23andMe and MyHeritage Announce Strategic Collaboration and Product Integration
New collaboration combines family trees and DNA to empower individuals to discover and document their ancestry
MOUNTAIN VIEW, California & TEL AVIV, Israel - October 21, 2014: 23andMe, the leading personal genetics company, and MyHeritage,
the leading destination for discovering, sharing and preserving family
history, announced today a strategic collaboration that will provide an
enhanced experience for individuals to discover their legacy based on
genetic ancestry and documented family history.
23andMe
pioneered autosomal DNA ancestry analysis for consumers, and has
created the largest DNA ancestry service in the world. With a simple
saliva sample 23andMe can reveal the geographic origins of distant
ancestors and help people discover unknown relatives. MyHeritage helps
millions of families worldwide find and treasure their unique history
with easy-to-use family tree tools, a huge library of more than 5.5
billion historical records and innovative matching technologies for
automating discoveries. Integrating the market leading solutions in
ancestral DNA and family trees will provide an unparalleled experience
for customers of both companies.
“We
believe this collaboration with MyHeritage will offer our customers a
vastly improved opportunity to build their family tree and discover new
connections,” said Andy Page, President of 23andMe. “Given MyHeritage’s
technology leadership in the ancestry space and vast global reach, we
are excited about the value this relationship will bring to our
customers around the world.”
“Combining
genealogy with DNA-based ancestry is the next evolution in uncovering
family history,” said Gilad Japhet, Founder and CEO of MyHeritage. “DNA
testing can connect you to relatives you never knew existed, who descend
from shared ancestors centuries ago, but family trees and historical
records are critical to map and fully understand these connections. We
have great respect for 23andMe’s technology and values, and its
pioneering approach to genetics represents strong potential value for
our users in the future.”
23andMe
will offer its more than three quarters of a million customers around
the globe access to MyHeritage’s family tree tools. This will allow
23andMe’s customers to enjoy automated family history discoveries. Smart
Matching™ automatically finds connections between user-contributed
family trees and Record Matching automatically locates historical
records from the billions of records available on MyHeritage, pertaining
to any person in the family tree. MyHeritage will utilize 23andMe's API
to provide the best experience for customers, by allowing any two
people with matching DNA to explore their family tree connections.
MyHeritage will also offer 23andMe's Personal Genome Service® to its
global community of more than 70 million registered users, in addition
to the DNA tests it already offers.
The first phase of integration will be complete by early 2015.
About 23andMe
23andMe,
Inc. is the leading personal genetics company dedicated to helping
people access, understand and benefit from the human genome. The
company's Personal Genome Service® enables individuals to gain deeper
insights into their genetics and ancestry. The vision for 23andMe is to
personalize healthcare by making and supporting meaningful discoveries
through genetic research. 23andMe, Inc., was founded in 2006, and the
company is advised by a group of renowned experts in the fields of human
genetics, bioinformatics and computer science. More information is
available at www.23andme.com. 23andMe’s health reports are not cleared by the FDA. US customers may purchase 23andMe’s ancestry-only product.
About MyHeritage
MyHeritage
is the leading destination for discovering, sharing and preserving
family history. As technology thought leaders and innovators in the
space, MyHeritage is transforming family history into an activity that’s
accessible and instantly rewarding. Trusted by millions of families,
its global user community enjoys access to a massive library of
historical records, the most internationally diverse collection of
family trees and ground-breaking search and matching technologies.
MyHeritage empowers families with an easy way to share their story, past and present, and treasure it for generations to come. MyHeritage is available in 40 languages. www.myheritage.com
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