Business Model

Project-focused Philosophy

All of our projects have a defined start and finish. The start is taking on an unprecedented task with a far-reaching impact on neuroscience—such as creating a one-of-a-kind human brain atlas that comprehensively details gene activity onto a three-dimensional map of the human brain. The finish is creating publicly available resources from the data to fuel breakthroughs by researchers worldwide. In between, we get from start to finish by operating like an enterprise, one that's fully accountable to established schedules and benchmarks.

Unique Funding Structure

While Paul G. Allen launched the Institute with initial seed funding, we rely on new funds to sustain and further our scientific programs. For each project, we transform a unique set of individual, corporate and public donors into "investors" in breakthrough science. For example, a consortium of public and private entities backed the Allen Spinal Cord Atlas, a genome-wide map detailing where each gene is expressed, or "turned on," throughout the mouse spinal cord.

These consortia, featuring entities with often very different missions, are nonetheless united by their mutual interest in the project's momentous scientific benefits. In the future, we anticipate using this model for other Allen Institute projects.