An annual health checkup when Mr Hari Krishnan was still CEO of PropertyGuru led him to to start Genie Health, an artificial intelligence healthtech startup.
He was found to have high cholesterol, after which he drew on his family’s medical history, data from wearable devices and advice from medical professionals for a better understanding of his health.
But he recognised that the resources and expertise he had access to as a CEO might not be readily available to everyone.
“The more I thought about it, I saw that this was not something that had to do with power or authority,” he said. “This information needs to be democratised and made more available, and that’s where Genie comes in.”
Mr Hari, the startup’s CEO and co-founder, has now raised US$3 million (S$3.83 million) in seed funding to develop tools to improve consumers’ understanding of their health information, and enable healthcare providers to deliver more personalised care.
The funding round was led by the Nadathur Family Office, the family office of Infosys Technologies co-founder Mr NS Raghavan. Other investors include Temasek-backed venture studio Liminal and undisclosed angel investors who are senior leaders in the healthcare space, said Mr Hari.
Mr Anand Nadathur, principal of the Nadathur Family Office, will join the board.
Mr Hari and his co-founders – Genie’s chairperson, Ms Maya Hari, and the startup’s chief marketing officer, Mr Sandeep Suvarna – also took part in the funding round and collectively maintain the largest bloc of shares.
Ms Maya, who used to be CEO at climate-tech platform Terrascope, backed by Olam and Fujitsu Ventures, also had a stint as vice-president for the Asia-Pacific at Twitter.
Mr Sandeep was the former head of international marketing at live-streaming platform Twitch.
Using AI to personalise healthcare
Genie Health has two products: a free app for patients to get insights and guidance on their health information, and a platform for healthcare providers to engage and provide insights to patients.
The platform for healthcare providers charges a monthly subscription and some usage-based fees.
It uses AI agents to automate routine administrative tasks. One such tool is a triaging agent which handles customer enquiries and can refer medical questions to a human during office hours, or direct customers to a hospital outside office hours.
“We are seeing up to 60 per cent fewer enquiries handled by (our) human staff,” said Mr Hari.
Another AI agent that handles appointment bookings and sends reminders to patients has reduced no-shows at clinics by 25 per cent.
Navigating a regulated space
Building a startup in a heavily regulated space such as healthcare is not easy, but Mr Hari believes that the co-founders’ years of experience and complementary skill sets give them an edge.
“As a repeat entrepreneur, I know exactly what is important to focus on and what you can tolerate,” he added.
The key to success lies in finding partners, and this is not something that may occur to young entrepreneurs looking to disrupt their industry, said Krishnan.
Before starting up Genie, the founders had conversations with healthcare providers and sought partners for the venture. They have a list of advisers, which includes four medical doctors – resource persons who field questions from Mr Hari and his team on how things work in the medical field and what the challenges are.
“(The healthcare industry) needs to be regulated for logical reasons, but to be honest, there is enough space left for innovation,” said Mr Hari.
Both of Genie’s products are unregulated because they are not direct healthcare service providers, but Mr Hari said they comply with the Personal Data Protection Act and US’ Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
Singapore first, expansion later
Genie will be focused on Singapore for the next 12 months, as the startup is looking for good unit economics and product-market fit here.
The funding will be used to deepen Genie’s presence in Singapore, to build more integration with the healthcare system, and to get more clinics on board the platform.
Other features are slated to be rolled out, and Mr Hari is looking to educate members of the public and healthcare providers about how its AI tools can be used.
“Once we have hit those parameters, we will explore other markets, but we don’t want to get distracted by that; our focus is very much here in Singapore,” he said.
Genie is also looking to maintain a lean team with its AI focus. It now has 10 employees, including the three co-founders, and will use AI to keep the headcount below 20.
This will require a reimagination of how business is done and how the company can scale, said Mr Hari.
“How do you do this by using AI and technology? This is going to require us to think about it.” THE BUSINESS TIMES
