Monthly Archives: February 2026

EqualityMD’s Pre-Insurance Strategy to Reduce Care Avoidance and Lower Healthcare Costs

Access to Care, Health, Healthcare, Innovation, Startups, , ,

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:45 — 27.0MB)

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In this Health Moonshot Update, StartUp Health community member Justin Ayars of EqualityMD explains how the company is redefining employer healthcare through a pre-insurance model designed to resolve health needs before insurance is triggered.

EqualityMD delivers culturally competent virtual primary care, mental health support, urgent care, and prescription access without generating insurance claims. New research shows the platform can resolve up to 80 percent of employees’ diverse health needs pre-insurance, saving employers 20 to 30 percent in health claim and administrative costs and reducing employees’ out-of-pocket expenses by 40 to 70 percent.

Ayars shares why traditional telehealth often increases claims volume, how claim prevention changes the cost equation, and why rethinking healthcare upstream may be key to rebuilding trust and affordability in the system.

Are you ready to tell YOUR story? Members of our Health Moonshot Communities are leading startups with breakthrough technology-driven solutions for the world’s biggest health challenges. Exposure in StartUp Health Media to our global audience of investors and partners – including our podcast, newsletters, journal, and YouTube channel – is a benefit of our Health Moonshot Membership. If you’re mission-driven, collaborative, and ready to contribute as much as you gain, you might be the perfect fit.
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Sana Health Clears a Major Milestone in the Fight Against Chronic Pain

Access to Care, Health, Healthcare, Innovation, Mental Health & Happiness Moonshot, Startups, , , , , , , ,

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 14:22 — 26.3MB)

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StartUp Health community member Richard Hanbury of Sana Health joined Unity Stoakes for a Health Moonshot Update just prior to achieving a major regulatory milestone: an FDA De Novo grant for neuropathic pain, establishing a new class of audio-visual neuromodulation.

Hanbury reflects on decades of neuromodulation research, shares why credibility in healthcare is built “one rung at a time,” and explains how Sana’s pivotal data demonstrated a significant reduction in pharmacologic dependence. The conversation also covers DoD-backed PTSD research, VA trials, international expansion in Israel, and why the future of pain and mental healthcare must move toward multimodal, scalable models of care.

Are you ready to tell YOUR story? Members of our Health Moonshot Communities are leading startups with breakthrough technology-driven solutions for the world’s biggest health challenges. Exposure in StartUp Health Media to our global audience of investors and partners – including our podcast, newsletters, journal, and YouTube channel – is a benefit of our Health Moonshot Membership. If you’re mission-driven, collaborative, and ready to contribute as much as you gain, you might be the perfect fit.
» Learn more and join today.

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

Access to Care, Cardiometabolic Health Moonshot, Health, Healthcare, Innovation, Startups, , , , , , , ,

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

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

Business, Healthcare, Innovation, Startups, , , , , ,

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

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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.

Want more content like this? Sign up for StartUp Health Insider™ to get funding insights, news, and special updates delivered to your inbox.