Food-as-medicine startups hope Kennedy, if confirmed as HHS secretary, will boost their businesses

As Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faces two days of Senate confirmation hearings this week in his quest to become secretary of Health and Human Services, a niche group of startups will be watching closely.

Kennedy, a divisive pick to join President Donald Trump's Cabinet, will first go before the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday. As HHS secretary, he would oversee a budget of more than $2 trillion, covering everything from drug research and approvals to the Medicare and Medicaid health programs.

Kennedy's skepticism of vaccines, and filings that show he benefited from anti-vaccine lawsuits, will likely be a central area of questioning; both sides of the political aisle have criticized the nominee for his stance.

Kennedy has pledged to make nutritious food, rather than drugs, central to combating chronic disease in the U.S. As Republicans target the federal-state Medicaid program for funding cuts, some investors and startups in nutrition-based services covered by Medicaid are hoping Kennedy's vow to "Make America Healthy Again" will boost the food-as-medicine sector and keep the growing programs off the Trump administration's chopping block.

"I actually think all signs are pointing to — with this administration — we are going to take a look finally at the reasons ... why individuals are as sick as they are," said Ashley Tyrner-Dolce, CEO of FarmBoxRx, a start-up that works with Medicaid and Medicare Advantage plans to provide nutritious food shipments to engage patients to improve their health conditions.

As obesity and Type 2 diabetes rates climb in the U.S., state Medicaid programs have looked to provide active nutritional counseling to help members combat chronic conditions, much as large employers and commercial insurance plans have been doing for the last decade.

During the first Trump administration, the Department of Health and Human Services spurred states to address social needs such as food insecurity and health disparities. A handful of states received what's known as an 1115 Medicaid demonstration waiver to provide nutritional programs as a form of preventive care — sparking major investment in the space along the way.

Over the last four years, more than four dozen food-as-medicine companies have raised over $2 billion from venture capital firms, including Khosla Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz, along with health-care players such as CVS Health, according to data tracking by Rock Health Advisory.

Funding for food-as-medicine deals topped $483 million in 2024, a 175% increase from the prior year, according to Rock Health Advisory data. In one of the biggest deals of the year, telenutrition startup FoodSmart secured $200 million in venture funding led by TPG's Rise Fund.

Food-as-medicine companies now see Kennedy as a potential ally.

Demand for food and nutrition programs grew substantially over the last five years, with 20 states and Washington, D.C., approved for waivers by the end of the Biden administration, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. That has helped drive the growth of startups focused on serving government health plans.

"There's significantly more interest by payers, in terms of how they can use food interventions to both improve patient lives and then reduce cost," than there was a decade ago, said Sanjeev Krishnan, managing partner at S2G Ventures, a venture capital fund founded by Walmart heir Lukas Walton.

S2G has funded five food-as-medicine startups, including NourishedRx, a five-year-old digital nutrition company which combines food deliveries with health coaching for patients in Medicaid and Medicare plans.

"To really be able to help the people who need it the most, those who are socially vulnerable, nutrition insecure, who also have diet-related disease, we had to work through the [government] payers," said NourishedRx founder and CEO Lauren Driscoll, adding that it has taken time to build momentum.

"We had to do pilots and drive proof points, and now we are entering into recurring revenue, renewable and expanding contracts," she said.

Kennedy's support for focusing on diet, rather than medicine, to treat chronic conditions may only fuel more investor enthusiasm about the growing space.

"Proposals from the incoming HHS administration to expand coverage of healthy foods and nutrition services as medical benefits and increase research funding for medical nutrition are likely to continue propelling investor enthusiasm in the space," said Chris Lew, a principal with Rock Health's consulting team.

FoodSmart CEO Dr. Jason Langheier said the high cost of diabetes and weight loss drugs is helping fuel interest in food programs, as much as Medicaid waivers and policy initiatives that have increased coverage of nutrition aid.

"Food care providers will now have ... an opportunity to work with the state, to create a program that's driven off a return on investment for the state and the health plans, to actually help people at scale — especially because of the pressure being put on them for their spending on GLP-1s, which has grown to astronomical levels," said Langheier.

In late November, the Biden administration proposed extending coverage of breakthrough anti-obesity drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Zepbound to Medicaid and Medicare patients.

If confirmed, Kennedy will likely oppose GLP-1 coverage expansion, given his vocal criticism of the pricey weight loss drugs. The proposal will also likely be a nonstarter for the Trump administration because of its cost, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates would be $35 billion from 2026 to 2034.

Whether or not Kennedy is confirmed, S2G's Krishnan said the U.S. is heading toward a fiscal reckoning on health-care spending, and food programs can play a pivotal role by reducing preventable disease.

"We're going to have a real sort of conversation on health care, and how do we get ideal outcomes for patients, but also not have the entire budget or significant portion of the U.S. budget focused on health care," he said.