The story
Founded by Anne Wojcicki, Linda Avey and Paul Cusenza on Apr 2006.1
History
Founding and early growth (2006–2017)
Linda Avey, Paul Cusenza, and Anne Wojcicki founded 23andMe in 2006 to offer genetic testing and interpretation to individuals. Investment documents from 2007 suggest that 23andMe also intended to develop a database for research purposes. In 2007, Google invested $3.9 million in the company, along with Genentech, New Enterprise Associates, and Mohr Davidow Ventures. Wojcicki and Google co-founder Sergey Brin were married at the time.
Cusenza left the company in 2007 and Avey departed in 2009.
In 2012, 23andMe raised $50 million in a Series D venture round, nearly doubling its total capital of $52.6 million. In 2015, a $115 million Series E round brought total capital to $241 million. By late 2017, the company had raised approximately $250 million at a $1.75 billion valuation.
GlaxoSmithKline partnership (2018–2023)
On July 25, 2018, 23andMe announced a partnership with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in which GSK would use data from consenting customers to support drug development, investing $300 million in the company. In January 2022, the partnership was extended until July 2023 with an additional $50 million payment. In July 2020, the partnership produced its first clinical trial: a jointly developed cancer therapy.
Going public and Lemonaid acquisition (2020–2021)
The company was based in Mountain View, California, initially in North Bayshore and then downtown, until 2019, when it moved to larger headquarters in Sunnyvale. In January 2020, 23andMe laid off about 100 employees in its consumer testing division.
In December 2020, the company raised approximately $82.5 million in a Series F round, bringing total funding to over $850 million. In February 2021, 23andMe announced a merger with Sir Richard Branson's special-purpose acquisition company, VG Acquisition Corp, in a $3.5 billion transaction. The merger closed in June 2021; the combined entity, renamed 23andMe Holding Co., began trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "ME".
In October 2021, 23andMe acquired Lemonaid Health, a telehealth company, for $400 million, with the deal closing in November.
Decline and bankruptcy (2022–2025)
After reaching a market capitalization of approximately $6 billion following its public listing, 23andMe's valuation fell sharply; by early 2024 it stood at roughly 2% of its peak. Contributing factors included the company's persistent lack of profitability and the absence of recurring revenue from its one-time DNA test kits.
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Wojcicki made several attempts to take the company private. An initial bid of $2.53 per share in February 2024 did not proceed. In July 2024, she offered 40 cents per share for all outstanding shares not already owned by her, but a special committee of the board rejected the proposal. In September 2024, all seven independent board members resigned. The company subsequently filed with the SEC indicating it was no longer open to third-party acquisition offers. Users attempting to delete their genetic data discovered that the company retained it for three years to comply with legal obligations. Further layoffs followed in November 2024.
In January 2025, 23andMe disclosed it needed additional liquidity and was exploring strategic alternatives including a potential sale. Wojcicki made a third offer of 41 cents per share in March 2025. On March 23, 2025, 23andMe filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as part of a plan to sell its assets, listing assets and liabilities each between $100 million and $500 million. Wojcicki stepped down as CEO and was replaced by CFO Joe Selsavage. Trading in the company's shares was suspended on March 31 and the stock was delisted from Nasdaq, subsequently trading over-the-counter.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued a consumer privacy alert reminding Californian users of their right to request deletion of their genetic data.
TTAM acquisition (2025)
The initial bankruptcy auction was won by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for $256 million. As part of that agreement, Regeneron would have acquired all units of 23andMe except its telehealth service Lemonaid Health. However, the bankruptcy court reopened the auction after Wojcicki argued that her nonprofit, TTAM Research Institute, had been unfairly excluded from the bidding process. In the final round, TTAM submitted a winning bid of $305 million. 23andMe had separately announced it would cease being a public company and deregister from the SEC effective June 6, 2025.
TTAM completed the acquisition of substantially all of 23andMe's assets—including the Personal Genome Service, Research Services, and Lemonaid Health—on July 14, 2025. TTAM committed to honouring 23andMe's existing privacy policies, establishing a Consumer Privacy Advisory Board, and restricting future sale or transfer of genetic data unless any new owner adopted equivalent privacy protections.
Product history and pricing
Product tiers
In late 2009, 23andMe briefly split its service into three products—an Ancestry Edition, a Health Edition, and a Complete Edition—but recombined them a year later. A monthly subscription for research-based updates, introduced in late 2010, proved unpopular and was eliminated in mid-2012.
From November 22, 2013, to October 21, 2015, 23andMe sold only raw genetic data and ancestry-related results in the US due to FDA restrictions, after which it resumed providing health information in the form of carrier status and wellness reports.
Pricing
The US price declined from $999 at launch in 2007 to $399 in 2008 and to $99 in 2012, effectively serving as a loss leader to build the customer database. In October 2015, the price was raised to $199. In September 2016, an ancestry-only version was reintroduced at $99 with an optional $125 health upgrade. The product launched in Canada in October 2014 at CA$99 and in the United Kingdom in December 2014 at £125.
Ancestry and diversity initiatives
In February 2018, 23andMe enhanced its ancestry reporting to provide country-level rather than region-level estimates, adding 120 new regions. Acknowledging gaps in genomic data for Asia and Africa, the company launched the African Genetics Program in October 2016 (supported by a National Institutes of Health grant) to recruit sub-Saharan African participants. This was expanded into the Global Genetics Program in February 2018, targeting 61 underrepresented countries, and the Populations Collaboration Program in April 2018, establishing formal research partnerships.
23andMe+ and Lemonaid Health
In October 2020, 23andMe launched "23andMe+", a subscription service priced at $29 per year, offering additional health and pharmacogenetic reports to Health + Ancestry customers genotyped on version 5 of its microarray chip. In late 2021, the company completed its $400 million acquisition of Lemonaid Health, a telehealth company.
2023 data breach
In October 2023, a significant data breach was disclosed. Hackers accessed data on approximately 6.9 million users—roughly half of 23andMe's customers at the time—through a credential stuffing attack. Stolen data included names, addresses, and genetic information, and was subsequently offered for sale online. The affected accounts had enabled the platform's "DNA Relatives" feature, and the attack specifically targeted Ashkenazi Jewish and Chinese-descent users.
In June 2025, the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) fined 23andMe £2.31 million for failing to adequately protect user data, citing inadequate security measures—including the absence of multi-factor authentication—and a slow response to the breach.
In May 2026, the California Attorney General filed a lawsuit against 23andMe for failure to safeguard sensitive personal information under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and other related privacy statutes.
From Wikipedia’s article on 23andMe, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.9