Xi Liu is the Founder and CEO of Ferne Health, a female-focused healthcare startup in Singapore. Before Ferne, she worked in product at Amazon.

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

We offer holistic health and wellness care solutions for female consumers, such as teleconsultation, at-home testing, prescription delivery and wellness coaching services.

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

Lots of women are struggling to get high-quality care in Asia. The number of women who have received judgemental comments, unfair treatment, religious or cultural pressure, or had difficulties getting access to primary care is countless.

Not many women are comfortable sharing their issues, so it has never come into the spotlight. However, if you speak to female friends about their doctor's visits, you'd be surprised to hear how many bad stories happen!

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

When I first came to Singapore, femtech wasn't being discussed, and no testing companies were available. We are one of the first few female-focused healthcare startups that started the entire femtech movement in Singapore and SEA.

For that reason, we got featured by all of the top media here, which created even more discussion about women's rights. I'm most proud of how much we encouraged so many women to think, talk and take action about their health and wellness.

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

Healthcare! I'm still in the healthcare space. It always excites me a lot for two reasons:

(1) It matters a lot for everyone in the world.

(2) It's so heavily regulated and complicated, which often creates barriers to change. Still, for the same reason, new ideas and innovations are often revolutionary and exciting.

Also, Web 3. There are lots of discussions and startups pivoting to Web3 lately. I'm particularly interested in the space because it creates a lot of new possibilities for how a community, especially an exclusive and safe community, could operate.

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

I'm in the healthcare industry, so I would recommend a new founder in the space to understand the infrastructure, regulation, and overall atmosphere. It is a challenging yet exciting space, and understanding the broad challenges could help one navigate it better.

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

The disproportionate challenges women are facing in the workplace, life, healthcare, human rights, education, etc. in Asia as compared to men.

🎥  What's your favorite movie/TV show?

Friends!

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

Pistachio