Biotech pharma

dNovo

Website

At dNovo, we are curing hair loss by creating new hair, de novo. We are doing this with cellular reprogramming technology that we pioneered at Stanford and Harvard. With this technology, we can take any patient derived cell, whether it be blood, skin or fat and reprogram (convert) them into medically relevant cell types. Our first objective is to c

Founded 2018Origin source ↗Checked 2026-09-15

Overview

At dNovo, we are curing hair loss by creating new hair, de novo. We are doing this with cellular reprogramming technology that we pioneered at Stanford and Harvard. With this technology, we can take any patient derived cell, whether it be blood, skin or fat and reprogram (convert) them into medically relevant cell types. Our first objective is to cure hair loss by using our reprogramming technology to make new hair (patent pending). This is different from everything currently available on the market because the hair loss industry is focused on maintaining the hair that you already have, but no one is trying to produce NEW hair, de novo. After hair, we envision using our cellular reprogramming technique to make any cell, any tissue or any organ on demand to replace what is lost as we age.

Company description As recorded 2026-11-08
Biotech pharmaConsumersConsumerServices

Founders & team

Ernesto Lujan

Founder

Ernesto Lujan received his Ph.D. in Genetics from Stanford, and has published cutting edge research on regenerative medicine in Nature, Cell Stem Cell, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. His discovery of directly reprogramming skin into neural stem cells that successfully integrated in a live mouse brain was featured in the BBC. He has received awards from the National Science Foundation, Ford Foundation, and California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

LinkedIn
Founder profile As recorded 2026-09-15
4team members reported
Source-reported As recorded 2026-09-15

Founded 2018 · Source

News & product activity

Sources & observations

Y Combinator

Profile depthverified profile
Website observationwebsite reachable
Last website check2026-11-11
Location · source statedSan Francisco, CA, USA; San Jose, CA, USA
Pricing evidenceNo pricing page confirmed
Maturity: Not assessed · 3 of 6 areas documented

Source-based assessment · automated evidence rules

The source reports an inactive or acquired company; current product identity needs review.

Maturity is an evidence-based assessment, not a success rating. It may understate the current stage where evidence is limited. Coverage records documented areas, not a complete or independently audited company history.

Stage definitions
independent websitesource corroborationreachable websitedescriptive evidenceclassified market and modelsourced peoplesourced founding year
startup.observe Directory coverage · Sources & method