The Biosecurity business is a distinct channel, with full-year 2025 revenue expected to be at least $40 million. In Q3 2025, Biosecurity revenue was $9 million, compared to $14 million in the comparable prior year period. This channel supports global leaders with infrastructure to predict, detect, and respond to biological threats. The segment gross margin for Biosecurity was 19% in Q3 2025. The company is also securing direct government-related awards outside the core Biosecurity revenue stream.

Government/Defense Contract Maximum Value (USD) Term/Context
ARPA-H WHEAT Program $29 million Recognized over two years (Q1 2025 update)
PNNL Phenotyping Platform Up to $47 million Four-year deal
BARDA BioMaP Project Up to $22.2 million For mAb biomanufacturing
ARPA-H EMBODY Contract Up to $8.4 million For MV gene therapy platform

The Biosecurity operations maintain a global footprint including 11 key international airports and 45 collection nodes as of Q1 2025.

Online and direct sales for the new Automation and Datapoints tools.

Ginkgo Automation sells modular, integrated laboratory automation, and Datapoints uses in-house automation to generate data for AI models. Management has a long-term aspiration for the tools business to drive the majority of the top line, aiming for 80% of revenue from tools by 2030. In Q1 2025, the company reported low-single-digit millions in tools revenue, with upside anticipated through the year. The company is investing for growth in AI and automation heading into 2026.

Strategic partnerships for co-development and market access.

Strategic partnerships are a key channel, exemplified by the extension of a multi-year strategic partnership with Bayer for agricultural bio-solutions, announced on October 31, 2025. These collaborations help deploy the AI-enabled cloud lab technology to accelerate scientific innovation. The company had zero related party revenue for the three months ended September 30, 2025, compared to $46,659 for the same period in 2024.

  • Cell Engineering revenue in Q2 2025 saw an 8% increase, attributed to stronger business with biopharma and government clients.
  • The company supported 102 revenue-generating programs in Q3 2025.

Finance: review Q4 2025 partnership milestone achievement against budget by end of January.

Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (DNA) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Segments

You're looking at who Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. is actually selling its cell programming services to as of late 2025. It's not one type of client; it's a portfolio spanning major industries that need biology engineered at scale. The core focus remains on high-value, long-term partnerships, especially within the Cell Engineering segment.

Large Biopharma and Pharmaceutical companies for drug discovery.

This group is a primary driver for the Cell Engineering revenue stream. The company has strategically focused on attracting and retaining these large enterprises. For instance, in Q4 2024, growth in Cell Engineering revenue was primarily attributed to large biopharma customers. By Q2 2025, growth in Cell Engineering revenue was explicitly noted as being driven by biopharma and government customers. You should note that Biopharma, Agriculture, and Government (BAG) customers collectively made up 70% of Cell Engineering segment revenue back in mid-2024, showing their foundational importance.

Government entities (US, international) for biosecurity and R&D.

Government work provides both R&D contracts and biosecurity services. As of Q1 2025, Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. had 28 U.S. Government projects spanning both Cell Engineering and Biosecurity. These projects carried approximately $180 million of contracted backlog and unfunded potential backlog at that time, which offers a degree of revenue stability. The growth in Cell Engineering revenue in Q2 2025 was also partly attributed to these government customers.

Agriculture and Food companies seeking sustainable bio-based ingredients.

This segment is critical, as shown by the continued strategic relationship with Bayer. Ginkgo Bioworks extended its multi-year strategic partnership with Bayer to keep advancing biological product research and development, building on their nitrogen fixation platform success. Agriculture is explicitly named as one of the industries where revenue-generating programs are active, alongside Food & Agriculture generally being a key industry focus.

Industrial and Specialty Chemical manufacturers for novel processes.

These manufacturers look to Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. for novel, bio-based processes. The company's revenue-generating programs in Q1 2025 spanned industries including industrial & environmental applications. This shows that the platform is being used to engineer microbes for industrial chemical production, a key area for synthetic biology.

Emerging biotech and startups needing automated R&D capacity.

While the focus has shifted toward large enterprises, smaller players still use the platform, often leveraging automation advancements. The total number of revenue-generating programs across all industries grew from 93 in Q1 2024 to more than 123 in Q1 2025, indicating an influx of new deals, which often includes emerging biotech clients needing automated R&D capacity. A partnership with Octant, for example, demonstrated a 7x throughput increase and 88% reduction in hands-on time for that customer, showcasing the value proposition for R&D-intensive clients.

