The company provides meals medically tailored for those suffering from chronic conditions.
The American public hears that diet influences an individual’s health. While much focus has been placed on obesity, diet plays an important role in the health of those battling chronic conditions such as hypertension and diabetes.
New York-based RxDiet now helps those patients using AI to medically tailor food plans specific to their conditions. It includes fresh ingredients, direct delivery of meals, and behavioral support.
RxDiet was co-founded by Roman Kalista and Jan Skvaril in 2018. CEO Kalista brings his experience of founding AI Nutrition, a personalized nutrition platform. He also holds an M.D. from Charles University. Skvaril serves as Technical Lead with experience as a software engineer, receiving his degree in Software Systems from Charles University as well.
“We want food to be at the forefront of medicine,” says Kalista, “Using food to treat chronic conditions is often cost-prohibitive, and RxDiet has lowered the bar significantly for healthcare payers to adopt a program that drives unprecedented engagement, clinical outcomes, and member satisfaction.”
The company’s AI platform personalizes meal plans based on individual medical needs and taste preferences, offering a cost-effective alternative to existing programs.
RxDiet currently partners with 2 of the 3 largest health insurers in the United States, whose plans fully cover the program’s cost. The startup also partners with national grocery chains that provide local ingredients for patients to prepare their own medically tailored meal plans.
Most noteworthy are the results of Aetna’s programs that achieved a 97 NPS, promising clinical outcomes, and 76% app usage rate among seniors with an average age over 78. The latter is a historically difficult demographic to engage in healthcare programs.
With such high-level results, RxDiet gained the support of investors, recently closing a $3 million seed funding round led by Giant Ventures. The round also had the participation of Better Ventures, Form Life, and notable angel investors including Immad Akhund (Mercury Bank).
“RxDiet is a game changer for healthy eating. As the disease burden from chronic conditions grows, RxDiet’s holistic solution serves a critical function not only in managing and reversing these conditions but also preventing them,” said Jia Lin from Giant Ventures.
With new funds, RxDiet plans to expand its team, strengthen its grocery network, and offer its services to a wider range of healthcare payers. Their low-cost digital tool is expected to be launched this year and is affordable to insurers for their members.
“We are excited about RxDiet as their highly scalable AI platform breaks down the barriers of healthy food making it equally affordable, personalized, and engaging for someone in urban New York as it is for someone in rural Georgia,” says Lin.
