23 Andme Documents Go Bankrupt, Losing CEO: What This Means for You and Your Data
23AndMe, the company’s mail-in self-testing kit, became synonymous with DNA testing, is filing for bankruptcy as sales slowed four years after publication. Anne Wojcicki, who co-founded 23andme in 2006, is serving as CEO as the company tries to find a buyer.
In January, 23AndMe said it was exploring sales options due to slowing demand for products and the impact of major data breaches in 2023. In 2024, the company agreed to conduct a financial settlement for the violation, which affected 6.9 million users. The company also announced about 40% of its workforce layoffs by the end of 2024. Recently, the company’s stock has dropped below one dollar, putting it in danger of standing out from the Nasdaq.
In a notation to customers, the company said there is currently no change in how it stores, manages or protects customer data, and that the company is still doing business and selling DNA kits. “Through this process, we will seek to find a partner that shares our commitment to customer data privacy and allow our mission to help people access, understand and benefit from the human genome,” the company said in its post.
At its peak, 23AndMe became the most famous name in the emerging field of DNA self-testing, with users paying $99 for the kit, thus giving them an idea of their genetic makeup, potential relatives and ancestry. But the company’s momentum has slowed down in a $3.5 billion public offering in 2021.
People who use 23andMe and are worried about what might happen to sales data have a choice: They can download the information, then delete their accounts, and ask companies to abandon their DNA material in addition to deleting the data. Doing so will prevent DNA information from being used in future studies but cannot be deleted from already completed studies.
