techcrunch.com
Longevity is a hot trend in Silicon Valley these days, driven by rising interestespecially among the wealthyin preventing disease through regular testing. A new player, Biograph, has just emerged from stealth, and its co-founded by one of the biggest names in longevity science: Dr. Peter Attia. Attia is a Canadian-American physician best known as the author of the bestseller Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity and for his podcast.Biographs CEO and other co-founder is John Hering, a prominent Silicon Valley figure. A cybersecurity founder who infamously scanned celebrities cellphones at the 2005 Academy Awards, Hering has become best known as one Elon Musks biggest backers through his role as a partner at Vy Capital. There, Hering has poured billions into Musks startups and donated $500,000 to a pro-Trump super PAC before the election, per a WSJ profile.Biograph calls itself the worlds most advanced preventive health and diagnostics clinic. It currently has a location in Silicon Valley with plans to open in New York City this quarter, and eventually expand globally, according to an announcement on its website.The startup says it will collect over 1,000 data points across 30+ evaluations to paint a holistic picture of someones health and optimize their lifespan. It doesnt come cheap: its Core membership costs $7,500 per year while the premium Black membershipwhich it says provides the deepest insightsruns $15,000.Biograph is backed by Vy Capital, Human Capital, Alpha Wave, and Wndr Co, along with angel investors including Balaji Srinivasan, the startup told TechCrunch. Biograph declined to specify how much funding it has raised.In a statement, Hering said he was inspired to co-found Biograph by the cancer diagnosis of his Vy Capital partner and friend Alexander Tamas. Tamas posted on X that a check-up in his late 30s resulted in an early thyroid cancer diagnosis that probably saved his lifeand caused him to encourage Hering to get checked, too. Biograph claims that over 15% of members have reported discovering urgent or life-alerting health insights through its services. The company has been quietly operating since 2020, according to the LinkedIn profile of its executive medical director Michael Doney, a doctor with a background in longevity.While Biographs announcement doesnt mention AI, the company is currently looking for a founding AI engineer to build an AI-powered assistant, according to its careers page.Biograph is part of a quiet boom in startups dedicated to living longer, with Andreessen Horowitz-backed Function Health seeking a $2 billion valuation this year and Sam Altman-backed Retro Biosciences in talks to raise a cool $1 billion last month.