Harvard dropout Pranitha Patil built a $2.5 billion health startup and turned a women’s health struggle into hope

• A personal diagnosis sparked Patil’s startup journey.
• She left Harvard to build Function.
• Function offers 160+ lab tests and imaging.
• AI turns health data into actionable insights.
• The company is now valued at $2.5 billion.

For Pranitha Patil, a personal health scare became the unexpected starting point for a business idea that would eventually be valued at $2.5 billion.

The Indian American entrepreneur was diagnosed with PCOS and pre-diabetes in her early 20s. Rather than simply treating those diagnoses as isolated medical problems, the experience made her question why modern healthcare often waits for symptoms to become serious before intervening.

"The healthcare system is set up so that you only go once you have a problem," she said. "Had I seen these signs way earlier, these markers being elevated, I would've done something about it," she told the Entrepreneur.

That realization eventually became the foundation for Function, a preventive healthcare platform designed to give consumers a much more detailed picture of their health.

For US consumers increasingly interested in longevity, personalized wellness and data-driven health, the idea represents an intriguing shift: instead of waiting for the annual physical or a troubling symptom, what if people could continuously understand what was happening inside their bodies?

Patil's journey also offers a striking entrepreneurship lesson. While pursuing a master's in design engineering at Harvard, she began exploring what a truly proactive healthcare experience could look like.

She initially assumed someone had already built it.

She was wrong.

“I was like, 'This product needs to exist.'”

Patil searched for a platform that could bring comprehensive testing, medical imaging and technology-powered health insights together in one consumer-friendly experience.

She couldn't find one that matched the vision in her head.

That discovery turned into a business opportunity.

"I was like, 'This product needs to exist.' It was a no-brainer; there wasn't a lot of hesitation," she told the Entrepreneur.

Patil eventually connected with Jonathan Swerdlin, who became Function's CEO, along with co-founders Dr. Mark Hyman, Seth Weisfeld and Dan Swerdlin.

Then came the decision that transformed her career.

"I ended up dropping out of the Harvard program early to bring the company to life," she said.

It was a remarkably unconventional move, but the bet was on a healthcare market that was increasingly moving toward consumer empowerment.

Function launched its public beta in 2023. Its proposition was built around a simple observation: the traditional annual physical offers only a limited snapshot of a person's health.

"The typical annual physical gives you a snapshot of your health at one point in time," Patil said.

Function sought to expand that snapshot dramatically.

The platform gives members access to more than 160 laboratory tests, advanced MRI and CT imaging, and AI-powered insights intended to help users interpret their results and understand potential next steps.

For consumers, the appeal sits at the intersection of healthcare, technology and lifestyle. Health data is no longer simply something patients receive from a doctor and forget about. It becomes information they can track, compare and use to make decisions about their routines and long-term goals.

“Picture how incredible that could be.”

Turning that vision into a company, however, required convincing investors to finance something that was still largely theoretical.

Patil said Function initially concentrated on blood and urine testing, but the founders saw those tests as the beginning of a much larger ecosystem.

"The most challenging part in the early days and this is true of building any company was convincing investors of the bigger vision when it wasn't here yet," she said.

The founders imagined a future in which laboratory results could be combined with imaging, wearable data and artificial intelligence to create an increasingly comprehensive picture of individual health.

"Picture how incredible that could be," Patil said.

Investors eventually embraced the concept, helping Function reach a $2.5 billion valuation.

But the company's ambitions extend well beyond its current financial milestone.

"Our goal is to reach eight billion people as quickly as possible," she said. "We mean that; that's been the throughline for us since day one."

That ambition reflects a broader shift in the US healthcare and wellness market. Consumers are spending more attention—and increasingly more money, on longevity, fitness, nutrition, sleep, biomarkers and personalized health.

Function is positioning itself at the center of that trend.

“We're in our act two”

Patil sees the company's development as a story with two distinct chapters.

The first was about building the infrastructure: comprehensive testing, a growing membership base and a new consumer habit of regularly checking health data.

"For act one to be successful, we had to lay the foundation with the labs," she said.

The surprising part is how quickly health data can become a lifestyle motivator.

"Now, people are excited about seeing how their labs have changed, or their biological age has come down," she said.

That enthusiasm is important for Function's next stage.

"We always knew there was more to build," Patil said.

The company's second act is focused on using its expanding pool of health information to deliver deeper insights. AI could play an increasingly important role, particularly as healthcare generates enormous amounts of data that consumers and clinicians can struggle to interpret.

Patil sees a huge opportunity because healthcare technology has historically moved more slowly than technology in other industries.

"There's so much to be done in this industry compared to the financial industry or any other industry," she said. "We're always 10 years behind most of the big industries."

For Patil, AI could help close that gap.

The bigger surprise may be that a personal diagnosis, a Harvard dropout decision and an idea that initially seemed too ambitious have combined to create one of the most closely watched consumer-health businesses in the market.

From a personal health revelation to a multibillion-dollar startup, Patil's story is ultimately about turning an unsettling question, what if we knew sooner?—into a business built around finding the answer.

Source: The Entrepreneur; additional background from the TOI Lifestyle Desk.