Here's a quick look at the revenue contribution by segment as of the latest reported quarter, Q3 2025, which helps you see where the immediate dollars are coming from:

Customer-Relevant Segment/Metric Latest Real-Life Number (as of late 2025) Context/Date
Cell Engineering Revenue $29 million Q3 2025
Biosecurity Revenue $9 million Q3 2025
Total Revenue $39 million Q3 2025
Total Revenue-Generating Programs More than 123 Q1 2025
U.S. Government Projects (Backlog) Approx. $180 million Q1 2025
BAG Customer Revenue Share (Historical Benchmark) 70% Mid-2024 (Cell Engineering Segment)

The shift in focus is clear; the company is prioritizing the Cell Engineering business, which relies heavily on these enterprise and government clients. If onboarding takes 14+ days, churn risk rises, especially for smaller, less capitalized customers who might be looking for faster turnaround times than the large platform deals allow.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (DNA) - Canvas Business Model: Cost Structure

You're looking at the major drains on the balance sheet for Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (DNA) as of late 2025. The cost structure is heavily weighted toward maintaining and expanding the automated Foundry, which means significant capital and operational expenditure, even while aggressively cutting overhead.

The company has made substantial progress in expense management, achieving its target of $250 million in annualized run-rate cost savings by the end of Q3 2025, hitting this goal three months ahead of schedule. This reduction was driven by workforce adjustments and site consolidation efforts that were substantially complete by the end of 2024.

Fixed costs remain a major component, tied directly to the physical infrastructure. You can see the scale of this in the carrying costs for unused facilities. For the fourth quarter of 2024, the carrying cost of excess leased space was reported at $9 million. By the third quarter of 2025, this quarterly carrying cost had risen to $14 million for the quarter.

Research and Development (R&D) is another critical, non-negotiable cost area, essential for developing the software and AI capabilities that underpin the platform. For the third quarter of 2025, the Cell Engineering segment reported R&D expense of $51 million. This figure included a $21 million shortfall obligation related to the multi-year strategic cloud and AI partnership with Google Cloud, which was subsequently settled for $14 million.

Personnel costs, for the highly specialized scientists and engineers running the Foundry and developing the software, are embedded within operating expenses. To give you a sense of the scale before the full impact of the savings, total segment operating expenses were $115 million in the second quarter of 2025.

Here is a summary of the key cost structure elements we can quantify from the latest reports:

Cost Element Category Specific Metric / Period Amount (USD)
Annualized Cost Savings Achieved Target Achieved by Q3 2025 $250 million
Excess Leased Space Carrying Cost Q4 2024 (Quarterly) $9 million
Excess Leased Space Carrying Cost Q3 2025 (Quarterly) $14 million
Cell Engineering R&D Expense Q3 2025 (Quarterly) $51 million
Google Cloud Shortfall Obligation (Included in R&D) Q3 2025 (One-time) $21 million
Total Segment Operating Expenses Q2 2025 (Quarterly) $115 million

The ongoing costs are being managed through a disciplined approach, as evidenced by the reduction in quarterly cash burn, which fell 75% from $114 million in Q3 2024 to $28 million in Q3 2025.

The major cost drivers, based on the structure of the business, include:

  • High fixed costs from operating and expanding the automated Foundry.
  • Significant R&D expenses, including software and AI development.
  • Personnel costs for highly specialized scientists and engineers.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. (DNA) - Canvas Business Model: Revenue Streams

You're looking at how Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. actually brings in the money as we head toward the end of 2025. It's a mix of core service work, public health contracts, and future-looking deals. Honestly, the numbers show a clear focus on the Cell Engineering platform, even with the Biosecurity segment still contributing.

The full-year 2025 revenue guidance Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. reaffirmed sits between $167 million and $187 million. This total is built from the two main reported segments, plus other potential upside.

Here's a look at the key components of the revenue streams, showing both the guidance and what we saw in the third quarter of 2025:

Revenue Stream Category Full Year 2025 Projection (Guidance) Q3 2025 Actual Revenue
Cell Engineering Service Fees $117 million to $137 million $29 million
Biosecurity Services Revenue At least $40 million $9 million
Total Segment Revenue (Minimum) At least $157 million $38 million

The Cell Engineering segment is the engine here. For context, Q3 2025 Cell Engineering revenue of $29 million was down 61% from $75 million in Q3 2024, but that prior year figure included a $45 million non-cash revenue item from a deferred revenue release. Excluding that, the Q3 2025 revenue was only slightly down year-over-year, which is a better reflection of the underlying business health.

The other revenue drivers are less about immediate cash flow and more about future value capture. These are the streams that could push the total revenue past the $187 million upper end of guidance:

  • Milestone payments from R&D contracts upon technical success.
  • Equity and royalty payments from successful commercialized programs.
  • Revenue from the new Tools business, covering automation, data, and software licensing.

To be fair, the Tools business is where management is placing a lot of emphasis for future growth, with plans to talk more about investments in AI and automation in 2026. As of September 30, 2025, Ginkgo Bioworks Holdings, Inc. maintained a cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities balance of $462 million, which gives them runway to invest in these non-service revenue areas.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.


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