Summary List PlacementThe seeds of microbiome startup uBiome's failure were planted as far back as 2014. Jessica Richman and Zachary Apte, two of the founders of the now-shuttered startup, wanted a way to generate more revenue so they could attract big investments from venture capital firms. The only way to do that, they thought, was to have their lab tests reimbursed by health insurers. This was a big shift in uBiome's business.