Raquel Rodriguez Martinez

Hold up, you need to know about Raquel Rodriguez Martinez. This girl is the real deal in health tech. She’s part of YC S23, so she’s already on the radar as a legit founder. But what’s crazy is her process – she’s been in the game for a while, blending medicine with tech like a boss.

She started out as a doctor, worked at Kaiser Permanente, then was a Clinical Assistant Professor at UCSF. Basically, she’s seen healthcare from every angle – the front lines and the academic side. But she didn’t stop there. She jumped into health tech, doing cool stuff as a visiting scholar at Cardiogram, a company using deep learning to crack heart health. That’s where her passion for using AI to actually make healthcare better really took off.

Fast forward, she co-founded Empirical Health in 2022 – a YC S23 startup that’s all about proactive, AI-powered primary care and heart health management. Think of it as moving away from the old sick-care model to actually keeping people healthy before they get really sick. They use sensors, biomarker-driven nutrition, risk prediction – all the latest tech – to help folks stay on top of their health. They even have a virtual practice, so you don’t need to go to a clinic, which is a big change.

What’s super impressive? They’re in-network with major insurers and already operating in 30 states. That’s huge. It shows she’s not just messing around in theory – she’s building something expandable, practical, and ready to disrupt how primary care works. She’s got this blend of deep clinical knowledge and tech savvy that’s rare. Honestly, it feels like she’s on a mission to fix healthcare from the inside out.

This process? It screams passion. She’s been in the trenches as a doc, saw all the bullshit in traditional healthcare, and decided to do something about it. She’s not just talking; she’s building tools that actually make a difference. That’s what makes her important – she’s a pioneer who’s not afraid to jump into the deep end and challenge the status quo.

In short, Raquel is a force. She’s combining her clinical background with modern AI to build the future of health. And I’m telling you, this is just the beginning.