Generation Lab raises $11 million, becoming Accel’s first longevity bet

Each translation is useful at a time when people are simultaneously living longer than ever before and increasingly collecting personal health data through wearables, devices and tests. Longevity has become a banner industry in recent years, fueled by the expanding cultural influence of businessman Brian Johnson and his famous slogan, “Don’t Die.”

Now, we are all destined to die at some point. However, there is a prominent question and quest at the heart of the longevity boom – if we are living longer, what does it mean to live those years fully? If we carefully monitor our health throughout our lives, can we have more years of high-quality, active and independent life? It’s a question Generation Lab, a startup that offers personalized genetic testing, seeks to answer.

“We aim to add 20 more healthy years to your life – more years where you can play tennis, run and travel,” said Alina Su, co-founder and CEO of Generation Lab. “We’re not talking about living forever, we’re talking about living healthier for longer.”

Generation Lab — which was started by Sue, Berkeley’s Dr. Irina Conboy and Michael Soswal — is so named because the co-founding team spans three generations: Conboy — who is viewed as the “Mother of Longevity” for her decades of work in cell regeneration — is a baby boomer, while Soswal is a millennial whose previous company was the unicorn Standard AI. Su, a Gen Z and hypersexual, pursued Conboy while he was an undergraduate at Berkeley. All three believe we are on the cusp of an “ageless generation,” where people will be defined by their ability to be active for longer periods of time and stay around “biologically 30.”

If that sounds far-fetched, consider this: Generation Lab is now Accel’s first bet in the longevity space. This Silicon Valley powerhouse led Generation Lab’s $11 million seed round, luck I learned exclusively. Samsung Next also participated, as well as a group of celebrity investors including Steve Aoki’s Aoki Labs, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s BYL Ventures, and Simu Liu’s Markham Valley Ventures. This round brings the company’s total funding to date to $15 million.

“Longevity is going to be one of the biggest markets of our generation,” Axel partner Kerry Wang said, adding: “As people start spending more money on (longevity) treatments, they’re not just spending it on things that don’t matter… There has to be a reliable assessment of longevity.”

Generation Lab’s product is its SystemAge report, which begins with a blood draw. The blood test analyzes 460 different biomarkers across 19 organs and systems, then provides a detailed breakdown of how quickly each part of your body is aging. (I’ve done the test myself, and was happy to report that my heart and hearing systems are aging reversibly, while my blood and blood vessels need some work.) The goal: Identify health signals and potential problems before symptoms appear. Currently, the test is being offered as an option to more than 300 of the clinic’s partners in 18 countries, including Kim Kardashian’s doctor. The test costs $490, with additional options for subscription-based testing.

That’s prohibitively expensive for most people, but Soswal was thinking about the ultimate societal possibilities of Generation Lab’s tests, especially with regard to public health: “Imagine if everyone in the country had taken the test, we could have predicted issues like the Flint water crisis.”

Conboy pointed out to me something I’ve been thinking about ever since we met: In the same way that we experience time differently, aging is also not linear: it occurs in fits and starts and accelerations. (No one, for example, grows one gray hair every day.) Aging is also constantly evolving around technological and societal advances.

“See, on a long enough time scale, everyone’s survival rate becomes zero,” laughs Conboy. “The question is, what is the timeline?… The guiding goal for longevity in academia—or in a company—is scaling up (quality of life in our later years). Remember, 100 years ago, 40 was very old, and people died by then. Then we invented antibiotics, sanitation, then vaccines. Now we move on to the next milestone.”

see you tomorrow,

Allie Garfinkel
tenth:@agarfinks
Email:alexandra.garfinkle@fortune.com
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Project deals

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– Cassiuma Seattle, Washington-based platform designed to speed up and streamline immigration processes, has raised $5 million in seed funding. MaverickProjects He led the tour and joined him A12sitter, GTfund, successProject partners.

– Radiatora San Francisco-based company that uses 3D vision and AI for environmental intelligence, has raised $4.3 million across seed and pre-seed funding rounds. generalCatalyst He led the seed round and Flood gate Led pre-seed round.

– Introductiona road construction technology company based in Bismarck, ND, has raised $2.5 million in seed funding. C2 projects He led the tour and joined him CONNECT, serviceprovidercapitalet al.

Private equity

– finenesscolorinstitutionsupported Arsenalcapitalacquired Vercocolora custom colorant manufacturer based in Chino, California. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– southernhouseServiceswhich is a portfolio company GryphonInvestorsacquired NickPlumbing and air conditioninga plumbing, heating and air conditioning services company based in Houston, Texas. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Exits

– MammothTrademarks I agreed to the takeover cliquea baby care brand based in New York City, from AmericanPacific Oceangroup. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– MJH Life Sciences acquired Borderline personality disorderhealth carea Boca Raton, Florida-based marketing and communications services company for healthcare businesses, from WindowshealthInvestors. Financial terms were not disclosed.