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Lily Vittayarukskul ( pictured above ) was studying aerospace engineering when her aunt was diagnosed with final colon cancer . Her aunt had lived under the same roof as Vittayarukskul while she was grow up and help raise her . “ We went all in on her care , ” she recalled .
Post - chemotherapy , Vittayarukskul ’s aunt “ became very fragile , ” so her family — originally from Cambodia — navigated about two and half years of her daily tenacious - terminus care want . “ It pass over us out financially , ” she told TechCrunch .
The excited and fiscal impact was so traumatic that it prompt Vittayarukskul to swivel her studies to transmissible and data science .
In December 2021 , she foundedWaterlily , a San Francisco startup aimed at helping individuals and advisors navigate long - terminus care option by model price and financial support strategies . Its finish , according to Vittayarukskul , is to make it easier for fiscal adviser and insurance factor “ to recommend the right fiscal products based on a family ’s predicted farseeing - term tending motive . ”
Explained Vittayarukskul , “ Usually individual set out to think about farseeing - term maintenance when they ’re between the age of 65 and 70 , or just when they need it . ” But in many cases , that can be too late .
Waterlily uses unreal tidings to betoken a family ’s future foresighted - full term fear needs and costs and then manoeuver them “ in building a care plan and figure out the right way to pay for it , ” Vittayarukskul tell TechCrunch . “ That might intend buying spirit insurance with a longsighted - term tutelage rider , buy a dedicated LTC policy , using annuities , or simply ego - funding . ”
Waterlily ’s predictive AI can be used for any individual over 40 .
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The companionship pulls from more than 500 million data detail and machine learning algorithmic rule using its AI modelling software in an exploit “ to make extremely personalized care and toll prediction ” and betoken the “ when , ” “ how , ” and “ how much ” of someone ’s likely recollective - term upkeep needs .
“ We have formal data - share understanding with long - term care supplier , political science databases , academic research studies , and individual user ” — these admit the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program — “ and we ’re finalizing like contracts with policy carriers to firmly ingest their anonymized information , ” Vittayarukskul said .
Vittayarukskul ab initio started Waterlily as a solo founder until Evan Ehrenberg , a small angel investor , came along . Ehrenberg — who had previously founded andsoldClara Health — help with early research and was hit by the diligence ’s answer . odd , he test the platform himself and was appal by his long - term attention predictions — so much so that he switch his diet , rent a personal trainer , and update his financial plans .
That experience draw him in deep . He saw parallel between longsighted - term care and issues he ’d meet in clinical trials . Clara Health had helped tens of thousands of patients find trials , but he also saw how many move around to them not for abridge - boundary treatments , but for generic copycats of existing drug because insurance would n’t pass over the name - sword drugs they needed . Long - terminus care play a interchangeable realization — health indemnity does n’t cover it , and many are unprepared for the fiscal load , noted Vittayarukskul .
“ After six months of function together , we knew it was a smashing fit and made him a carbon monoxide - founder , ” she said .
Ehrenberg ’s own backstory is interesting : After graduating from UC Berkeley at 16 , he became MIT ’s young neuroscience PhD. Today , he also assist as Waterlily ’s chief operating officer .
Standing out in a complicated space
Other prick exist that help with long - term planning , but Vittayarukskul believe they take issue from Waterlily ’s more personalised offering . Genworth ’s price of tutelage calculator , for example , shows ZIP - code averages . NaviPlan , eMoney , MoneyGuidePro , and RightCapital are broader fiscal - planning platforms that include basic long - terminus aid module or monetary value calculators as one of their multiple occasion .
According to her , “ While these tools help advisors model retirement and insurance policy scenario , their LTC assumption are typically drive by national averages or Monte Carlo simulation in decree to stress - test financial planning by introducing dissonance into a introductory default simulation . ” Waterlily , by dividing line , “ blends deep prognostic modeling with an easy - to - habit platform . ”
Waterlily only launch its political program publicly in March of 2024 so it does n’t have yr - over - year metric yet , but Vittayarukskul told TechCrunch the startup ’s monthly repeat revenue ( MRR ) today is corking than 22x what it was after its first month in the grocery . And , she said , its ordinary month - over - month MRR growth since its launch has been 58 % .
The company presently has eight “ major ” endeavour customers , include Prudential and “ several other Fortune 100 insurance carriers . ” There are also hundreds of sovereign financial consultant and insurance factor who apply Waterlily , fit in to Vittayarukskul . Its revenue manikin is SaaS - ground , with the fellowship charging $ 250 per adviser or agent seat per calendar month .
And now the startup has raise $ 7 million in seminal fluid funding led byJohn Kim , plant partner of Brewer Lane Ventures , with strategic investing from Genworth , countrywide , and Edward Jones . The startup previously raised a $ 2.2 million pre - seed round from investors including Scott Barclay , managing conductor of healthcare at Insight Partners .
Waterlily plans to apply its new Washington , which was leaven via a SAFE , to establish out its engine room data science and enterprise management teams , as well as to continue strengthening its AI exemplar and data partnership . It also plans to increase its sales and marketing efforts .
soon , the startup has nine full - time employee in plus to contractors .
Looking ahead , Waterlily is looking at impairment , critical illness , hospital indemnity and Medicare planning , or “ really any expanse where innovative predictive modeling would help families make just life and wellness coverage conclusion , ” Vittayarukskul say .
The party says it is also receiving interest from policy carriers that want to utilise its data point in underwriting . It potentially might expand internationally as well to Canada , the U.K. , and component of Asia .
Investor Kim , who is also former Chief Executive of New York Life , separate TechCrunch that he put money into Waterlily because he believes it is “ the first AI - aboriginal guidance creature to assist in the unmarried largest need as Americans eld . ”
He add : “ LTC policy is a large and growing demand , and mostly underserved by trusted advisors today . Waterlily ’s counseling pecker has no like offering . It provides a customized and personalized testimonial for one ’s LTC motive . I trust it will be a game changer for the LTC insurance policy marketplace . ”
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