February | 2026 | StartUp Health NOW Podcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:28 — 19.7MB)

In this Apollo House 2026 fireside chat, StartUp Health community member Sami Inkinen, CEO & Founder of Virta Health, shares how a personal diagnosis of pre-diabetes led him to build one of the fastest-growing companies in metabolic health.

Virta Health is proving that Type 2 diabetes and obesity can be reversed with nutrition, supported by technology and AI. Inkinen discusses how Virta has built one of the largest longitudinal biomarker datasets in metabolic disease reversal and is deploying AI agents, supervised by clinicians, to support patients every day.

He offers blunt insight into the current standard of care, explains why he believes disease reversal must become the common-sense approach, and shares how Virta became AI-native across every function, from hiring to board strategy.

This episode covers:

• The future of AI in healthcare operations and patient care
• Why food as therapy creates a complex, software-driven challenge
• The tension between GLP-1 drugs and root-cause treatment
• Scaling a B2B2C healthcare company to sustainability
• Advice for founders building in the age of AI

As a live recording, the audio reflects the energy of the room rather than a studio setting.

Do you want to participate in live conversations with industry luminaries? When you join StartUp Health – a private community for founders, investors, buyers, and industry leaders to connect year-round – you are invited to a full calendar of interactive Fireside Chats with the most influential leaders shaping health innovation. Come with questions, learn what is working right now, and connect with industry icons.
» Learn more and join today.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 27:56 — 25.6MB)

Recorded live at Apollo House 2026, this fireside chat captures a candid, in-the-room conversation between StartUp Health’s Unity Stoakes and entrepreneur, investor, and technologist Vinod Khosla of Khosla Ventures on AI’s accelerating impact on healthcare.

Khosla explains why he believes AI is a platform shift larger than the internet or mobile, and how that shift could unlock access to high-quality care for billions. The conversation explores his “AI intern” model for healthcare, why copilots often underperform in complex clinical work, and why trust, supervision, and fit-for-purpose guardrails are essential. A live exchange with Esther Dyson adds perspective on empathy, communication, and the enduring human dimensions of care.

As a live recording, the audio reflects the energy of the room rather than a studio setting.

Do you want to participate in live conversations with industry luminaries? When you join the StartUp Health Network – a new private community for investors, buyers, and industry leaders to connect year-round with top health entrepreneurs – you are invited to a full calendar of interactive Fireside Chats with the most influential leaders shaping health innovation. Come with questions, learn what is working right now, and connect with industry icons.
» Learn more and join today.

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Monthly Archives: February 2026

Sami Inkinen of Virta Health on AI-Native Healthcare and Reversing Metabolic Disease

Vinod Khosla on AI Interns, Trust, and Health Moonshots in the Age of Superintelligence