Vanessa Rissetto On Raising $20 Million To Make Dietitians More Accessible

Q: What inspired you to start Culina Health?

Vanessa Rissetto: "There was an article about a dietitian charging $10,000 for a package of sessions. I started thinking she was only seeing the worried well. I thought, 'This is nonsense.' So I got on insurance panels because I wanted people to actually be able to use their insurance to see a dietitian."

Q: How did Culina Health get started?

Vanessa Rissetto: "Tamar asked if we wanted to build something together. Then COVID happened, telehealth became reimbursed the same as in-person visits, and with $5,000 in the bank and everyone working part-time, we made $934,000 with no marketing. Then VCs started calling. Raising money was honestly an accident because we were just trying to do good work."

Q: What problem does Culina Health solve?

Vanessa Rissetto: "Dietitians are really the front line of healthcare. Insurance will pay for me to spend an hour with someone while a physician might only have seven to twelve minutes. We help people understand their health, coordinate care with physicians, and keep patients healthier before problems become more serious."

Q: How did you acquire your first customers before raising capital?

Vanessa Rissetto: "I literally went to every doctor I had ever worked with in New York City. I'd walk into their offices and say, 'I started a startup and I need you to send me patients.' They trusted us because we closed the loop—we communicated with physicians and focused on taking care of their patients instead of trying to sell them something."

Q: Why didn't you hire a marketing team early?

Vanessa Rissetto: "I didn't hire a marketer until almost two years ago. We grew through physician referrals, media, thought leadership, and relationships. Investors kept asking, 'Where's your marketer?' I kept saying, 'I don't need one.'"

Q: How did you know it was time to raise venture capital?

Vanessa Rissetto: "We made $934,000 and investors started calling us. Somebody finally taught me how fundraising worked. Before that, I was a dietitian. What did I know about venture?"

Q: What was your fundraising strategy?

Vanessa Rissetto: "At first, I just needed someone to write the first term sheet. Charlie O'Donnell wrote the first check, and once that happened, the dominoes started to fall. Later I learned how to run a real fundraising process, keep investors organized, and be much more selective about who joined the cap table."

Q: What qualities do you value most in investors?

Vanessa Rissetto: "The best investors were operators. They had built companies before, so they understood what founders were actually going through. When I was diagnosed with cancer, none of my investors let me down. They stepped up in ways I'll never forget."

Q: How has venture funding changed the business?

Vanessa Rissetto: "The money allowed us to invest in technology, scheduling tools, documentation, and partnerships with insurers like Blue Cross Blue Shield. But our mission never changed. The goal has always been to provide the best possible care—not to build something flashy."

Q: How do you balance investor expectations with patient care?

Vanessa Rissetto: "If this company burns to the ground, the one thing I still have is my dietitian license. I'm never going to compromise patient care because I have to be able to stand behind my work. I'm trying to do good work for people first."

Jul 9
4 min read

Building a venture-backed startup often begins with solving a problem you've experienced firsthand. For Vanessa Rissetto, that problem wasn't a lack of nutrition expertise, it was realizing that quality nutrition care had become a luxury reserved for wealthy patients while millions of Americans with insurance couldn't access registered dietitians.

While working as a clinical dietitian at Mount Sinai, Rissetto watched high-end nutrition practices charge thousands of dollars for personalized care while everyday patients struggled to receive even basic nutrition guidance. She believed healthcare should work differently, so instead of launching an expensive concierge practice, she made the decision to accept insurance and build a model that prioritized accessibility over exclusivity.

In 2019, Rissetto partnered with fellow dietitian Tamar Samuels to launch Culina Health, a virtual nutrition platform connecting patients with registered dietitians through insurance-covered care. With just $5,000 in the bank, no marketing budget, and everyone working part-time, the company generated nearly $1 million in revenue during its first year while Rissetto went without a salary for two years. That traction eventually attracted venture capital investors, allowing Culina Health to raise more than $20 million to expand its technology, clinical team, and national reach.

Today, Culina Health is helping thousands of patients access personalized, evidence-based nutrition care while partnering with health systems, insurers, and employers to improve long-term health outcomes.

Watch the full conversation on the YouTube player below, or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What inspired you to start Culina Health?

Vanessa Rissetto: "There was an article about a dietitian charging $10,000 for a package of sessions. I started thinking she was only seeing the worried well. I thought, 'This is nonsense.' So I got on insurance panels because I wanted people to actually be able to use their insurance to see a dietitian."

How did Culina Health get started?

Vanessa Rissetto: "Tamar asked if we wanted to build something together. Then COVID happened, telehealth became reimbursed the same as in-person visits, and with $5,000 in the bank and everyone working part-time, we made $934,000 with no marketing. Then VCs started calling. Raising money was honestly an accident because we were just trying to do good work."

What problem does Culina Health solve?

Vanessa Rissetto: "Dietitians are really the front line of healthcare. Insurance will pay for me to spend an hour with someone while a physician might only have seven to twelve minutes. We help people understand their health, coordinate care with physicians, and keep patients healthier before problems become more serious."

How did you acquire your first customers before raising capital?

Vanessa Rissetto: "I literally went to every doctor I had ever worked with in New York City. I'd walk into their offices and say, 'I started a startup and I need you to send me patients.' They trusted us because we closed the loop—we communicated with physicians and focused on taking care of their patients instead of trying to sell them something."

Why didn't you hire a marketing team early?

Vanessa Rissetto: "I didn't hire a marketer until almost two years ago. We grew through physician referrals, media, thought leadership, and relationships. Investors kept asking, 'Where's your marketer?' I kept saying, 'I don't need one.'"

How did you know it was time to raise venture capital?

Vanessa Rissetto: "We made $934,000 and investors started calling us. Somebody finally taught me how fundraising worked. Before that, I was a dietitian. What did I know about venture?"

What was your fundraising strategy?

Vanessa Rissetto: "At first, I just needed someone to write the first term sheet. Charlie O'Donnell wrote the first check, and once that happened, the dominoes started to fall. Later I learned how to run a real fundraising process, keep investors organized, and be much more selective about who joined the cap table."

What qualities do you value most in investors?

Vanessa Rissetto: "The best investors were operators. They had built companies before, so they understood what founders were actually going through. When I was diagnosed with cancer, none of my investors let me down. They stepped up in ways I'll never forget."

How has venture funding changed the business?

Vanessa Rissetto: "The money allowed us to invest in technology, scheduling tools, documentation, and partnerships with insurers like Blue Cross Blue Shield. But our mission never changed. The goal has always been to provide the best possible care—not to build something flashy."

How do you balance investor expectations with patient care?

Vanessa Rissetto: "If this company burns to the ground, the one thing I still have is my dietitian license. I'm never going to compromise patient care because I have to be able to stand behind my work. I'm trying to do good work for people first."

Listen to the Full Conversation

Vanessa's story is a reminder that some of the strongest venture-backed companies aren't built by chasing venture capital—they're built by relentlessly solving a real problem for customers. By focusing on accessible healthcare instead of flashy growth tactics, she built a business that investors couldn't ignore.

In the full episode, Vanessa shares how Culina Health grew from a $5,000 startup into a company that has raised more than $20 million in venture capital, why she believes healthcare founders should prioritize patient outcomes over hype, how she built the company without a marketing team, and what it was like fundraising while battling breast cancer.

Watch or listen to the full episode of The First 200 Podcast for the complete conversation and more stories from the founders who changed venture capital history.