Fresh off her marriage to Google Inc. co-founder Sergey Brin, biotechnology entrepreneur Anne Wojcicki is now wedded to the company too!
Mountain View California-based internet search solutions provider Google Inc. has taken a small stake in a biotech company that was co-founded by the wife of one of Google’s founders, Sergey Brin, Google said in a U.S. regulatory filing on Tuesday.
In Securities and Exchange Commission documents filed Tuesday, Google revealed that it has invested $3.9 million in privately held biotech company 23andMe, Inc., which focuses on helping consumers understand and browse their genome.
Google now has obtained a minority stake in 23andMe as a result of this investment.
Some of the money that Google anted up this month was used to repay $2.6 million in financing previously provided to 23andMe by Brin, one of the world’s wealthiest men with an estimated $16 billion fortune. Sergey Brin holds about 35% of Google’s Class B common stock.
Besides Google, the initial round of outside funding in 23andMe includes venture capital firms New Enterprise Associates and Mohr Davidow Ventures and biotechnology giant Genentech Inc. The amounts contributed by the other investors were not disclosed.
Genentech’s Chief Executive Officer, Arthur Levinson, is also a member of the board of directors of Google.
The disclosure, which marked Google’s first confirmation of a secretive marriage consummated in the Bahamas earlier this month, could pose nettlesome questions of nepotism for the Internet search leader, which ranks among the world’s most scrutinized publicly held companies.
Google’s Audit Committee reviewed and approved this transaction as part of Google’s procedures for entering into transactions with related parties.
Tuesday’s filing did not explain the rationale for Google’s investment in 23andMe, but it said the company’s audit committee had consulted an independent adviser to assess the startup’s value.
Anne Wojcicki, who is a co-founder of 23andMe and who is also a shareholder and member of the board of directors, was married earlier this month to Sergey Brin, Google’s co-founder and president.
Formerly a biotech investor herself, Wojcicki co-founded 23andMe last year with biopharmaceutical industry veteran Linda Avey.
23andMe is a privately held company developing new ways to help you make sense of your own genetic information, Wojcicki’s company says on its website.
"The 23 refers to the twenty-three paired volumes of one’s own genetic blueprint."
Google invested in 23andMe as part of its goal of developing new ways to help people make sense of their genetic information, spokesman Jon Murchinson said in a statement. He said Brin recused himself from all management and board discussions about the 23andMe investment to avoid a conflict of interest.
The startup, located near Google’s Mountain View headquarters, is trying to “allow individuals to gain deeper insights into their ancestry, genealogy and inherited traits,” Wojcicki said in a statement.