VC Veteran Ann Lai is Leading the Charge to Fund the Future of Science

Awaken* newsletter

June 6, 2024

Venture capitalist Ann Lai is, by all measures, an absolute beast. From earning a PhD from Harvard at 25 to becoming Managing Director at her own firm–Skeleton Key, Ann has clearly achieved a great deal of success throughout her career. Ann is also notable for speaking up publicly about the misogyny she has faced in VC, despite it nearly forcing her out of the industry. I had the honor to chat with Ann about her career journey pre-VC, reflections on her identity, and also about her exciting new firm.

Journey to Venture Capital

Ann’s journey to Venture Capital is at least 50x cooler than mine. In fact, it’s one of the coolest there is. It all started when she read a biography of Marie Curie at the age of six. I asked Ann to explain what drew her to Marie Curie so much that it set her on a trajectory she is still on today:

The recognition of women in science has historically been insufficient, and I have consistently been attracted to narratives that feature an underdog. Marie Curie’s achievement as the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, and then winning it a second time, was profoundly significant to me as a young person. From a very young age, I had an affinity for science and engineering. My mother, a teacher of literature, encouraged me to read or listen to autobiographies of diverse individuals. My early fascination with NASA was spurred during the time my father worked there. Marie Curie significantly altered the landscape and methods of many scientific endeavors.

Marie Curie’s story inspired Ann to study science. By age 25, she had earned three STEM degrees from Harvard including a PhD in microfluidics. While studying, Ann was starting to notice things that would push her away from being a scientist towards investing:

I noticed that many significant scientific advancements were transitioning to privatization. There was a golden era of science in the United States during the 1970s, characterized by substantial government funding and innovative labs such as Xerox and Bell Labs, but it is now over. I hypothesized that the most groundbreaking scientific discoveries would increasingly be funded privately. The sectors that remained vibrant, like CRISPR and space exploration, were those receiving substantial private investment. And although I was satisfied in the laboratory, my broader interests and extroverted personality drew me toward the funding side of science.

However, that was not quite what the universe had in mind for Ann. Ann graduated right around the 2008 financial crisis, which had pretty much killed off all appetite for investments in science. Thus, she instead started her career at a firm pioneering big data analysis:

I joined a company on Wall Street that pioneered what is now commonly referred to as “alt data”. We acquired, scraped, and sourced new and proprietary datasets, transforming them into predictive models for public company earnings. This was a rigorous introduction to the underlying forces that influence corporate dynamics; we had to understand the key performance indicators driving stock market values. (It was like going through a condensed MBA program.) By modeling quarterly earnings, where data points were scarce, I applied methodologies from my graduate research, collapsing extensive data sets by normalizing or parameterizing the variables, allowing for a comprehensive, dynamic model. This approach was highly effective, blending scientific and business analytics.

After her stint working in finance, Ann went on to lead business intelligence for international territories at Riot Games and then worked in a few early-stage startups in preparation for a transition into Venture. One thing she said especially caught my attention:

There was noticeable skepticism towards PhDs and academics in venture capital. Despite my extensive scientific background, I was told to strategically minimize the emphasis on my PhD on my resume. It’s evident in the venture space that there is a prevailing belief that academics lack practical business acumen.

When asked whether this skepticism extended to PhD founders, Ann elaborated:

This skepticism is indeed still prevalent. However, many PhDs are exceptionally practical. For companies involved in iterative development, such as SaaS companies, the requirements are different. In these fields, the emphasis is more on user interaction and less on deep scientific knowledge. But, for science-driven enterprises, a thorough understanding of the fundamental sciences is crucial.

Hopefully, this gives some hope to the PhDs out there who are looking to start a company! In fact, VC has been trending more towards deep tech evidenced by an increased share of investments into the space.

Advice for Women in Venture

One aspect Ann has been noted for is her outspokenness on the misogyny she has faced in the Venture ecosystem. For more specifics about her experiences, you can check out this Elle article written about her. Given her experiences, I asked her what advice she would give to women who want to go into the VC or startup space, but are concerned about the misogyny and fraternity culture that is still rampant.

