IT specialists invest in genomics
Yuri Milner investigates genes. Investing $50 million in DNA with partners
The service will be in demand: methods of studying DNA are rapidly getting cheaper and becoming available to many people, experts say.
The fact that 23andMe closed the next investment round, Kommersant was told by a source close to Yuri Milner, and confirmed by the company's CEO Anna Voizhitski. The volume of attracted investments amounted to more than $50 million. In addition to Mr. Milner, who invested personal funds in the development of the company, existing shareholders also participated in the round – Google co-founder Sergey Brin, his wife Anna Voizhitski, New Enterprise Associates, Google Ventures and MPM Capital. Yuri Milner invested "a significant part" of the volume of the round, receiving for this "a large stake in the company, but not a controlling one," says the interlocutor of Kommersant.
23andMe, Inc. is a private biotech company founded in 2006, located in Mountain View (USA, California). He is engaged in genetic diagnostics of the client's predisposition to a number of diseases (119 types), searching based on DNA analysis of the client's distant ancestors and comparing the data of several clients (for example, to find out the degree of kinship). According to ChrunchBase, 23andMe has already attracted $52.6 million in venture capital investments. The total amount of investments in the company, therefore, is more than $ 100 million.
Investors' money will be used to develop the infrastructure necessary for research and operational capabilities (including product and software development, recruiting and marketing). 23andMe plans to create a platform through which researchers around the world will be able to make "significant discoveries significantly faster than before." The investments received, coupled with cost reduction, will also reduce the prices for personal genetic testing services from $299 to $99. Now 23andMe's customer base has more than 180 thousand people, but the company intends to increase it to 1 million users, which will be a critical mass for the rapid development of 23andMe.
"1 million actively involved people will qualitatively change research and improve the ability of scientists to answer questions about the genetic function and the role of environmental factors," says Ms. Wojcicki. Along with the reduction in the cost of the service, the cost of genetic analysis is dramatically reduced three times, and the price already allows the mass user to use the services of 23andMe, says a source familiar with the transaction.
There is an interest in startups at the intersection of medicine and IT in the market, Pavel Nikonov, analyst at Bright Capital Digital, shares his observations. "For example, Bright Capital invested in the Doctor at Work project, Fastlane Ventures launched Vitaportal, which included Prostor Capital and well–known American entrepreneur Esther Dyson," he lists. "MedXPoint was recently launched in Russia – one of the first specialized business incubators in Russia for startups in the field of digital health."
"Everyone wants to live long and be healthy," says Dmitry Chikhachev, managing partner of Runa Capital, who estimates the entire 23andMe in the range of $150-450 million. "There is already a great demand for what the company is doing today, and it will grow rapidly in the future." In his opinion, the main trump card of 23andMe is a successful business model, which consists in subscribing to updates, for which the company's customers continue to pay. "There are many hereditary diseases that can be easily avoided if prevention is properly organized," Mr. Chikhachev notes. He recalls that in September, the developer of software for the analysis and visualization of genomic data Station X received $ 5 million from a group of investors led by Runa Capital.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru12.12.2012