Samar Parikh

Samar spent 6 years at Amazon, where he helped lead Amazon’s entry into the healthcare field, including pharmacy services. In 2018, Samar launched D8aDriven, a ML/AI-based ecommerce optimization software company. He has also served on corporate boards and is an advisor to other health and technology startups.

Samar has been interested in healthcare and child development since his sophomore year of high school, when he began interning at Children’s Hospital Boston–a job he held for the rest of high school. He was inspired by seeing his work make a positive difference for children and has volunteered his time working with kids ever since.

His existing interest in developmental health took on a personal meaning when his infant son appeared to have a speech delay. When he voiced concerns to his son’s doctors, he was told “he’ll grow out of it” or “let’s wait and see.” Samar understood that “wait and see” is not an effective course of action. 

He advocated relentlessly for his son and eventually doctors determined that it was a hearing issue and a 20-minute procedure solved the problem. This experience convinced Samar that there must be a better way to help parents advocate for their children and promote their development and inspired him to build Pathfinder.