Establishing a close network of mentors and peers for support is essential. This has been invaluable to me. Unfortunately, the prevailing culture remains challenging, and the progress we’ve made has perhaps deteriorated in the past year due to decreased venture capital availability on the LP side. There’s still a lot of work to do. The solidarity of women supporting one another is crucial for fostering progress. Maintaining a commitment to support each other is critical. Although most days it may not seem particularly difficult, there are specific moments where you can just feel a very big demographic difference in terms of who’s empowered. Partners are partners, but managing partners are different categories of partners. Until more women are managing partners or running their own sizable firms as partners, there’s still not enough leverage in the space.

Being Asian

I asked Ann to reflect on how her identity as an Asian woman has affected her lived experience:

My mother is incredibly liberal for her generation of Taiwanese. She has always been supportive, telling me I don’t need to get married early or worry about having kids, which is rare for Asian moms of her generation. At the same time, my parents weren’t financially very well off when we came back to the States. I contributed to my family’s income from the age of 12. There was no safety net. If I didn’t make it, nobody could pay the bills. It taught me resilience and gave me a “no way back” approach to life.

My dad raised me with a strong sense of right and wrong (We watched a lot of Asian martial arts dramas and stories.) It’s not really about being visible–it’s about doing the right thing. This Asian heroism as defined by martial arts movies approach is quite different from American heroism, and it’s the reason why I stood up for myself even when it might have prevented me from working again.

Being an Asian woman in the US is difficult. I often get the assumption that I’m a lot younger, for example. So, you always have to go into a meeting fighting that. That’s something my cohort and I have talked about a lot, like, you learn how to dress and style yourself to appear older sometimes so that you will be taken more seriously.

For meetings in East Asia, I was coached to open meetings by stating my qualifications, the PhD from Harvard, etc.This way, they respect the degree and then they respect you. Male executives and men who attend meetings weren’t prepped in this way. But I’m starting to see more evolution, especially with the younger, successful Asian male founders and groups. They’re very supportive, which is great. The older generations still tend to have a more patriarchal mindset, but it’s getting better, especially in the US.

Anecdotally, children of first-generation immigrants often pursue more stable, high-paying careers (doctor, lawyer, etc.), yet Ann has clearly bucked this trend. I asked her why she thought she ended up doing so:

My parents have been very modern in their thinking. They’ve never said I had to do things in a certain way. They’ve always supported my decisions. It made me feel like I could do anything. I’ve never worried that I might not succeed. If you are fearless, you end up doing aggressive things, aggressive in a good way.

Having grown up in both the US and Taiwan, I think Western and Eastern education are quite different. The American system encourages exploration and aspirations, whereas there’s a lot more regimen in the Eastern education system. The way I was raised was very much a marriage of those two aspects in an unexpected way. I have a lot of friends who were told to be a doctor or a lawyer, but if you think you can do better at other things, why do you have to do that?

Skeleton Key

A Skeleton Key is a type of master key in which the serrated edge has been removed in such a way that it can open numerous locks. It is also the name of Ann’s new firm. While researching for this interview, I came across this article by Ann, where she lays out the argument for why Deep Tech is venture-backable. Towards the end of the article, she shifts the focus to ScienceTech (SciTech), which she defines as: the software, platforms, or tech-enabled services that accelerate scientific discovery or assist in bringing science to life. I asked Ann why she chose Skeleton Key’s focus to be on SciTech instead of Deep Tech:

Deep tech is definitely fundable, as I’ve talked about. But now with AI, I’m thinking about how to make deep tech happen faster. Instead of investing in a drug, I’m looking at the platforms helping people discover drugs faster. Those layers are interesting to me, and I think those are the layers where a lot of the accelerated computing power can come into fruition in an interesting way. The accelerated computing power means you can map out a lot of things that have historically been very difficult such as fatigued glass behavior or certain thermal dynamics, nonlinear dynamics, and anything that’s related to nonlinear systems.

There’s even a lot of interesting stuff happening around the application layer of science. For instance, bringing chemicals to real-life applications usually takes a long time. You find a chemical and wonder where to use it and what it can be used for. Then, usually, you need a different type of manufacturing protocol or a different variation for each use case. But now, you can find a lot of those variants much faster. The formulation or the tuning of that molecule, protein, etc. can be assisted on by AI and you accelerate that process of bringing it to a real-life application much faster.

As you may have gathered from her background, one of Ann’s specialties is data analysis. In her previous VC roles, Ann leveraged her background to evaluate companies based on their data in an apples-to-apples way. You can hear more about her approach in this podcast. Given that Skeleton Key is working with a type of company that isn’t what the typical VC invests in, I was curious to know if she had to adapt her process:

It’s definitely different for Skeleton Key. We deal with a lot more data around R&D and early applications because we’re focusing on a second or third institutional round for these folks–so it’s a post- R&D but before they actually hit ramping revenue. That means you still have time to work with them on exploring the business–is it a software platform approach, or is it a single molecule approach, or a single robot approach?

