Redefining Women in Health: Reflections from AI4Health Asia Accelerator
With Women’s Health Month in May marking the culmination of the AI4Health Asia accelerator program, we celebrate our women entrepreneurs’ breakthroughs to overcome women’s and girls’ health disparities and foster sexual reproductive and maternal health.
When we started working on AI4Health Asia together, we knew it was the unique fit we’d been looking for: a program focused on catalyzing affordable healthcare in the South and Southeast Asian region via the lens of women’s rights and digitalization through AI.
As Caroline Criado Pérez, writes in her book Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men,
“We need a revolution in research and the practice of medicine. It’s time to stop dismissing women, and start saving them.”
Data tells us that the health space, in particular, remains male-dominated, reflecting an unconscious bias resulting from decades of women being vastly under-researched in the medical field.
As an incubator, we practice strategic planning and self-reflection to guide our approach. What resources and connections can we leverage to support them at their current stage? How can we facilitate crucial conversations and rapport among experts and founders? How do we continue to foster a culture of resilience and adaptability post-program?
With our all-women incubation team, we recognized the value of applying a gender lens in all our program sessions and recruiting women experts who understand women’s health inequities firsthand.
At the heart of this program is our commitment to empowering women through deep sector knowledge and bridging the gender gap not only among our entrepreneurs but our network of female experts. Our experts, Adrienne Heinrich and Louise “LA” Castillo, who are revolutionizing AI and data science in the Philippines, shared insights on AI road mapping, data segmentation, ethical AI, and its implications. In a region where female tech talent is often overlooked, AI4Health Asia took crucial steps to expand its pool of female AI and analytics experts and amplify their voices.
In addition to our female tech experts, our team leveraged the expertise of Megha Jindal, Swathi Kulkarni, Pat Thitipattakul, Sukhmani Singh, and Gregorie Perez hailing from Thailand, India, and the Philippines respectively, each bringing crucial insights in healthcare, investments, and strengthening business models, all to enhance the depth of our network.
During these sessions, we witnessed remarkable growth and confidence, fostering a positive environment of cross-learning among the cohort. With our team leading exchanges of innovative ideas and collaborative problem-solving, we empower our women entrepreneurs and experts through strategic connections where women can thrive and succeed together in a niche space. Our focus was to build a strong ecosystem through network opportunities, access to resources and investor connections, and building rapport among women founders.
We celebrate the remarkable achievements of our women entrepreneurs. From our first interactions with Wendy Leong (Mobiva) and Ruby Nguyen (Momby), we were deeply inspired by their engineering backgrounds. What struck us was how they channel their expertise to tackle maternal and pandemic disparities in the region. Motivated by a deep-seated desire to change the status quo and revolutionize health outcomes by leveraging gender-disaggregated data and ethical AI strategies, Momby launched Vietnam’s first AI personal health assistant for mothers called “Doti.’’ Mobiva, the sole enterprise addressing Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Response in the program, successfully expanded its reach across urban and rural populations in Malaysia and the Philippines by applying AI modeling and partnering with renowned international institutions such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and UNICEF.
Among other standout entrepreneurs making strides in the world of femtech is Sisrimas Suwanwijit (Sex-O-Phone), a pediatrician based in Thailand who went the extra mile to build an AI chatbot from Thailand to address teenage mental and sexual health problems by collaborating with schools and parents. Sastya Wardani (PLans), Nusrat Kabir Prova (Chondo), and Elizabeth Raisa (bubbME.AI) founded AI-driven applications focusing on women’s pregnancy and reproductive health needs, fueled by their deep desire to destigmatize discussions on sex and reproductive health in Indonesia and Bangladesh. In the realm of maternal health, Duong Vu and Constance Ching (VIVID) spearhead an AI-powered virtual violations detector designed to flag harmful marketing violations targeting children, collaborating closely with UNICEF and global governments.
We are proud to have enriched this nascent ecosystem by investing in the journeys of our women-led founders and launching AI4Health Asia, the first of its kind in the region. Healthcare must be inclusive of women’s needs, and our hope is to leave a lasting legacy of harnessing potential in women. Their resilience, creativity, and relentless dedication to improving the lives of women and girls through pioneering technology serves as our inspiration.
The road ahead
Investing in women’s health extends beyond Women’s Health Month. Closing the gender gap means harnessing the untapped potential in women by pushing for bolder and ambitious projects like AI4Health Asia to uplift the well-being and quality of life of half of the world’s population. As champions in the social entrepreneurship space, Villgro Philippines is committed to empowering women by promoting gender equality for a more equitable world. With the end of this program, our mission is to continue incubating women in femtech to advance women’s and girls’ health and well-being.
It’s time to establish women as the driving force in the health space.
Happy Women’s Health Month! Here’s to working towards a future of inclusive and accessible healthcare for all!
Sources:
- Quote: Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
- Femtech is defined by McKinsey & Company (2022) as technology that “provides a wide range of solutions to improve healthcare for women across a number of female-specific conditions, including maternal health, menstrual health, pelvic and sexual health, fertility, menopause, and contraception, as well as several general health conditions that affect women disproportionately or differently
- Gender-disaggregated data refers to data that is broken down by sex or gender, allowing for analysis and comparison of outcomes, experiences, and disparities between males and females. This type of data collection provides crucial insights into understanding how various factors, such as health, education, employment, and participation in decision-making, affect individuals differently based on their sex or gender. Source: United Nations Statistics Division. (n.d.). “Gender Statistics.” Retrieved from Etpu (un.org)
- Gender lens — Takes the existing differences between women and men into account when analysing a situation or when developing specific approaches or programmes. Gender lens — United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (unescwa.org)
About the Authors
Sofia Gonzalez was the Project Lead for Villgro Philippines’ AI4Health Asia accelerator, a regional program supporting AI-powered health startups in Southeast Asia. Her strategic vision and dedication to fostering innovation have been instrumental in guiding these startups towards impactful solutions.
Ana Gabrielle Ceguera , Program Associate at Villgro Philippines, works alongside Sofia, bringing her analytical skills and passion for social impact to the forefront of the program’s success. Together, they are driving forward the mission of enhancing healthcare through cutting-edge AI technologies.
Connect with Sofia at sofia@villgrophilippines.org and Gaby at gaby@villgrophilippines.org
