The genetic testing company 23andMe is the latest company to join the boom of becoming publicly-traded by merging with special-purpose acquisition companies. Barely a month after it closed an $83 million funding round, 23andMe has announced a deal to merge with VG Acquisition Corp, a SPAC formed by the famed entrepreneur Richard Branson.

23andMe will merge with VG Acquisition Corp in a deal valued at $3.5 billion. As part of the merger, 23andMe will receive $509 million held in trust by VG Acquisition plus a top-up $250 million cash infusion that’ll come from investors including Fidelity, Altimeter Capital, and Foresite Capital. Branson and 23andMe’s CEO, Anne Wojcicki who’s the ex-wife of Google co-founder Sergey Brin, will reach chip in $25 million into the $250 million round.

At close, the combined company of VG Acquisition and 23andMe will have a cash balance exceeding $900 million. After the merger, 23andMe will begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “ME”. 

23andMe provides genetics testing services, DNA in its case, to consumers as its main revenue stream. The company has another revenue stream by harnessing the genetics data of its customers to conduct and aid in drug development research with other biopharmaceutical companies. 

23andMe was founded in 2006 by a team led by Anne Wojcicki, a biology expert who was then married to Sergey Brin, the co-founder of tech giant Google. Over time, the company has raised nearly $900 million in venture funding from investors including big names like Sequoia Capital, G Squared, and the British pharmaceuticals company GlaxoSmithKline.

23andMe has chosen to exit on the public markets through a merger with a SPAC. The company’s agreed merger is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2021, after which it’ll become publicly-traded.

Photo: 23andMe Co-Founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki, credit: TechCrunch is licensed under CC BY 2.0

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