‍Anna Vanessa Haotanto is the founder of Zora Health, a one-stop fertility care platform that increases accessibility and convenience through patient support and corporate education.

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👋🏼 How would you explain your job to someone outside tech?

Zora Health is a digital platform that simplifies fertility care by increasing accessibility, and convenience and offers fertility financing. We match patients with the right doctors globally and provide complimentary benefits such as consultation concierge and expert support.

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🧐 What's something about you or your job that would surprise us?

‍Egg freezing is a topic I'm familiar with as I’ve done it myself. It's also a very overlooked $54 billion global market, and 44% of treatments are in Asia. Technology has changed a lot of the way we do things, the way we travel, the way we stay in hotels, and the way we commute.

There are a lot of developments, but not in fertility care. In Southeast Asia, I believe there are only three or four fertility tech companies, mostly either hardware or e-commerce. I thought it was a very interesting market: high quantum, underserved. But we don't talk about it because there are barriers to entry, such as shame and guilt.

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🏆 What has been the biggest highlight of your career so far?

Starting Zora Health as I'm doing it out of love and trying to make an impact. Although, technically, my whole business is about fertility. At this stage of life, I feel very lucky. It's not about proving myself but solving something I care deeply about.

I've been working for 22 years and I was ready for a break and a fresh start. I stepped down last year because we reached a big milestone and I was keen to explore more tech opportunities. In that period, I looked at a lot of ideas, but asked myself: “Do I really want to do this?” After nine years of being a founder, maybe I just want to cruise through life!

At the start of my career, it was always about money and financial security, because my family struggled. We didn't have a house. I always wanted to have stable finances and a home. With The New Savvy, I got out of banking—and I was doing quite well, as a banker—because I wanted something to show for it. It was more of an ego journey, to prove that I could do it. I didn’t want to be a one-trick pony.

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🔍 What's a startup trend or space you're watching this year?‍

Fertility tech, healthcare, and AI.

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💼 What advice would you give someone starting out in your industry? 

Have a great degree of sensitivity and care.

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🗣 What's one thing you can keep talking about for hours? 

‍Healthcare and productivity.

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🎥 What's your favorite movie/TV show? 

‍Up.

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🍨 What's your go-to ice cream flavor?‍

Vanilla.

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FYI. We've edited this interview for clarity.