Following a personal traumatic episode, Lily Vittayarukskul turned her grief into an impetus to help others avoid a similar crisis. The diagnosis of her aunt’s terminal colon cancer led to a revelation about the financial and emotional burden long-term care imposes on families, pushing Vittayarukskul to shift her career path.
In December 2021, the aerospace engineering student turned genetic-data scientist launched Waterlily, a Bay Area startup. The company aims to guide families and advisors through the maze of long-term care options, while neatly predicting costs and strategies for funding.
Despite most individuals considering long-term care only when needed, usually around the age of 65-70, Waterlily’s focus extends to a broader demographic, anyone over 40. The startup utilizes predictive AI to forecast a family’s future long-term care needs, helping structure a care plan and determine the best financial path to cover costs.
The use of AI enables the company to amass over 500 million data points to provide highly personalized care and cost predictions. For its database, Waterlily has agreements with long-term care providers, government databases, academic research studies, and individual users to securely collect anonymized data.
While other platforms and calculators for long-term care provision exist, Waterlily offers a more personalized approach. The startup’s platform integrates extensive predictive modeling with usability, allowing for a more tailored care planning service.
In the brief span since its public launch in March 2024, Waterlily has seen a significant growth spurt with its average monthly recurring revenue soaring over 22 times the initial value. The upswing has brought in big-league customers like Prudential and several Fortune 100 insurance carriers to its user base.
Having recently raised a substantial $7 million in seed funding, significant expansion plans are underway for Waterlily. The company intends to bolster its AI-modeling capabilities and sales-marketing outreach, attract strategic investments from Genworth, Nationwide, and Edward Jones, and expand its full-time workforce.
Focusing on future expansion opportunities, the firm is eyeing areas like disability, critical illness, hospital indemnity, and Medicare planning for advanced predictive modeling solutions. There’s also global expansion on the horizon with potential forays into the Canadian, U.K., and Asian markets.
By putting AI at the forefront of long-term care planning and selection, Waterlily is redefining the traditional norms of long-term care provisions.
Original source: Read the full article on TechCrunch
