Genetics startup 23andMe, Inc., has raised $115 million in Series E funding led by Fidelity Management & Research Company to expand its FDA-approved direct-to-consumer genetic tests. New investors in the round include Casdin Capital, WuXi Healthcare Ventures and Xfund, as well as existing investors including Illumina (ILMN), New Enterprise Associates, MPM Capital, and Google Ventures. The latest funding round brings its total funding to date at $241 million, Forbes now values the company at $1.1 billion.
23andMe plans to use the funding to expand its direct-to-consumer $99 genetic tests in the US, UK, Canada and certain EU countries. Additionally, the company expects to launch a new user experience that includes carrier status reports in the US, as well as enhanced tools and functionality for customers by the end of the year.
The company fought hard to come back after major FDA hurdles. In 2013, the FDA ruled that 23andMe failed to give consumers information about their disease risk without validating the their genetic tests were accurate. As a result, the company was only able to provide US-based consumers with information about their ancestry, suffocating its momentum.
Recent Milestones
In January, 23andMe announced a drug-discovery collaboration with Genentech worth an estimated $60 million in milestone payments. The company brought in Dr. Richard Scheller as chief science officer to run its new laboratory space for therapeutic research, a next generation sequencing laboratory as well as other investments. In February, the company received FDA clearance rare inherited condition called Bloom syndrome, a disorder characterized by short stature, a skin rash that develops after exposure to the sun, and a greatly increased risk of cancer, in children.
“23andMe pioneered the personal genetics industry. Our efforts to enable individuals to access, understand and benefit from the human genome have achieved a level of scale that will enable us to further advance genetic research and drug discovery around the world,” said Andy Page, president of 23andMe. “This round of funding will enable us to further our vision for long term growth in our consumer and therapeutic businesses.”
