LifeDNA

Using Your DNA to Test Health

Company Information

Website:

https://www.lifedna.com/

Sector:

Health and Wellness

Location:

Honolulu, HI

LifeDNA aims to deliver personalized health and wellness insights.

To do this, the company uses your DNA. It then creates detailed reports that help you better understand your general health, nutrition, fitness habits, and more.

Broadly speaking, LifeDNA wants to act as a dashboard for your health — where lifestyle, environment, biometric, and genetic data are integrated.

This company is growing fast. In Q2 2020, it experienced 1,291% user growth. And its 2020 revenues through July were 224% higher than the same period a year ago.

Most recently, LifeDNA partnered with Health First Network, a Canadian health and wellness retailer with 130 stores. Now it’s raising funds to market its wellness platform and expand.

LifeDNA is led by Chairman Steve Markowitz, who has had success scaling businesses. He founded Mypoints.com, an online shopping rewards program, that grew to 16 million members.

Like a handful of other companies, LifeDNA is using DNA to deliver insights into your personal health and wellness. That’s because, in addition to revealing details about family history, our DNA can warn of potential health issues, and open the door to the benefits of personalized medicine.

DNA tests have become enormously popular — about 30 million people have had their DNA analyzed. By 2025, the market for genetic testing is expected to reach $25 billion.

Early companies in this industry have become very successful. Ancestry.com, for example, is worth about $3 billion, and 23andMe is worth about $2.5 billion.

LifeDNA is targeting this industry. But unlike the companies mentioned above, it aims to combine DNA data with biometric and lifestyle information to create a more complete picture about health and wellness.

Here are the steps involved:

DNA Analysis: First, LifeDNA analyzes a person’s DNA. This information can be provided from websites like 23andMe or Ancestry. Or, if the person hasn’t had their DNA tested, LifeDNA will send a swab test kit to obtain the data.

Research Database: Second, the company references an extensive database of peer-reviewed studies to develop personalized recommendations for users.

Personalized Reports: After examining the variations in a consumer’s genome through its algorithm, LifeDNA generates personalized reports to inform users of potential genetic strengths, weaknesses, and health concerns.

Access: Finally, users can access their personalized reports and insights online, or through the company’s mobile platform.

LifeDNA sells its product directly to consumers. It aims to interact with them on a recurring basis, creating a “sticky” product in the process.

Consumers can purchase report bundles for $149 if they already have DNA data from another service. Bundles include reports on 100 unique traits that outline their personality, fitness, nutrition, disease susceptibility, and Covid-19 response.

If they also need a DNA test, the cost for the kit and report bundle is $299. Single reports are also available for as little as $7.

Moving forward, LifeDNA will create health and wellness membership tiers. For example:

Platinum Membership: This will enable access to unlimited updates to a user’s reports (as the company aggregates more data to make more comprehensive analysis) and new updates released monthly. This membership will cost $60 per year or $25 per quarter.

DNA Fitness Plans: This will provide users with DNA-based meal plans and recommendations. This will cost $200 per year, or $20 per month, and a full launch is expected for November 2020.

Optimization Program: This will provide meal plans, fitness plans, and supplement and lifestyle recommendations. It will also include mobile follow-ups and tracking via a medical symptom questionnaire. This will cost $450 per year, or $49 per month, and is expected to launch in March 2021.

Over the next year, LifeDNA will add new features to its reports, and prepare to launch its meal and fitness subscription plans. In 2021, it will integrate biometric data (from sleep trackers and activity monitors) to make reports and recommendations more useful to the consumer.

Team Background

Cyril Moukarzel - Co-Founder & CEO

Cyril has spent his entire career with startups, focusing on marketing and growth strategies.

He began as Co-Founder & CEO of eCelery, an online marketplace for ordering international meals. After that, he was Vice President of Growth for Smartkart, a Canada-based on-demand online grocery delivery service.

More recently, he was Director of Business Development for PubliVate, a web consulting business. He then was Head of Business Development for Hyre Staff, a hospitality company.

Cyril earned a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the University of Ottawa.

Steve Markowitz - Co-Founder & Chairman

Steve has extensive experience scaling businesses and working in the health technology market.

He began his career in the financial sector, serving as foreign correspondent for Dow Jones and then a securities analyst with Fidelity Investments.

From there, he founded MyPoints.com, an online shopping rewards program. Under his guidance, this business grew to 16 million users.

After that, Steve co-founded Green Chef, a meal kit company that achieved a $180 million valuation in 2018, the same year it merged with HelloFresh, a larger competitor.

More recently, he was Vice Chairman and an early investor in iFirst Medical Technologies, makers of a handheld diagnostic device that performs blood analysis.

He earned a Bachelor’s degree and MBA from the University of California, Berkeley.

Co-Investors

Raising
$1.07 million
Committed
$13.896K (1%)
Current Valuation
$10 million Cap / 20% Discount
Min. Investment
$100
Deal Type
Title III
(For all investors)
Offering Type
Convertible Debt
Finance History
  • $100K
    2017-05-01
    Unknown
  • $300K
    2018-01-01
    Unknown
  • $650K
    2018-09-01
    Unknown
  • $625K
    2019-05-01
    Unknown
Notable Investors
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