[1] Bryan Johnson created OS Fund in October 2014, a year after selling Braintree to PayPal for $800 million.

[3][4] The fund draws its name from the acronym for operating system (OS), the software that underlies the basic functions of computers and provides a foundation for other applications.

[citation needed] OS Fund focuses on investment in technologies and platforms in genomics, synthetic biology, computationally derived therapeutics, advanced materials, and diagnostics.

In order to promote the brand, Johnson said the fund publicly released the "playbook" on its website to encourage others to invest in emerging sciences.

[6] Johnson has said he launched the fund in response to a pullback in federal support of research and development,[3] and because of a general reluctance by more traditional venture capital firms to make science-related investments.