Nourish, a nutrition counseling company headquartered in New York City, has successfully secured $70 million in Series B funding, as announced on Wednesday. This substantial financial influx comes as the company continues its mission to connect patients with chronic conditions to a dedicated network of registered dietitians. Originally established three years ago, Nourish has rapidly expanded its platform, now boasting a workforce of over 3,000 W-2 registered dietitians.
The innovative platform provides patients with chronic health issues regular access to virtual consultations, complemented by a messaging service for ongoing communication with their dietitians. Users can also benefit from the app’s rich resource library, which includes recipes and educational content tailored to enhance their nutritional knowledge and dietary habits. Notably, Nourish integrates artificial intelligence into its operations, streamlining administrative tasks for dietitians such as note-taking, while also assisting patients in meal tracking and personalized recipe suggestions.
According to Nourish’s announcement, an impressive 94% of patients accessing these services do so without incurring out-of-pocket expenses, thanks to the company’s collaborations with various commercial insurance plans as well as Medicare and Medicaid, facilitating widespread accessibility across all 50 states.
The Series B funding round was led by J.P. Morgan Private Capital’s Growth Equity Partners, with notable participation from Thrive Capital, Index Ventures, Y Combinator, Maverick Ventures, BoxGroup, Atomico, G Squared, and Pinegrove. In total, Nourish has raised $115 million to date, solidifying its financial foundation as it ventures further into the healthcare market.
Paris Heymann, co-managing partner of J.P. Morgan Growth Equity Partners, emphasized the company’s potential impact on healthcare in a statement, “Nourish is addressing one of our country’s most urgent challenges with a compelling outcomes-driven and AI-native approach.” This sentiment resonates with the ongoing national discourse on chronic disease management and the increasing recognition of nutrition’s role in healthcare.
Aidan Dewar, co-founder and CEO of Nourish, outlined how the new funding will be directed toward expanding the company’s network of dietitians, bolstering partnerships with healthcare organizations, scaling AI capabilities, and enhancing staff resources. Dewar also highlighted plans to develop more clinical protocols specifically aimed at conditions where nutrition plays a vital role, such as cardiometabolic diseases. This proactive approach aims to address the pressing health statistics in the United States, where approximately 60% of Americans contend with at least one chronic condition, including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
Despite the prevalence of chronic health challenges, Dewar pointed out a significant gap in access to dietary support, stating that less than 1% of eligible Americans currently engage with registered dietitians. “Our healthcare system is at an inflection point, with chronic disease rates and costs rising to unsustainable levels. Payers are under growing pressure to find scalable solutions that actually work,” Dewar remarked. He further expressed a commitment to reforming healthcare into a model that prioritizes lifestyle change and nutrition as primary treatment avenues rather than secondary considerations.
The concept of integrating dietetics into mainstream healthcare has gained traction, with numerous startups emerging in this space, including competitors like Fay and Culina Health. Additionally, established healthcare systems are increasingly adopting food as medicine initiatives. Organizations such as Elevance Health, Highmark Health, and Kaiser Permanente are taking steps to incorporate nutritional advice into patient care, reflecting a broader, industry-wide shift toward holistic treatment strategies aimed at chronic disease management.
The implications of Nourish’s expansion and the growing acknowledgment of nutrition’s critical role in health management extend beyond just the company itself. As healthcare costs continue to rise, the demand for effective and scalable solutions becomes more pressing. Increasing access to nutritional guidance represents a forward-thinking approach to mitigate the burden of chronic diseases on both individuals and the healthcare system at large.
As Nourish moves forward, it positions itself not only as a leader within the nutrition counseling landscape but also as a pivotal contributor to the evolving dialogue around effective healthcare solutions. The organization appears well-equipped to meet the challenges of today’s health environment, emphasizing nutrition’s essential role in fostering long-term health outcomes.