Vitagene Closes $5.5 Million Series Seed Financing Led by Spectrum 28
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Vitagene, Inc. has announced it raised $5.5 million in Series Seed funding led by Spectrum 28. Additional investors include Viking Global Investors; Neil Hunt, Chief Product Officer of Netflix; Ken Goldman, SVP and Chief Financial Officer at Yahoo; and venture capitalist and entrepreneur, Yuri Milner. In December 2015, Vitagene was also one of four startups selected by Illumina Accelerator to receive seed investment for a period of six months. The funding is a significant step toward its vision of helping individuals reach peak health through data-driven, personalized products.
Vitagene’s first product is a highly personalized supplementation regimen for its members, which is offered through its partnering physicians. Physicians receive actionable reports generated through Vitagene’s web-based dashboard and proprietary algorithm, which utilizes patient DNA, lab results, and lifestyle information, as well as a vast knowledge base of research data. Individuals receive a membership subscription for monthly supplements, tailored to their unique health profile.
“The current healthcare model is broken. It’s time to shift the conversation from disease treatment to prevention,” said Mehdi Maghsoodnia, CEO, and co-founder of Vitagene. “This new funding supports Vitagene in our mission to empower physicians and patients to change this conversation through data-driven, individualized products and solutions.
“No other founding team or company in the space is better positioned to transform the supplement category,” said Lyon Wong, general partner at Spectrum 28. “The adoption of Vitagene’s platform by leading physicians is a direct result of the company’s science-backed approach. We are confident that Vitagene can make individualized health products a reality for all.”
In the short time since its launch, the company has made significant traction reaching doctors and individual members. The funding will be used for key hires across sales and marketing. Vitagene will also continue to invest in building customized engagement programs for members to obtain optimal health. For instance, an engagement program for a bariatric surgery patient requires regular customization to reflect the extreme changes in their nutritional and physiology needs. The member’s subscription formula, as well as the health recommendations, would adjust at the three or six-month milestones, accordingly.
Vitagene’s mission is supported by its Scientific Advisory Board, a world-class team of multidisciplinary M.D.’s, Ph.D’s, research scientists, and advisors. Their fields of expertise include genomics, bioinformatics, data science, age research, Genome Technology, nutrigenomics, nutrition, bariatrics, as well as functional, integrative, and naturopathic medicine.
