The Digest for Health Transformers & Changemakers
Most AI health tools claim to help doctors. Yair Saperstein, MD, MPH, CEO & Co-founder of Avo, built his company because none of them actually did, not for the problem he was living every day as a practicing hospitalist. Fresh off a Series A, Dr. Saperstein joins StartUp Health to talk about what it takes to bring an intelligence layer into the EHR that clinicians will actually use, why physician-first design also solves health systems' compliance and revenue problems, and how he's learned to lead as Avo scales from a founder-led team to a fifty-person company.
👉 Read, Watch, or Listen to the Update
🚀 Join the StartUp Health Community to Tell Your Story
Summer's winding down, and we're giving new members an extra reason to join now instead of later. StartUp Health membership is already built to keep you connected to the people, conversations, and opportunities driving the future of health – Fireside Chats, Expert AMAs, VIP event access, and a community of founders, funders, and operators who share your mission.
Join by September 1 and you'll also get your choice of a free audit: a website and brand audit, a pitch and story audit, or an AI ops audit. Sharpen your story or your systems, on us.
StartUp Health member Cityblock led the week with a $116M Series E and an all-stock acquisition of Homeward Health, uniting its urban Medicaid model with rural Medicare Advantage reach – plus more funding news from across the health innovation landscape this week.
📈 Read the Weekly Roundup
With more than 2,500 videos, 11,000+ subscribers, and nearly a million views on YouTube, our video channel spotlights Health Transformers in action, showcasing how the right mindset, moonshot vision, and the spirit of an entrepreneur make anything possible. Recent videos feature conversations with leading experts like Greg Yap (Menlo Ventures), Lisa Suennen (AHA Ventures), Kimmi Grewal (Microsoft), and Holly Maloney (General Catalyst), alongside founders building the future of health.
🎥 Watch the Latest Videos
🚀 Boost Your Brand
From venture capital to executive insights to AI workshops and demos, we have exciting events happening inside the community in the months ahead. Join StartUp Health to catch the next live conversation and bring your own questions to the table.
🚀 Claim Your Seat
Victor Penev, CEO & Founder of Edamam, on the launch of the company’s API to analyze the nutrition of web recipes in real time.
🔗 Read
Colby Takeda, CEO & Co-founder of Pear Suite, on the company receiving a $900k grant from Health Net to boost Medi-Cal community health services tech in California.
🔗 Read
“Since 2013, we've been part of the amazing StartUp Health community. We've received invaluable coaching on fundraising, product-market fit, and entrepreneurship,” says Beth Sanders, CEO & Co-founder of LifeBio.
“It's the community. The big difference is it is peers that I see at different conferences that are now part of that ecosystem. Learning from their process has been very useful for us. Sharing that community, and also we've recently announced a few collaborations with some other Health Transformers to support them in their early journey on the clinical side,” says Christian Dansereau, PhD, CEO & Co-founder of Perceiv.
“Having the support of my fellow Health Transformers has been one of the most important things to me during this year,” says Danny Hui, CEO & Founder of Sameview.
Help Us Spread the Word
When you shoot for the Moon, it’s important to surround yourself with people who help you get there.
Thank you for being part of StartUp Health’s global community leaning into health innovation. If you found this newsletter valuable, chances are others will too, so please feel free to pass it along.
And if you or your organization are interested in supporting this work through sponsorship or partnership, we’d love to hear from you. You can schedule a newsletter ad placement or check out our partnership & sponsorship opportunities. We also invite you to use our affiliate link to join us on Beehiiv, our new newsletter platform.
