Rajendra (Raj) Kulkarni

One of the most important concepts we introduced in our recent Healthcare AI roadmap is the notion of “Modality—Business Model—Market fit.” This concept describes how the delivery method and business model of AI in healthcare directly shape its potential to create value. There are many possible combinations of modalities and business models in healthcare. AI can be delivered as software, copilots, agents, services, diagnostics, or therapeutics, supported by business models ranging from usage-based and volumetric pricing to performance-based and shared savings arrangements. Nailing selection of modality and business model is essential for AI companies seeking large market opportunities and profitable operations. As we describe in an example with computer vision-based diabetic retinopathy screening, modality and business model selection can drive a difference in TAM by upwards of 25x, and has serious implications for overall margin structures. Read more here 👉 https://lnkd.in/eK7rjpJz

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Open-source models can be a strong lever for increasing gross margins at AI companies, especially those that have hefty cost structures (e.g., enterprise sales orgs that require significant customer success or implementation resources, as well forward-deployed AI services models common in healthcare and life sciences). One of many reasons to maintain a modular and flexible stack with minimal dependencies when building an AI company. More on the importance of flexibility in the AI stack: https://lnkd.in/eA2XATRk h/t Delip Rao #ai #artificialintelligence #generativeai #healthcare

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🚀 Hebbia, an AI startup, has raised an impressive $130M at a $700M valuation, shining a light on the increasing demand for AI-driven solutions. This significant milestone reveals the potential and profitability of innovative AI applications, with $13M in profitable revenue. Check out the full story on TechCrunch. #AI #TechStartups #Innovation #Funding #TechNews #ArtificialIntelligence #StartupSuccess

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Video is a key aspect of an AI-first healthcare ecosystem. There will be a post-AI world soon where the way we interact with technology will fundamentally change. The healthcare ecosystem will evolve to becoming more invisible and assistive, allowing clinicians and patients to interact with each other in a more empathetic way. And technology becomes a true enabler. This will require democratizing access to AI to the healthcare world. And few companies do that as well as Zoom does. We are excited about our strategic partnership with the Zoom team and excited to bring AI features like clinical documentation to the 40% of US healthcare (and global!) that uses Zoom as its Telehealth solution. - Suki Assistant for Epic, Oracle Cerner, Meditech, and Athena systems - Suki Platform for EHRs who want to embed the power of AI inside them - Suki Platform that works with clinical communication companies, medical devices, And now Telehealth Onwards. Let's keep doing this! https://lnkd.in/dWjPwKwJ

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Imagine swallowing the competition whole. That's what many players in tech do via roll-up strategies, gobbling up smaller firms to deliver richer solutions and amass greater market share. Where else are roll-up strategies common? // HEALTHCARE Picture being a patient at a medical practice that’s been part of a roll-up in Healthcare Services. It's an industry ripe for roll-ups due to its fragmented nature and potential for greater efficiency. // CONSUMER SERVICES Or let's say you needed your HVAC serviced, and notice your local repairman is now part of a bigger Consumer Services entity? Centralized management and scale economy turn these localized businesses into roll-up targets. // FINANCIAL SERVICES Think about your insurance agent or wealth management advisor. They're working in complex, highly regulated environments. In the Financial Services sector, roll-ups offer an effective way to consolidate expertise, streamline operations, and enhance customer offerings. // MANUFACTURING Now, imagine driving past factories under a new name — the result of Manufacturing and Industrial Services roll-ups. Bulk purchasing reduces costs, enhances production capabilities, and expands geographical footprints. // REAL ESTATE Lastly, envision your real estate brokerage firm. The industry sees roll-ups as a strategic move to increase market penetration, enhance service offerings, and hike up portfolio value. Roll-ups play a huge role in most industries, rather like a snowball rolling downhill, gaining momentum, and size. Are you seeing roll-ups in your sector or considering M&A?

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According to the latest report from Rock Health, digital health funding in Q1 2024 totaled $2.7B across 133 deals, with an average deal size of $20.6M. It doesn’t break out device-related investments, but most medtech founders I meet these days are being forced to chase tiny rounds made up of endless little checks, consuming valuable energy and slowing their progress. The benign neglect of this next generation of diagnostic and therapeutic devices is counterproductive and surprising. Given the crowded virtual care market, for example, I’d expect more such companies would be exploring medtech partnerships, investments or acquisitions that'd enable them to back integrate into delivering sharper, and more differentiated, care and treatment. This is exactly what Maverix Medical is doing from the other direction: Reshaping the entire spectrum of lung cancer care by integrating more advanced + effective approaches to screening and diagnosis, treatment and therapeutics, and even palliative care…And putting it all to work through an innovative provider network. One notable investor exception is Y Combinator partner Surbhi Sarna who’s been backing great teams like Selera Medical (YC W24) doing foundational work on ambitious medical devices. Without more support from investors like her, we’re going to increasingly find ourselves stuck with the incremental portfolio improvements from the incumbents, and that’s just not nearly enough.

