Amytis is building an operating system for life science research, designed to help teams better manage, connect and extract value from their data. Founded by Eva Steele, who comes from a background in life sciences and biochemistry, the company is rooted in firsthand experience of the challenges researchers face every day.
Alongside her co-founder Freddy, Eva developed the idea during their PhDs at the University of Edinburgh. What began as a side project has since evolved into a full-time venture, backed by early funding and growing interest from the research community.
At its core, Amytis aims to make research more efficient, more collaborative and ultimately more impactful.
Fixing the data fragmentation problem in research
Life science research generates vast amounts of data, but much of it remains siloed across different tools, teams and experiments.
For researchers, this creates friction. Valuable insights are missed, experiments are repeated unnecessarily, and time is lost managing data rather than advancing science.
“The headache of data management and research management is real,” Eva explains. “It takes up an awful lot of your time just trying to keep everything together.”
Amytis is designed to address this. The platform acts as an operating system for research, bringing data into a single, cohesive environment. By making it easier to organise, access and analyse information, it enables researchers to work more efficiently and uncover insights that might otherwise be lost.
The focus is now narrowing towards R&D teams in biotech companies, where these challenges are particularly pronounced and the opportunity for impact is significant.
Shaped by users, not assumptions
The transition from academic research to startup has been one of the biggest challenges.
“As a scientist, you’re working in theory and controlled environments,” Eva says. “As a founder, you’re in the real world. It’s about what users need, not what you think should work.”
Over the past year, Amytis has focused heavily on development. The team launched an initial version of the platform in January, achieving over 300 downloads and strong early engagement.
Since then, the product has evolved rapidly thanks to user feedback and iterative testing. Features such as automated data processing have been introduced, and the platform has been refined through hands-on UX testing with researchers.
“The most useful thing we’ve done is sitting down with users and watching how they actually use the product,” Eva says. “That gives you real clarity on what needs to improve.”
The role of Techscaler
Techscaler has played a meaningful role in Amytis’ journey, providing both visibility and access to opportunities at a critical early stage.
One of the most impactful moments came almost immediately after signing up. Through a Techscaler newsletter, Eva discovered Bethnal Green Ventures, who went on to co-fund Amytis through a Smart Scotland grant.
“That was instant help,” she says. “It connected us to an opportunity we wouldn’t have found otherwise.”
That funding enabled the team to work on Amytis full-time for the past year and accelerate product development significantly.
Amytis also joined Techscaler Silicon Valley’s Autumn 2025 cohort, an experience that proved instrumental in shaping how the company approaches global expansion.
For an early-stage team, the trip provided a level of clarity that would have been difficult to achieve remotely.
“It was a huge learning curve and a bit of a culture shock,” Eva explains. “You really see how differently investors think and what the expectations are at that level.”
More importantly, it helped define what entering the US market would actually require in practice.
Through direct conversations with investors, founders and organisations like the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Eva was able to understand the specific product, security and positioning requirements needed to operate at that scale.
“It gave us a much clearer idea of where we need to be and what it will take to enter the US market.”
Rather than abstract ambition, the team came away with a more concrete roadmap for expansion, from product readiness to market expectations and partnership strategy.
Without that exposure, those insights would have been significantly harder to access.
The trip did not just open doors. It fundamentally shaped how Amytis thinks about global growth and where to focus next.
Building with clarity and momentum
Amytis is still early in its journey, but strong foundations are in place.
The team of three is now focused on refining the product for biotech R&D teams, running pilot projects and building out real-world use cases.
At the same time, the company is raising a £600k pre-seed round to support the next 18 months of development, including expanding the team and accelerating product adoption.
The immediate focus is the UK biotech market, with plans to expand into Europe and the US within the next few years.
“The opportunities are massive,” Eva says. “We want to become a global operating system for life science research.”
A broader vision for research
Beyond improving workflows, Amytis is working towards something bigger.
The long-term vision is to enable better collaboration across the life sciences ecosystem, helping teams share and contribute data in a way that is both secure and valuable.
By breaking down silos and making research more connected, the platform has the potential to improve not just individual workflows, but the pace and quality of scientific discovery itself.
Amytis’ journey reflects a wider shift in how research is conducted, moving from fragmented systems to integrated, data-driven environments.
With strong early signals, growing validation from users and support from programmes like Techscaler, the company is now positioned to scale its impact.
Growth and milestones highlights
Amytis has reached several key milestones:
- Secured £160k in early funding through Smart Scotland and Bethnal Green Ventures, identified via Techscaler
- Developed and launched an initial product with over 300 downloads
- Released advanced features including automated data processing
- Participated in Techscaler’s Silicon Valley cohort
- Established early relationships with global research organisations
- Ongoing UX testing and product iteration based on user feedback
- Pre-seed funding round now open to support next stage of growth
.png)
