Culina Health Raises $7.9M for Digital Nutrition Platform
The female-founded digital nutrition platform provides ‘Food as Medicine’ interventions under the guidance of registered dietitians
Culina Health has raised $7.9 million in a Series A funding round following a 117% year-over-year growth.
Co-founded in 2020 by registered dietitians Vanessa Rissetto and Tamar Samuels, the latest round brings the digital nutrition platform’s total funding to $20 million.
The round was led by Healthworx, which previously backed Culina Health in 2022. Other participants included Rethink Impact, Collab Capital, Collide Capital, Vamos Ventures, Tensility Venture Partners, Cake Ventures and GW Ventures.
The solution-focused platform – which partners with major insurers and Medicare – connects patients and healthcare providers to a network of registered dietitians who provide personalized virtual nutrition care for individuals seeking weight loss guidance, chronic disease prevention and management and healthy eating and wellness support.
Other specialities include eating disorders, pediatric and family nutrition, cancer care nutrition, pregnancy and post-partum nutrition and exercise and sports nutrition.
“Research shows 90% of Americans would benefit from seeing a dietitian, yet only .02% of the population has done so,” Rissetto said. “It’s clear that nutrition is a vital function of long-term health, and registered dietitians should be empowered to be at the forefront of providing this care.”
The platform has more than 1,000 referring providers and has assisted more than 10,000 patients to date using its “Culina Health Method,” a system that it says integrates evidence-based clinical nutrition protocols and culturally-affirming care.
“With the help of our investors and health plan partners, we are one step closer to our shared mission of making world-class nutrition care available to everyone and putting registered dietitians back in the driver’s seat of ‘Food as Medicine’ interventions,” Rissetto continued.
Culina Health will use the capital to expand its offerings in 2025 to better support dietitians and patients, implement new AI platforms to enhance care efficiency and enhance its leadership team, Athletech News has learned.
“Over the past few years, Culina has established a tried-and-true approach to clinical nutrition care,” Rissetto tells ATN. “We plan to double down on our mission to make that accessible for everyone by partnering with more providers and payers.”
In the meantime, those lacking insurance coverage have the option to sign up for Culina Health’s membership program. Three plans are available, beginning at $99 per month.
Positioned at a time when demand for weight-loss medications is surging, Culina Health could play a pivotal role—particularly as GLP-1 users increasingly require nutrition support.
“As a clinically-led company, we believe it is important to take a medical approach to America’s obesity and diabetes crisis, and when they’re medically indicated, we value medications like GLP-1s as an essential tool in the metabolic health toolbox,” Rissetto says. “In the era of weight loss medication, it’s increasingly important to recognize the surrounding care needed to improve overall health, including nutrition counseling, movement, and behavioral health counseling.”
The platform is hosting two free webinars scheduled for next month – one on gut health and another on managing blood sugar.
