Stepful Makes Healthcare Training 10X Cheaper

Stepful (YC S21) trains people for healthcare jobs, combining AI-supported learning with local hands-on training. The company trained 30,000 people last year and now works with 39 health systems, including seven of the 10 largest in the U.S. It recently raised a $55 million Series C led by Oak HC/FT. In this episode of Founder Firesides, YC Managing Partner Diana Hu hosts co-founders Carl Madi and Tressia Hobeika where they share how cleaners losing their jobs during the pandemic sparked the idea for a faster, more affordable path into healthcare. They discuss preparing students for medical assistant jobs in five months instead of two years, using AI tutors to personalize learning, and helping hospitals train workers without asking them to leave their communities. https://www.stepful.com Chapters: 00:00 — Tackling the Healthcare Worker Shortage 03:40 — Building a Faster, Cheaper Path to Healthcare Jobs 06:57 — AI Tutors and Local Hands-On Training Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs

Diana HuhostCarl MadiguestTressia Hobeikaguest

Oct 21, 20269mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: October 21, 2026
Duration: 9m
Channel: YC Root Access
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Stepful (YC S21) trains people for healthcare jobs, combining AI-supported learning with local hands-on training. The company trained 30,000 people last year and now works with 39 health systems, including seven of the 10 largest in the U.S. It recently raised a $55 million Series C led by Oak HC/FT. In this episode of Founder Firesides, YC Managing Partner Diana Hu hosts co-founders Carl Madi and Tressia Hobeika where they share how cleaners losing their jobs during the pandemic sparked the idea for a faster, more affordable path into healthcare. They discuss preparing students for medical assistant jobs in five months instead of two years, using AI tutors to personalize learning, and helping hospitals train workers without asking them to leave their communities. https://www.stepful.com Chapters: 00:00 — Tackling the Healthcare Worker Shortage 03:40 — Building a Faster, Cheaper Path to Healthcare Jobs 06:57 — AI Tutors and Local Hands-On Training Apply to Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/apply Work at a startup: https://www.ycombinator.com/jobs

SPEAKERS

Diana Hu
host
Host/interviewer on YC Root Access (Y Combinator).
Carl Madi
guest
Co-founder of Stepful; previously worked at Handy (and referenced by host as having Uber/Handy marketplace background).
Tressia Hobeika
guest
Co-founder of Stepful; previously worked at Udacity and Triplebyte, focused on education/recruiting and product-driven training.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of YC Root Access, featuring Diana Hu and Carl Madi, Stepful Makes Healthcare Training 10X Cheaper explores stepful uses AI and hospital partnerships to cut healthcare training costs Stepful trains people for healthcare jobs and places graduates, serving both individual students and hospital systems seeking to fill vacancies.

RELATED EPISODES