Million Marker is raising on a convertible note at a $10M valuation cap. The company’s Price rating scored below-average as the $10M valuation cap with no discount rate was higher than the majority of companies at Million Marker’s current stage. Being a quasi-healthcare/biotech company does make it understandable for the valuation to be high. But overall it was too high — especially at the company’s current stage.

As noted in our Synopsis, the DNA Testing market saw a boom a few years ago, but the industry has struggled as of late. Biospace pegs the total addressable market for DNA Test Kits to be valued at $747M in 2018 and growing at a CAGR of over 23%. Although this suggests explosive growth over the next few years for the market, well-respected healthcare consulting firm Advisory Board has noted sales for consumer DNA tests dropped in 2019. 

Million Marker is targeting a specific niche of the DNA testing market with its chemical exposure feature. While this saves it from some amount of competition, it also limits the total addressable market for the company. This niche market paired with the declining popularity of DNA test kits yields a low Market score for Million Marker.

Million Marker founder Jenna Hua has a strong educational background — she earned a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Stanford University’s School of Medicine, a degree from UC Berkeley, and was a Fulbright Fellow. Additionally, Hua has extensive experience in academia with numerous years researching and publishing studies largely focused on personal well-being. Hua, however, does not have much entrepreneurial experience. Million Marker is her first entrepreneurial venture, and she’s only been running the company for a little over a year. She will likely need a team that brings more startup experience to the table in order to make Million Marker a success. This gap in the founding team’s knowledge and skill set is reflected in the Team score, which is the company’s lowest.

Million Marker approaches health and wellness through a familiar medium — DNA test kits — but with an intriguing focus — chemical exposure. Although similar to the DNA testing market, we found that the company’s focus on chemical exposures was unique. There are very few existing competitors in the space. Adjacent competitors in True Health Labs, Everly Labs, and others do exist, but those competitors do not have a focus on chemical exposure.

We will note, however, that Million Marker’s test kits currently retail at an exorbitant $500/test kit. The company has acknowledged that the amount is pricey, and it’s working towards lowering the price of a kit to $200.

Overall, Differentiators was Million Marker’s strongest score. By focusing on chemical exposure, the company has set itself apart in the market.

According to Million Marker’s Form C, the company has made $32,615.35 in revenue. That amounts to a little over 65 tests sold. Aside from revenue, the company is a graduate of the famed YCombinator Accelerator (Summer Batch of 2019) and has partnerships with University of California, San Francisco and Natalist — an educational platform informing and educating women for family-starting. These factors culminate in a slightly below-average Performance rating for Million Marker.

The company’s differentiated approach does not change the fact that consumers may be tired of another DNA test. Additionally, consumers may be wary of a company that is storing and potentially selling consumer health data. Lastly, the company’s test kit costs consumers $500 which is a steep price to pay. If Million Marker isn’t able to reduce the price of kits by a meaningful amount, then it won’t be able to compete with adjacent competitors.

The company’s focus on chemical biomarkers is differentiated and accurate enough to overcome consumers privacy concerns. Additionally, Million Marker’s biomarker database has the potential to grow large enough that the company would be able to use predictive analytics and other analyses to help consumers lead healthier lives. This in turn would help the company monetize the database via licensing, selling the data, or more. Lastly — despite this being her first venture — founder Jenna Hua is capable enough to grow the company and reduce the cost of the test kits.

Million Marker has been rated a Neutral Deal. Despite the differentiated product and service and the knowledgeable founder, there are a number of issues with the company and market. Is there product-market fit? Are consumers concerned about privacy? Will the company be able to reduce the price of test kits to ~$200? We’d once again like to reiterate that the company is intriguing and there may be something here, but there are too many risks at this time to make it a strong startup investment opportunity. The concept is promising, but it needs to develop further in order to be more than a Neutral Deal.

For questions regarding the KingsCrowd staff pick or ratings for this company, please reach out at [email protected]. 

Analysis written by Francis Vu.