Alpha, Empowering Women To Take Charge Of Their Health
Courtesy of Alpha
Alpha Medical, or simply Alpha, is a Palo Alto, California-based women’s online primary care provider. The startup aims to give women an easy, all-in-one online space for their everyday medical needs.
Alpha was cofounded by Gloria Lau (CEO) in 2017. With prior experience heading up data products at Linkedin and being the Vice President of Timeful, which was acquired by Google, Lau believes that the future of health services will be characterized by a simple and personalized experience supported by a team of tech-enabled doctors and pharmacies. This belief is at the core of Alpha today. The startup has raised $15 million to date, with backing from Data Collective Venture Capital, a premier AI-focused venture capital firm, along with many top angels.
We sat down with Lau to learn more about how Alpha came about, how they are integrating technology to help treat patients for a variety of ailments from acid reflux to endometriosis, and the future of the company.
Hi Gray: Happy New Year, thanks for sitting down with us. Let’s start with your origin story: tell me about both the inspiration as well as the consumer demand that drove the creation of Alpha.
Gloria Lau: When I moved from Hong Kong to the United States, I quickly discovered that women across the country face the greatest barriers to accessible and affordable healthcare. I found the process of finding the right doctor, getting answers and a diagnosis, understanding treatments and side effects, finding time for pharmacy trips and processing the bills to be unnecessarily challenging given the fragmented healthcare system.
After having kids and the more I spoke with other mothers, colleagues and friends, the clearer it became that women across the country almost exclusively become the “chief medical officer” for their family and are left to navigate the expensive, time-intensive, opaque world of healthcare. I founded Alpha in 2017 to …