Culina Health commits $7.9 million to provide virtual access to registered dietitians

As a nutritionist, Vanessa Rissetto’s main goal is to help people stay healthy.

He also knew there were some obstacles to achieving this. For example, the Black community deals with pressing health issues in addition to disproportionate access to care. According to him, more than 80% of registered dietitians in the United States are white.

“As a black woman, I wanted to bring more diversity to the industry to expand access to more Americans in need of nutritional care,” she told TechCrunch.

The result was his company Julian Healthis a company he co-founded in 2020 with fellow dietitian Tamar Samuels. Today, the company is announcing a $7.9 million Series A round led by Healthworx, the CVC of insurer CareFirst.

Culina Health connects patients and healthcare professionals to a network of registered dietitians who can provide virtual care in areas such as chronic disease prevention, wellness and weight loss.

“Nutrition is critical to longevity and overall health and can be very sensitive for many people,” Rissetto said. “We approach each patient with individualized solutions rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.”

Culina Health, which already works with insurance companies and Medicare, says at least 70% of the US can now access its platform. He also says he has served more than 10,000 patients with the Julina Health Method, a methodology used to provide personalized patient care.

Others in the space include Nourish, Foodsmart and Berry Street.

“We are attacking the problem as a new challenge that requires a comprehensive and clinically rigorous approach,” Rissetto said, adding that he doesn’t feel others are doing the same. “We also stand out with our non-judgmental and culturally affirming care. People with nutritional needs should be met where they are – not expected to fit a mould.”

Rissetto called the fundraising journey exciting, exhausting and validating. Culina Health met its lead investors through word of mouth and eventually solicitations.

“Culina’s mission was clear and stood out to investors as something unique in the industry and worth investing in,” he said.

Other investors in the company include Collab Capital, Cake Ventures and GW Ventures.

The fresh capital will be used to expand and improve Culina Health’s nutritional advice. “We will deploy new AI platforms to improve care efficiency, ease the burden on our physicians, and strengthen our leadership team with a new key hire,” Rissetto said.

“With this new funding, the sky’s the limit to provide the best possible care for our patients.”