Guadalupe Lazaro is the co-founder of Ease Healthcare, which raised a $1.3M seed led by Insignia Ventures Partners late last year.

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

Through Ease Healthcare, I'm building a women's health ecosystem that provides women across Asia with services, products and tech-based solutions to empower them and allow them to take full control of their health and wellness.

My job is to set the vision for the ecosystem and ensure it all comes together at the end of the day. I work on establishing important partnerships on the daily, especially with partners who can help take us to the next level. I also find joy in bringing together a team of people who can not only help the company meet its different objectives, but also transform women's health in Asia for the better.

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

I've been an activist in the women's rights and sexual and reproductive rights space for the past 10+ years (since I was 15!).

For me, the years I spent working with grassroots organizations and NGOs have been really formative. I often find myself applying the tools I learned during those years to my day-to-day work at Ease.

I've applied the knowledge and skills to build our thriving community at Ease, come up with creative content to educate wider audiences and boost awareness of the gaps and solutions within women's health.

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

A big recurring highlight for me is reading or hearing stories from consumers about how big of an impact we've made in their lives through the Ease ecosystem.

It makes me proud to see just how far the team at Ease has come since our launch two years ago. It also motivates me to find new ways to grow our footprint and expand our offerings to help solve more problems in women's health across Asia.

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

Mental health startups have grown and covered much ground in recent years, and it's a sector I've been watching particularly closely.

I believe there are similarities between the mental health space and the area we operate in — women's health — particularly because issues around mental health and women's health are both often stigmatized in Asia.

We have plenty to learn from the mental health sector, especially when it comes to convincing people to talk about issues not often discussed publicly.

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

For anyone building something in a sensitive or stigmatized industry like sexual and reproductive health, it's important to build trust with consumers first before trying to offer them a service or a product.

Consumers in these sectors need to trust your brand and feel comfortable with your messaging for them to decide to become part of your platform or community.

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

Women's health and women's rights are areas I've always been passionate about and topics I can discuss for hours on end!

🎥 What's your favorite movie/TV show?

I actually love watching Shark Tank! Seeing other entrepreneurs succeed and learn from their stories and backgrounds is always heartwarming and insightful and also a nice reminder of why I became an entrepreneur myself.

Seeing other startup founders working towards their dreams is also particularly inspiring for a lot of kids and young people who aspire to similarly create and innovate.

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

Raspberry!