Investment Memo: How Eugene is helping you take control of your health ft Co-Founders Zoe Milgrom & Kunal Kalro

The High Flyers Podcast with Vidit Agarwal

Founded in 2017 by Zoe Milgrom and Kunal Kalro, Eugene offers medical-grade genetic testing and counselling services to people anywhere at any time. With a few drops of saliva, Eugene can identify variations in genes that may lead to disease, allowing you to proactively take control of your own health. Eugene was the first company in Australia to make medical grade genetic testing available to consumers directly and at-home, and has screened over 12,000 people across Australia!

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Welcome to installment #24 of the Investment Memo series and overall episode #136 on the show.

Submit this EOI for your company to be considered in future episodes of this special series!

Today, we’re unpacking the healthcare company that is Eugene, and I’m joined by the two co-founders Zoe Milgrom and Kunal Karlo.

Founded in 2017, Eugene offers medical-grade genetic testing and counseling services to people anywhere at any time. With a few drops of saliva, Eugene can identify variations in genes that may lead to disease, allowing you to proactively take control of your own health.

Learn about how they first met, their experiences and motivations to start Eugene, what exactly is genome sequencing and why it’s critical to each of us, how the cost of sequencing a human genome has dropped from $2.7B to nearly a thousand dollars, Eugene’s business model and go to market strategy, their suite of products and how they’re building broader community education and awareness of genetic risks. I must admit I learnt a lot in this conversation.

It’s now time to explore your curiosity. Please enjoy!

(Timestamps below)

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03:35 - Where were Zoe and Kunal born and live now?

04:19 - What were Zoe and Kunal’s first jobs and now?

06:55 - Origin story of Eugene

13:01 - How Kunal and Zoe agreed to be co-founders

17:25 - First product launch

19:50 - Unpacking Genome sequencing

23:00 - $2.7Billion to $1,000

24:46 - Finding a solution to improve healthcare outcomes

27:20 - Fullstack Advisory

28:09 - Scientific and regulatory approval

30:10 - Go-To-Market strategy

34:15 - Business Model and Economics of B2B and B2C

35:37 - Education and awareness of genetic risks

43:40 - Product offerings at Eugene

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