“Genetics testing company 23andMe is going public at a ~$3.5B valuation by merging with a SPAC set up by Richard Branson.”

Genetics testing and genome research company 23andMe is set to go public via a merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) VG Acquisition Corp., a vehicle set up by Richard Branson and his company Virgin Group. The transaction is expected to result in 23andMe having around $984 million in cash available at close to spend on product development, hires and other growth strategies, and will value the company at around $3.5 billion, close to the total cited by an earlier report detailing the talks leading up to this deal.

23andMe, founded in 2006 by CEO Anne Wojcicki, Linda Avey and Paul Cusenza, has raised a total of just under $900 million to date, including an $85 million Series F round announced last December. The company was one of the first to debut at-home genetic testing for individual consumers, providing kits that people can use to find out more about their own DNA, and what it says about their potential health issue, ancestry and more.

https://techcrunch.com/2021/02/04/23andme-set-to-go-public-via-a-virgin-group-spac-merger