Function Must Become A Health OS
Function Health
The key issue is that blood panels are becoming the cheap ingredient, not the durable product. Function charges $499 a year for two Quest based draws, while newer rivals already offer similar testing at lower entry prices. That means keeping premium pricing increasingly depends on layering in services that feel useful after the lab result arrives, like MRI, genomics, coaching, or a dashboard that pulls labs and wearable data into one place.
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Function already shows the first move in that direction. It added full body MRI through Ezra and sells scans for $499, while also positioning itself as a hub for labs, imaging, genomics, and wearables. That expands revenue beyond the base panel, but it also adds more operational complexity than a simple asset light testing subscription.
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Superpower shows what fuller differentiation looks like in practice. It gives users a dashboard with color coded biomarker scores, AI chat, clinician consults, supplement recommendations, more specialty tests, and concierge support, and prices as low as $199 a year. That is a more service heavy product, and also a clearer example of where premium diagnostic businesses go when raw testing starts to commoditize.
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The broader market is converging from multiple sides. Hone uses bloodwork as the front door to higher value hormone treatment subscriptions, while Oura moved from wearables into Quest based Health Panels at $99 per panel. In both cases, the lab test is not the business by itself, it is the input that feeds a larger recurring workflow.
From here, the strongest version of Function is likely less a lab seller and more a consumer health operating system. The companies that win this category will use testing to collect data, then monetize the next step, through interpretation, follow up products, imaging, and repeat engagement that turns one time curiosity into an ongoing habit.