23andMe: New $50 Million Raise to Help Reach One Million Customers

Six months ago, I wrote about 23andMe and their price reduction to $299 per kit from the December 2007 $999 price tag. Today, the Company announced that it has raised $50 million in new funding and has lowered the cost of its genome service to $99. This round was led by new investor Yuri Milner, a Russian billionaire known for his investments in Facebook, Zynga, Twitter, Spotify and ZocDoc. By lowering the price point, 23andMe is looking to attract more customers and grow their DNA data pool. The Company has a goal of engaging one million users (from 180,000 currently), and by analyzing the data of these genotyped individuals, hopes to discover new ways of disease treatment and prevention.