Kensho Health Pitch Deck: Slide-by-Slide Breakdown

Executive Summary: The Professionalization of Holistic Care

Kensho Health’s seed deck is a study in market positioning. In a sector often dismissed as 'alternative,' the founders use the language of conventional healthcare—'care navigation,' 'evidence-based outcomes,' and 'provider supply'—to build a case for a massive, untapped marketplace. By the time the reader reaches the final slide, the company has successfully reframed holistic medicine from a fringe interest into a $400 billion global sector ripe for digital disruption.

Slide 1: The Team and Mission

The deck opens with a strong focus on the founders. Krista Berlincourt (CEO) and Danny Steiner (COO) are both presented as experienced entrepreneurs, each claiming '3x' exits or founder roles. The slide establishes a dual-track pedigree: corporate excellence (Fortune 50/500 experience) and wellness authenticity (Leadership Coach, Meditation Instructor). The mission is stated clearly: 'remedy healthcare to be more holistic, affordable and accessible.'

Slide 2: The Problem

Kensho identifies three pillars of failure in conventional medicine: Disconnected Care , High Costs ($3.6 trillion or $11,172 per person in the U.S.), and Poor Outcomes (87% of Americans dying from chronic, preventable diseases). By framing the problem through the lens of U.S. healthcare spending, they justify the need for a new entry point into the system.

Slide 3: The Solution

The solution slide introduces Kensho as the 'first provider discovery platform and healthcare navigator for holistic medicine.' It mirrors the problem slide by offering Connected Care , Lower Costs (claiming holistic medicine lowers costs by 10%), and Healthier Patients . The use of citations from the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine adds a layer of scientific authority often missing in wellness pitches.

Slide 4: The Market Opportunity

This is a classic 'up and to the right' bar chart. It scales from US Acupuncture ($3B) to US Alternative Medicine ($18B) , US Wellness ($175B) , US Mental Health ($200B) , and finally the Global Complementary & Alternative Medicine Market ($400B) . By including Mental Health and Wellness, Kensho expands its Total Addressable Market (TAM) significantly, positioning itself as a broad-spectrum health platform rather than a niche directory.

Slide 5: Product Market Fit

Kensho moves quickly to traction. They report 15k Active Users and 1,500 Providers . The most aggressive metric here is the 50% M/M Provider Growth . For a marketplace, supply-side growth is often the hardest hurdle; showing this level of momentum suggests a low cost of provider acquisition or a high level of desperation for digital tools among holistic practitioners.

Slide 6: Growth Visualization

Slide 6 provides two bar charts: Provider Supply and User Demand . The supply chart shows a clear inflection point at 'Launch' in February, with steady growth through September. The demand chart is even more ambitious, claiming 1M Uniques in 2021 . The visual representation of these bars suggests exponential growth, though the Y-axis on the demand side is scaled in increments of 250,000, which can make even modest gains look vertical.

Slide 7: The Product Experience

This slide uses mobile mockups to show the user journey: searching the directory, browsing provider profiles, and booking a free consult. It mentions a 'full-feature telemedicine' suite. This indicates that Kensho isn't just a lead-gen tool for providers, but the actual infrastructure where the care takes place.

Slide 8: Evidence-Based Outcomes

To combat skepticism, Slide 8 lists partnerships with Wiley and the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine & Health . The most compelling point here is the mention of Medicaid expanding coverage for acupuncture, affecting 120M people . This ties the startup’s success to macro-regulatory shifts in the healthcare industry.

Slide 9: The Road Ahead

The roadmap is divided by year. 2020 was about the directory in LA and NY. 2021 (the year of the deck) focuses on scheduling, telehealth, and referrals in major metros. 2022 marks the transition to 'Insurance Reimbursement' and a 'Series A.' 2023 aims for international expansion and 'Care Management.' This slide is crucial because it shows the path from a simple website to a complex, integrated health tech company.

Slides 10 & 11: The Advisor Network

Kensho spends two full slides on advisors, which is unusual for a 13-slide deck. The Scientific Advisors include the founder of Livongo (Alex Bitoun) and the Director of Innovation at Wiley . The Product Advisors include early employees or leaders from Classpass , Instagram , Airbnb , and Evolve Foundation . This 'borrowed credibility' is a clear signal to investors that while the company is early-stage, it is being guided by the architects of some of the most successful marketplaces and health tech companies of the last decade.

What Works in This Deck

Supply-Side Momentum: The 50% month-over-month provider growth (Slide 5) is the strongest data point in the deck. It proves that the 'supply' is ready and willing to join the platform. · Regulatory Tailwinds: Citing Medicaid's expansion into acupuncture (Slide 8) provides a 'why now' that is grounded in policy rather than just consumer trends. · Advisor Pedigree: The advisor slides (10-11) are exceptionally strong. Having the CTO of Livongo and the founding designer of Instagram as advisors mitigates the risk of the founders' lack of specific deep-tech or medical-billing backgrounds.

What Is Missing

Business Model Specifics: The deck never explains how Kensho makes money. Is it a SaaS fee for providers? A transaction fee on bookings? A subscription for users? This is a major omission for a Seed round. · Unit Economics: There is no mention of Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) or Lifetime Value (LTV). While '1M Uniques' sounds impressive, the cost to acquire those uniques and their conversion rate to paid bookings is not disclosed. · Competitive Landscape: The deck ignores competitors like Zocdoc (which has moved into wellness) or niche-specific directories. Investors generally want to see how a startup plans to defend its moat. · The Ask: There is no slide detailing how much capital is being raised or how that capital will be allocated across the roadmap.

Founder Takeaways

Use 'Social Proof' to Bridge Gaps: If your team lacks a specific technical or industry-heavy background, fill your advisor board with people who have it. Kensho’s advisor slides are doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. · Frame Your Niche as a Sub-Sector of a Giant: Kensho doesn't just call itself a 'yoga and acupuncture site.' They call themselves a 'healthcare navigator' (Slide 3) and link their market to the $3.6T US healthcare spend. · Visual Consistency: The deck uses a muted, earthy color palette and high-quality nature photography that aligns with the 'holistic' brand without looking 'new age' or unprofessional.