LOS ANGELES, June 29, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) today announced that Akido co-founders, Prashant Samant, CEO, Jared Goodner, CTO, and Sanjit Mahanti, Head of Business Development, were named Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2023 Greater Los Angeles Award winners. The Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards program is one of the preeminent competitive awards for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies. Akido’s co-founders were selected by an independent judging panel made up of previous award winners, leading CEOs, investors and other regional business leaders. The candidates were evaluated based on their demonstration of building long-term value through entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and impact, among other core contributions and attributes.
“I’ve long believed in the power of business to drive positive change in society and EY’s commitment to this same belief makes it all the more meaningful to receive this recognition,” said Prashant Samant, co-founder and CEO of Akido. “The 2023 Los Angeles finalists and other fellow winners are an impressive group and show the power of business here in Los Angeles. We are honored to be part of such an inspirational class of leaders.”
Akido is leveraging data and artificial intelligence to transform the healthcare experience, focusing on addressing the systemic inequities that lead to chronic illness and vulnerability. Through early interventions designed around social determinants of health (SDoH), best-in-class care and predictive technology, Akido is building a healthcare model that allows for all patients to live their fullest lives. As personalized, preventive care is typically reserved for the privileged, Akido is bringing this level of high quality, accessible care to those often neglected by the traditional healthcare system, including people experiencing homelessness and those from marginalized communities.
Akido has deep roots in Los Angeles and has been devoted to solving some of the city’s greatest public health and social issues since its founding in 2015. Created out of the University of Southern California’s D-Health Lab, Akido’s early work focused on leveraging data and technology to empower government, healthcare, and nonprofit services to help usher in a new era of preventive public health. Today, Akido is building a full stack medical network that leverages its predictive capabilities to provide a frictionless experience for patients and care providers. Akido’s medical network currently covers more than 250,000 patients in California, with plans for national expansion later this year.
Added Samant, "at Akido, we are working from within a legacy industry to introduce powerful technology and seamlessly pair it with best-in-class care designed to serve all, especially our most vulnerable. We believe our medical network model will change the way we approach care in this country and ultimately keep everyone living longer, healthier lives. Jared, Sanjit and I feel incredibly grateful for the recognition of this powerful work being done here at Akido, but none of our progress would be possible without the incredibly talented team we have here. They are the true winners.”
For nearly four decades, EY US has honored entrepreneurs whose ambition, courage and ingenuity have driven their companies’ success, transformed their industries and made a positive impact on their communities. Entrepreneur Of The Year Award winners become lifetime members of a global, multi-industry community of entrepreneurs, with exclusive, ongoing access to the experience, insight and wisdom of program alumni and other ecosystem members in over 60 countries — all supported by vast EY resources. Since 1986, the Entrepreneur Of The Year program has recognized more than 11,000 US executives.
As a Greater Los Angeles award winner, Akido’s co-founders are now eligible for consideration for the Entrepreneur Of The Year 2023 National Awards. The National Award winners including the Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will be announced in November at the Strategic Growth Forum®, one of the nation’s most prestigious gatherings of high-growth, market-leading companies. The Entrepreneur Of The Year National Overall Award winner will then move on to compete for the World Entrepreneur Of The Year® Award in June 2024.
The Entrepreneur Of The Year program has honored the inspirational leadership of entrepreneurs such as:
- Andreas Bechtolsheim and Jayshree Ullal of Arista Networks
- Daymond John of FUBU
- Hamdi Ulukaya of Chobani, Inc.
- Holly Thaggard and Amanda Baldwin of Supergoop!
- Howard Schultz of Starbucks Coffee Company
- James Park of Fitbit
- Jodi Berg of Vitamix
- Joe DeSimone of Carbon, Inc.
- Kendra Scott of Kendra Scott LLC
- Reid Hoffman and Jeff Weiner of LinkedIn Corporation
- Sheila Mikhail of AskBio
Sponsors
Founded and produced by Ernst & Young LLP, the Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards include presenting sponsors PNC Bank, N.A.; SAP America; and the Kauffman Foundation. In Greater Los Angeles, regional Platinum sponsors include Cresa, Edelman, Marsh, and Tangram Interiors; and regional Gold sponsors include Big Picture, Cooley, C-Suite Media, and Los Angeles Business Journal.
About Entrepreneur Of The Year®
Entrepreneur Of The Year® is the world’s most prestigious business awards program for unstoppable entrepreneurs. These visionary leaders deliver innovation, growth and prosperity that transform our world. The program engages entrepreneurs with insights and experiences that foster growth. It connects them with their peers to strengthen entrepreneurship around the world. Entrepreneur Of The Year is the first and only truly global awards program of its kind. It celebrates entrepreneurs through regional and national awards programs in more than 145 cities in over 60 countries. National Overall Award winners go on to compete for the World Entrepreneur Of The Year® title. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.
About EY Private
As Advisors to the ambitious™, EY Private professionals possess the experience and passion to support private businesses and their owners in unlocking the full potential of their ambitions. EY Private teams offer distinct insights born from the long EY history of working with business owners and entrepreneurs. These teams support the full spectrum of private enterprises including private capital managers and investors and the portfolio businesses they fund, business owners, family businesses, family offices and entrepreneurs. Visit ey.com/us/private.
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About Akido
Akido is leveraging data and artificial intelligence to transform the healthcare experience, focusing on addressing the systemic inequities that lead to chronic illness and vulnerability. Through early interventions designed around social determinants of health (SDoH), best-in-class care and predictive technology, Akido is building a healthcare model that allows for all patients to live their fullest lives. Founded in 2015, Akido was created out of the University of Southern California’s D-Health Lab with the idea that empowering government, healthcare, and nonprofit services with population-based data could help usher in a new era of preventive public health. Today, Akido is building a full stack medical network that leverages its predictive capabilities to provide a frictionless experience for patients and care providers. Akido’s proprietary Wellness Graph – one of the country’s most powerful platforms for predicting health and social outcomes – enables the company to identify key markers on a patient’s journey into chronic illness and build preventive programs to address them. Akido’s medical network currently covers more than 250,000 patients. For more information, visit https://www.akidolabs.com/.
Media Contact:
Sharna Daduk
Head of Communications, Akido
Sharna.daduk@akidolabs.com
