Catalog
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Catalog Technologies was a Boston startup founded in 2016 by microbiologist Hyunjun Park, spun out of MIT and backed by SOSVs IndieBio. It built machines that write digital data into synthetic DNA, including the Shannon DNA writer, demonstrating feats like encoding the English Wikipedia and 200,000 words of Shakespeare into molecules that could be searched by query. It raised $54.3 million.
02 / Catalog FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
Catalog never landed a paying data center. Commercialization stayed years away: in 2020 executives put it 30 to 36 months out, and the DNA-storage economics never reached viability despite the technical milestones. After nearly a decade the company ran out of runway; co-founder and CEO Hyunjun Park stepped down in October 2025, and in March 2026 French rival Biomemory acquired its technology, patents, equipment and core engineers.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Operations ended
Catalog Technologies’ 8 Oct 2025 LinkedIn post stated the company had begun winding down, IP had been transferred, and DSI Consulting was managing assignment of other assets for the benefit of creditors. DSI Assignments lists Catalog ABC with date of assignment 6 Oct 2025 and claims bar date 6 Mar 2026. A later 5 Mar 2026 Biomemory PR announced acquisition of Catalog Technologies assets after that ABC, without disclosed terms.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
Machines writing digital data into synthetic DNA
- 02
Founded 2016 in Boston (MIT spinoff)
- 03
Raised $54.3M; commercialization never arrived
- 04
CEO stepped down Oct 2025; assets bought by Biomemory Mar 2026