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Generally surprised to not see more hardware vendors in healthcare and life sciences partnering with AI-first companies. When the zone of genius of a company is hardware, it's difficult to imagine that same team achieving parity on an AI product – Apple may be the greatest example of success in this realm, and still has secured many AI capabilities via targeted M&A (Siri, Turi, Xnor.ai, Voysis, Inductiv). Given the importance of leveraged distribution models in the ossified industries of healthcare and life sciences, it seems there is untapped opportunity for more hardware manufacturers to partner and co-develop AI products with startups. Control over the way data is captured and processed is critical for building high quality training data sets, which creates an interesting feedback loop between hardware companies and potential AI-first startup partners. Interested to explore this further with folks in healthcare and life sciences hardware!

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After seven years of leading decentralized identity management, the Sovrin Foundation is preparing for the likely shutdown of its MainNet ledger by March 31, 2025, or sooner (see the timeline section below for details). This difficult decision follows a careful evaluation of the network's sustainability. Key Reasons: 1. Decline in MainNet Usage: In 2024, no new Transaction Endorsers joined, and efforts to revitalize interest did not increase engagement or revenue. 2. Regulatory Uncertainty: Ambiguities around decentralized identity have discouraged investments, hindering Sovrin’s growth. 3. Technical Challenges: Resources invested in upgrading Steward nodes were diverted to address issues on the TestNet, straining resources. 4. Governance and Community Involvement: Limited involvement from the Steward community in governance has placed a heavy burden on the Trustees, who have also faced a $2M debt from the previous Board. https://lnkd.in/dtz7bEth #ssi #did #adoption #challenges Riley Hughes

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In our latest publication in Health, Management, Policy, and Innovation – "Why AI Is Good for Our Health but May Hurt Our Wallets," we examine how current regulatory frameworks, reimbursement structures, and business models for AI in healthcare are decoupled, creating an environment in which AI may significantly increase costs without necessarily improving outcomes. We recommend three interconnected reforms to unlock the full potential of healthcare AI: (1) Rigorous pre- and post-deployment evaluation to verify proposed clinical value, (2) Development of assessment standards through shared guidelines, and (3) Strategic alignment of AI deployment modalities with sustainable business models – "modality-business model-market" fit 👉 https://lnkd.in/d8NiczyM Sneha Shah Jain, MD, MBA, Clinical Professor and Kevin Schulman Professor of Medicine at Stanford University, Nigam Shah, Chief Data Scientist, Michael Pfeffer, Chief Information and Digital Officer, and Linda Hoff Chief Financial Officer at Stanford Health Care

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Incredibly excited to share our updated Healthcare AI thesis. This is not a market map – in 4,000 words, we dive deeply into the research, products, business models, and market entry points that are reimagining healthcare with AI. More specifically, we cover: • Translating AI research into real-world products • Mapping modalities (software, copilots, agents, services, diagnostics, therapeutics) to problems in healthcare • Designing AI business models that unlock billion-dollar markets • Closing current gaps in healthcare AI infrastructure • Distinguishing AI platforms from point solutions Let us know what you think ⤵️

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Looking forward to meeting women entrepreneurs who are on their journey to create some pathbreaking ideas and inspiring others to do the same. #advaitawomenentrepreneurs #womeninbusiness #entrepreneurship #womenentrepreneurs #EmpowerWomen #womenleaders #businesswomen

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Some VC investors believe that brick and mortar - referring to a physical presence of some kind - should be avoided at all costs. Yet, the track record of clinic and hybrid care businesses in health care indicates otherwise. ==> One Medical (sold for $3.9 billion to Amazon), Oak Street (bought by CVS for $10.6 billion), Lifestance (IPO at $7.5 billion market cap), and PE-backed Premise Health (acquired by OMERS Private Equity for $1.1 billion) If a clinic is indicated as the optimal way to deliver care for that patient population, there are creative ways to build and operate them. Full article below with advice and strategies on how to build and operate hybrid clinics from my teammate Anarghya Vardhana from Maveron, Amir Dan Rubin from OneMedical Group, Steven Eidelman from Modern Animal and more!

