New Jersey-based Culina Health, a digital platform offering clinical nutrition care, has secured $7.9 million in Series A funding in a round led by Healthworx, which is the innovation and investment arm of Blue Cross Blue Shield insurer CareFirst.

Collab Capital, Collide Capital, Rethink Impact, Vamos Ventures, Cake Ventures, GW Ventures and Tensility Venture Partners also participated in the round. 

The funding brings the company's total raise to $20 million.

WHAT IT DOES 

Culina Health allows individuals online to connect with registered dietitians, who provide coaching and tailor a care plan around a person's weight loss needs. The dietitian can also coordinate with a patient's healthcare team and specialist.  

The company touts that it is in-network with health plans Cigna, Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, United Healthcare and Medicare. 

Culina will use the funds to expand its offerings, implement new AI capabilities on its platform geared toward care efficiency and expand its leadership workforce.  

"Despite 122 million Americans having Type 2 diabetes and 42.4% being clinically overweight or obese, less than 0.25% have worked with a dietitian. This discrepancy is largely due to accessibility issues, and as a first-generation American and dietitian, I realized that many health concerns and lack of access to care disproportionately affect the Black community," Vanessa Rissetto, CEO and cofounder of Culina Health, told MobiHealthNews in an email. 

"As a black woman in an industry dominated traditionally by white women, I wanted to bring more diversity to the industry and expand access to nutrition care. This was the catalyst for starting Culina Health and why we continue to be bullish about democratizing access to hospital-trained dietitians for virtual nutrition care. Our new funding will enable Culina to expand our reach even further by partnering with more providers and payers to offer nonjudgmental, sustainable, and multilingual support that honors all patient body sizes and backgrounds." 

MARKET SNAPSHOT

In 2022, the digital nutrition company garnered $4.75 million in seed funding in a round led by Healthworx and Brooklyn Bridge Ventures.

Other companies offering personalized nutrition include microbiome nutrition company Zoe, nutrition startup Season Health, Andreessen Horowitz-backed hybrid weight-inclusive primary and metabolic-care provider knownwell and Switzerland-based Oviva Health, developer of a dietary intervention delivery platform.