How Scientist.com Transformed Drug Discovery and Built the Future of Outsourced Research

Scientists redefine how science gets done.

When Kevin Lustig, PhD, Chris Petersen and Andy Martin, PhD, co-founded Scientist.com, they were guided by a deceptively simple idea: research scientists should spend their time doing science that improves patient outcomes, not navigating procurement processes that create major barriers to getting the real work done. They asked a simple question - why isn’t buying scientific services as easy as buying anything else?

Having worked together at Kalypsys Inc. and experienced firsthand how slow and fragmented the process of sourcing specialized research services and materials could be, they envisioned a secure online marketplace where scientists could connect directly with suppliers to accelerate innovation.

That idea, radical at the time, became Scientist.com, now trusted by the world’s top pharmaceutical companies, biotechs, and leading academic institutions. From the start, the mission was clear: make it faster, easier, and cheaper to access the resources needed to advance scientific discovery.

Weeks and months of administrative complexity simplified to a few days from request to starting an experiment

Bringing just one drug to market can take over 7 million hours of work, 6,500+ experiments and over 400 researchers…for one drug. Statistics like these motivated the Scientist.com team, as traditional sourcing of research services and products required months of administrative approvals, lengthy legal reviews, and fragmented vendor management. Each delay slowed innovation and added cost to R&D programs.

Scientist.com tackled these bottlenecks head on. The company’s AI-enabled e-commerce platform streamlined the entire process—from supplier qualification and contracting to compliance and payment—allowing researchers to access thousands of pre-approved suppliers through a single, secure interface.

By digitizing workflows and eliminating friction points from what was once a highly manual process, the platform has enabled tens of thousands of projects to move from idea to execution in record time, accelerating innovation across the life sciences.

Over time, Scientist.com has evolved from the industry’s leading research marketplace into a strategic partner in advancing scientific innovation, transforming how scientists and procurement teams manage research services and products. The company’s latest innovation, Procurement CoPilot™, leverages GenAI to simplify sourcing workflows and enable seamless management across all suppliers, including those outside the marketplace, through guided buying and a flexible billing model.

From San Diego startup to global life sciences tech powerhouse

What began as a startup in San Diego quickly earned a brand as the “Amazon.com for medical research”. When we first met the team, they were operating out of a tiny office tucked behind a massage parlor. Even in that modest space, the signs of something special were obvious. They had already signed several top pharmaceutical companies, validating both the demand for their marketplace and the strength of their vision.

Our first dinner with the co-founders left us energized by their clarity of mission and depth of conviction. However, it was our surf session together, a first for any TCAP diligence process, that perfectly captured the spirit of Scientist.com: open, authentic, and adventurous.

At Transformation Capital, we partner with founders like Kevin, Chris and Andy who have the potential to transform the healthcare system by accelerating life-saving science and simplifying complexity. We saw in the team a rare combination of scientific credibility, operational excellence, and purpose.

The ambitious, mission-driven senior management team of Kevin and Chris along with Dan Kagan and Diana Ourthiague went on to build more than a marketplace; it built a movement around a new way of doing science. Today, Scientist.com is a global enterprise for biopharma innovation, connecting scientists with over 6,000 suppliers across more than 100 countries, and sustaining a culture as dynamic and collaborative as the science they enable.

Together with our co-investors 5AM Ventures (Andy Schwab and Max Farina, MD) and Bootstrap Ventures (Parker Hinshaw), we’ve been privileged to support the company’s growth.

A new chapter with GHO Capital

Today, we’re proud to celebrate GHO Capital Partners’ acquisition of Scientist.com. Partnering with GHO marks the start of an exciting new chapter, one that will enable global scale, expanded AI-enabled capabilities, and deeper impact across preclinical and clinical R&D.

To Kevin, Dan, Chris, Diana, and the entire Scientist.com team: thank you for your vision, your partnership, and your relentless pursuit of better science.

We couldn’t be more honored to have been part of your journey, and we look forward to seeing Scientist.com continue to redefine how the world discovers, develops, and delivers new medicines.