10 years in and we’re just getting started

By Gabriel Mecklenburg 

Ten years ago Dan and I founded Hinge Health. Technically, this was the 3rd startup we founded during our PhDs - disengaged students but committed entrepreneurs. 

I had been doing my PhD in regenerative medicine, specifically focused on regrowing cartilage for damaged joints. My passion came from a judo accident that tore my ACL and led to 12+ months of rehab. Dan’s PhD was in biochemistry and he’d also endured 12+ months of rehab years prior, after a biking accident broke his leg and his arm. 

By our late 20s we’d already shuttered two startups - unrelated to musculoskeletal (MSK) health - and were nowhere close to completing our dissertations. We also had no intention of going our separate ways. So we got to the whiteboard and, motivated by our poor experiences seeking MSK care, we sketched out a tech-enabled rehab experience for ourselves. 

We didn’t imagine that a decade later we’d have treated over 1 million people, be trusted by ~2,000 enterprise customers, and come to work each day with 1,500 incredibly talented colleagues. 

From our first to our millionth member

We founded Hinge Health on October 1, 2014 and set out to avoid our prior startup mistakes, especially moving too slowly in finding product-market fit. To that end, we set a deadline of 8 weeks to have a prototype in the hands of a real patient - missing by just 2 weeks. 

Our first member, who we’ll call “Maggie,” was a 60ish-year-old receptionist working at Oxford where Dan was studying. She suffered from knee arthritis and couldn’t afford to take time off for in-person physical therapy. We’d put a call out to recruit volunteers for a “student research project” and she signed up. 

We handed her a Tupperware box with two wonky wearable sensors we’d built using arduino kits to track knee movement, with straps that we’d sewn ourselves. These were paired to a barebones Android app with five exercises for chronic knee pain. After completing those five exercises, Maggie looked at us with a smile and said “I think you got yourself a little business here”. Over the next few weeks Maggie’s pain reduced by half, and we knew we were onto something big.   

Fast forward 10 years, we’ve expanded from those wonky prototype sensors for knee pain, to using AI-powered computer vision that can track 87 landmarks on the human body, guiding people through rehab across every major joint and muscle group.

We also realized that physical therapy alone would be incomplete. So we invested in areas like health coaching, educational content, and electrical nerve stimulation technology, bringing Enso, our FDA-cleared breakthrough device for non-invasive, non-addictive pain relief, into our member experience. Members tell us Enso just melts their pain away, and we just launched Enso 3.

To date, we’ve treated over 1 million people who have collectively completed over 30 million exercise therapy sessions. Our reach extends to all 50 states, and we recently announced an expansion into Canada, the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, and the Netherlands. By the end of 2025, we plan to be available in over 40 countries across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. 

Our team

While we’re a technology company, it’s people who build our product and people who deliver our clinical care. 

Everyone who joins our program is supported by a licensed physical therapist, and a board-certified health coach who guides them through their journey. Over the past 12 months, we’ve delivered over 7.3 million personalized care team interactions with our members, including video visits, calls, and messages. This is what care at scale looks like. 

I’m particularly proud of the diversity and expertise within our team. Our PTs and coaches speak multiple languages and hail from all 50 U.S. states, with a growing number specializing in treating conditions such as pelvic floor disorders.

Our clients and partners

We’ve only been able to do what we do thanks to the deep ecosystem of clients and partners we’ve built. 

We’ve had the privilege of collaborating with around 2,000 enterprise clients, health plans and ecosystem partners, giving more than 18 million people access to Hinge Health. Our clientele spans various industries and sizes, from consulting firms to logistics companies to other healthcare providers. 

And it’s only through collaborative partnership, iteration, and feedback from our clients that we’ve been able to build a better product for members. 

Our team has played a pioneering role in shaping digital care for MSK conditions, with Hinge Health emerging as the preferred choice for 4 out of 5 enterprise customers in this space.

Looking ahead

With all that we’ve accomplished, we’re only scratching the surface. Dan and I remain as committed as ever to continue raising the quality of care for our members and helping the 1.7 billion people all over the world suffering from MSK pain.  As two PhD students who pivoted to pursue a bold idea, we’re just getting started. Thanks to everyone who has joined us for the journey. Here’s to another decade of innovation, growth, and making a difference in the lives of our members.