The startup that lets businesses build products using DNA data

Photo credit: Gerd Altmann

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This article is part of Tech in Asia’s partnership with Disrupting Japan where we publish the revised transcripts from the show’s podcast interviews with Japanese entrepreneurs. This is heavily revised from the original transcripts. For the full interview, go here.

Tomohiro Takano is the CEO and founder of Awakens, a B2B and B2C DNA marketplace that tries to open up the genome and make it more accessible to users and businesses. Here’s how exactly they plan to make money doing that.

nWhat were you doing before you founded Awakens?n

I was running G-Tac, which was Sony M3’s division for healthcare and testing (M3 is an investor of Awakens).

The company actually started as a weekend project. We wanted to do something we couldn’t do in the previous company, and we saw that this was going to be the future of genomics.

nCould you give us an overview of what Awakens is?n

We created a service called Genome Link, an API solution for companies to develop their own DNA-personalized products. We predict that in five or 10 years, every single person will have access to their own DNA data and make use of it for things like fitness, nutrition, food, medicine, etc.

At this point, we don’t do the sequencing operation and instead focus on existing genetic testing users. In the US, there’s already 10 million of them.

nWho are your customers?n

Basically, we’re trying to connect both users and companies. Right now, we have 100 people every day who are uploading their DNA data to our platform. So, we receive 100 sets of genetic information daily; the rest are covered by genetic testing products like 23andMe.

Regarding companies that would want to use Genome Link, we’ve already started talking with three companies. In the US, there are already DNA-personalized food delivery businesses, for example. A nutrition tech startup called Habit was able to raise US$32 million in this space.

nHow accurate is DNA testing? How does the future look like?n

It’s case by case. In the diagnostics field, it depends on how you choose a drug (therapeutic vs diagnostic).

In medicine, doctors will probably say things like, “Let me see your personal DNA sequence” for annual physical exams. That could happen in five or 10 years, but maybe not for other fields like fitness, nutrition, and food.

There’s a really broad range, that’s why we have both B2C and B2B interfaces. And what we are trying to do for consumers is to be educators of genomics.

nIs your service free?n

We have a freemium model, so people can upload DNA data to our platform without any charge. We provide half of the genetic information for free, then we charge around US$39 for the rest.

We are developing a number of new applications, like educational content or a social network, so that users would see continuous value in using our service.

nYou’ve mentioned that you wouldn’t sell data to pharmaceutical companies. Why?n

From a business perspective, we’ve joined the market late, and we don’t want to compete for that value. But if we could make money from consumers or businesses and provide platform value, we wouldn’t have to rely on selling data.

nYou were part of the Illumina Accelerator. What value did it bring you?n

We were selected when Awakens was just a weekend project. The training and financing we got from the Illumina Accelerator helped us turn the project into a company.

It also gave us a lot of validation and credibility in Japan and even in the US. We cannot do anything in Japan unless we can prove that what we’re doing is OK in the US market.

nAre you doing business in Japan, in the US, or both?n

We’re based in the US, since the market is more developed than the Japanese market. No genetic testing company allows users to download data in Japan. In the US, there’s 10 million users who have DNA data, but in Japan, there’s zero. There is also no regulation or compliance standards.

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It’s interesting and a bit disappointing that this Japanese team had to go to the US to receive validation and acquire customers. In this particular case, it makes more sense because, as Takano pointed out, the US has a clearer and more flexible legal framework for sharing DNA information. There is also an emerging market of thousands of people who have had their DNA tested.

The sticking point is on the investor side. Like so many other founders who have been on my show, the support and investment only came after Awakens had been vetted and validated by an accelerator. There is no lack of innovation in Japan. What is most lacking are VCs and early adopters who are willing to trust their own research and instincts, and be the first to take a chance on new technology.

What Awakens has done quite cleverly, in my opinion, is they have positioned themselves as the platform for any genome-related applications that may arise in the future. If a company wants to launch a service to find your perfect love match using DNA data, Awakens could provide them with not only software but also consulting.

Awakens could also fill a real medical research niche. There are thousands of potential applications. And if Awakens plays their cards right, they could end up being the genetic data back end of all of them.