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Key Takeaways Patil co-founded Function to provide a comprehensive preventive health solution.
She and her co-founders convinced investors of a long-term vision, in part powered by AI.
Now, Function is in its second act, she says — and is valued at $2.5 billion.
This as-told-to story is based on a conversation with Pranitha Patil, co-founder and chief business officer of preventive health membership platform Function, now valued at $2.5 billion. Function, co-founded by Jonathan Swerdlin (CEO), Dr. Mark Hyman (chief medical officer), Seth Weisfeld (chief design officer) and Dan Swerdlin (general counsel), provides access to more than 160 lab tests, advanced MRI and CT imaging, and AI-powered insights that help members understand what their results mean and which actions to take next. The membership costs $365 annually, compared to roughly $15,000 for comparable testing purchased independently, per the company. The piece has been edited for length and clarity.
Image Credit: Function. Pranitha Patil.
The journey to Function started way before 2021, when we officially launched. I experienced a few diagnoses in my teenage years and early 20s. I was diagnosed with PCOS and was pre-diabetic. My HbA1c was always teetering in the 6% range, and I had genetically high cholesterol. I was a young South Asian woman. There wasn’t enough clinical data showing what to do with somebody like me and my picture. The solution was either, “You’re going to live a pretty low-quality life,” or “You have to fix all these things yourself.” I really did feel like I was on my own, tracking my blood work and trying to figure it out. The healthcare system is set up so that you only go once you have a problem. Had I seen these signs way earlier, these markers being elevated, I would’ve done something about it.
Dropping out of Harvard to build Function
I was at Harvard studying for a master’s in design engineering when I came up with the idea to develop a comprehensive preventive health platform. Initially, I thought a product like it must already exist somewhere in the world, but I couldn’t find it. Then I met my co-founder and CEO, Jonathan Swerdlin, and was like, “This product needs to exist.” It was a no-brainer; there wasn’t a lot of hesitation.
I connected with the rest of the co-founding team and had a lot of confidence in the people I’d be working with and the passion behind what we were building. I ended up dropping out of the Harvard program early to bring the company to life. Everything clicked. As co-founders, we have different backgrounds, but we were all driven by giving people the opportunity to own their health. That mission hasn’t changed in the five and a half years since Function’s founding.
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