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Looking beyond #VC funding for your #startup? Aakash Shah of Wyndly (YC W21) reveals how he built a multi-million dollar #healthtech company using creative capital strategies. Learn how he leveraged Y Combinator's network and alternative funding methods to revolutionize allergy treatment. In case you missed it, you can watch the #FundraisingDemystified #podcast here: https://lnkd.in/eZT63YS4

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We are excited to back Morphing Machines. As Dr. Ranjani, CTO and co-founder says: “For the first time in India and globally, we have a processor that is truly runtime reconfigurable, catering to emerging workloads.” While Nvidia’s growth and high valuation are driven by robust demand for “infra-compute” in high-performance GPUs, spurred by Gen AI, there is a distinct need for innovative solutions tailored to a new wave of reactive applications. Enter Morphing Machines. It addresses this demand with its unique product designed for next-gen telecom, autonomous vehicles, collaborative robots, avionics, and online data analytics. This product is specifically engineered to handle heterogeneous workloads and diverse tasks with varying performance demands simultaneously, ensuring a high level of scalability. As we move from an institutionally-backed research team at IISC to productization, Golden Sparrow is collaborating with Speciale Invest and others to support Deepak Shapeti, who joined as CEO three years ago after earning his Masters at Stanford. He brings not only technical expertise but also the business acumen necessary to guide the product to commercial success. Venkat Raju Afreed Faizan Anand Rao Ritik Singh Michael Marmor

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My latest episode is about what you need to know about AI!

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Is private equity owned healthcare a positive or a negative in regard to real health outcomes for patients? I asked Ambar Bhattacharyya of Maverick Ventures this question and more on Episode 438 of The Full Ratchet. Tune into the show to catch our discussion. Link to the full episode is in the comment section below.

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🚀 From Risk to Revolution: Vinod Khosla's Bold Bet on OpenAI 🚀 Sharing this fantastic clip from a discussion with none other than Vinod Khosla, the legendary founder of Khosla Ventures and one of the godfathers of Silicon Valley. 🌟 Vinod was the FIRST VC to invest in OpenAI, and his vision for #generativeAI has been nothing short of revolutionary. 🤖 Here are some key takeaways from our conversation: 🌐 Impact on Society: Vinod's belief in #AI's transformative power has been steadfast for over two decades. He predicted that AI would not just influence, but reshape our society and create massive business opportunities. 💡 Early Bet on OpenAI: Back in 2018, Khosla Ventures made a bold move by investing in OpenAI at a time when the breakthrough moment for AI was uncertain. This investment was TWICE the largest initial amount Vinod had ever invested in his 40-year career! ⏳ Vision & Patience: Investing in groundbreaking technology requires a long-term vision and patience. Vinod's insight into the timing of AI advancements shows the foresight needed to back transformative innovations. Watch the full clip to get inspired by Vinod's incredible journey and his thoughts on the future of AI! 📹 🔗 Tag your fellow #AI Founders, #VCs, and #tech enthusiasts who would love to hear Vinod's insights! #AI #GenerativeAI #VentureCapital #Innovation #OpenAI #VinodKhosla #TechRevolution #FutureOfTech #SiliconValley

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GenAI is rapidly transforming industries. *Blink* and you’ll miss the next development. Having elderly and remote family members, I closely observe GenAI's impact on healthcare. Healthcare has long explored AI and data to improve patient care. LLMs accelerated this progress exponentially. Now, AI is no longer a 'nice to have'—it's a 'cannot ignore.' AI is improving patient outcomes in many ways. Three examples: 1️⃣ Faster, cheaper drug discovery AI models swiftly sift molecular data, shortlisting promising drugs and simulating disease effects. 2️⃣ Personalized treatment plans 20 years ago, IBS patients received nearly identical management plans. Now, AI combines patient data, medical histories, and latest research to generate tailored recommendations. 3️⃣ Enhanced medical imaging AI assists in detecting subtle patterns and anomalies, aiding diagnosis and suggesting further investigation. Beyond these, I see three crucial categories where AI is revolutionizing senior care specifically: → AI-powered vertical software for senior living → Monitoring and prediction for aging in place → Assistive technology within senior healthcare In these areas, AI can be present wherever a human can't, significantly improving seniors' safety and well-being. Medical professionals will always make the final call. But AI is becoming an invaluable healthcare assistant—supporting doctors in making the best choices for patients. GenAI is revolutionizing healthcare across the board, from drug discovery to personalized care for our aging population. 👉 Building an AI-native company in healthcare, especially senior care tech? I'm always eager to connect with technical founders tackling this $30B market opportunity. Leave a comment or send me a message.

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So great to speak to Mohammed Islam on The Mo Show podcast last week! Watch the full episode here!

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