Two-person telehealth startup Medby hits $1.8B in sales using AI and no outside funding
Apr 2, 2026
Key Points
- Medby, a two-person telehealth startup selling GLP-1 weight loss drugs, generates $41 million in revenue its first year and projects $1.8 billion in 2025 sales using only AI tools and no outside funding.
- Founder Matthew Gallagher built Medby in two months with $20,000 by deploying ChatGPT, Claude, Midjourney, and other AI tools for coding, marketing, and customer service while outsourcing compliance to existing providers.
- Medby's explosive growth exploited a market gap competitors like Hims and Ro couldn't fill fast enough, but unit economics and sustainability remain undisclosed, leaving unclear whether the revenue translates to genuine profitability.
Summary
Matthew Gallagher built Medby, an AI-powered telehealth provider of GLP-1 weight loss drugs, in two months with $20,000 and no outside funding. Operating from his Los Angeles house with his brother Elliot as his only hire, Medby generated $41 million in revenue during its first full year in 2025 and is on track to hit $1.8 billion in sales this year.
Gallagher used more than a dozen AI tools including ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, 11 Labs, Midjourney, and Runway to write code, produce website copy, generate ad creative, and handle customer service. He outsourced compliance and doctor-pharmacy logistics to Care Validate and OpenLoop Health, concentrating AI leverage on branding, marketing, and operations.
Growth arrived immediately: 300 customers in month one, over 1,000 more in month two. Care Validate and OpenLoop reportedly asked whether Gallagher had an army of people backing him. Medby is profitable and has raised no outside capital.
Gallagher approximates what Sam Altman predicted in 2024 would eventually emerge: a company reaching $1 billion valuation with minimal headcount. Altman reportedly said he had won a bet with tech CEO friends over when such a company would appear and expressed interest in meeting Gallagher.
Gallagher's background shows a pattern of rapid execution. He built websites as a teenager, sold candles and samurai swords on eBay, and started a web hosting business he sold for $6,000 at 18. He briefly attended college but did not graduate. In 2016, he built Watch Gang, a subscription watch startup that gained fans but never turned a profit despite hiring 60 people. That failure appears to have shaped his current approach: lean operations, AI-augmented execution, and ruthless focus on market fit over headcount.
The GLP-1 market's explosive growth likely made Medby's rapid scale possible. Established competitors like Hims (2.4 billion in 2025 revenue, 2,442 employees) and Ro were unable or unwilling to move fast enough to block a new entrant with minimal resources. The market was expanding faster than supply could respond.
Key metrics remain undisclosed: unit economics, customer acquisition cost, gross margins, and exact profitability. At telehealth scale, CAC and COGS can consume most revenue even when the headline number looks impressive. Without disclosure of ad spend or margin structure, it is unclear whether Medby is a sustainable operating business or a revenue machine trading near breakeven for growth.