I asked Ann what revenue the companies typically are at in their second or third institutional round:

I think the specific revenue number doesn’t really matter. It’s the mechanics of what the early performance looks like. If they have a couple of contracts which are scalable over time and show real adoption and real usage–that’s a lot more important than one marquee SaaS contract that you can get through relationships. It’s more around the usage, the actual day-to-day functionality or day-to-day use.

Earlier in our chat, Ann touched on how Skeleton Key plans to help startups explore different business angles, I asked Ann to elaborate on this process:

Our approach is very collaborative. My philosophy has always been to provide as much help as the founder wants. The goal post-investing is to help them with monetization, go-to-market strategies, and thinking about how to scale from a scientific lab mindset into building a company. We also assist them in fundraising. There are a lot of resources post-investment, and whether a founder will leverage them is their choice, but we prefer that they are open to us being more involved. In this category, where there are no established revenue models and many founders are coming from academic backgrounds, this advisory capacity is helpful to give them the full lay of the land, let them explore, and let them test different monetization hypotheses quickly. Inflexibility or lack of adaptability can be a problem down the line, especially in these categories that require a lot of money for ramping up and the revenue models aren’t so obvious. In fact, we’re planning on helping founders in this way before even investing, as part of our process.

I mentioned to Ann that this kind of help seems very valuable, especially since the only resources available online tend to be very reductive:

My biggest pet peeve is when VCs prescribe a framework without actually understanding the problem. When we help companies, we don’t do that. We workshop their unique situation and how to price best for their product, without capping future revenue. For example, a lot of people like to suggest ARR subscription SaaS, but that model doesn’t work for everyone. There’s a lot of possibilities around pricing and revenue that isn’t just about “getting ARR.” I think those are the interesting exercises to think through when you’re in these new categories.

Shoutouts

Ann is amazing and I am super excited for the launch of Skeleton Key. If you’d like to hear more from Ann, you can sign up for her Science Fair newsletter here, where she writes about science and venture. Thank you Ann for the great interview!

Stories

Lucy Liu Stars in “Rosemead,” a True Story of Immigrant Mothers Facing Fear and Mental Health Challenges

Lucy Liu is once again bringing us a powerful performance with Rosemead, a film that has been picked up by Vertical for a December theatrical release. The story follows a mother who begins to see troubling changes in her teenage son, opening the door to a deeper look at fear, love, and mental health.

Recently, the film gathered strong early interest after drawing a full audience at a special screening held at the Metreon in San Francisco. Hosted by Dave Lu, the event sparked conversations about topics often avoided in public spaces, especially within immigrant communities.

With its growing list of festival honors, positive reviews, and a narrative inspired by real events, Rosemead is already being recognized as one of Liu’s most powerful and personal performances to date.

Image Source: BBC

A Story Built on Fear and Family Pressure

At the heart of Rosemead is a mother who becomes concerned as her son’s behavior shifts in unsettling ways. What begins as quiet anxiety slowly grows into a frightening urgency as she realizes the situation may be more dangerous than she imagined.

As her fear rises, she faces the painful question of how far a parent can go to protect the child they love. The tension builds with each scene, making her inner struggle feel both real and universal.

The story takes place within a Chinese American household where cultural expectations and unspoken worries create additional layers of pressure. Lucy Liu captures these emotions with precision, while newcomer Lawrence Shou brings a raw, unpredictable intensity that deepens the film’s emotional impact.

Image Source: The Traveler’s Take

Building Momentum Through Festival Wins

Before reaching theaters, Rosemead had already made a strong impression on the festival circuit. Its premiere at Tribeca drew praise for its gripping approach to storytelling and its standout performances.

The film’s momentum continued as it won Best Narrative Feature at the Bentonville Film Festival, adding to its early recognition. It gained even more attention after earning the Prix du Public UBS audience award at the Locarno Film Festival.

During its time at Locarno, Lucy Liu also received a Career Achievement Award that highlighted her long-standing influence in the industry. Vertical’s Peter Jarowey praised her work for its emotional depth, while also recognizing director Eric Lin’s bold and confident vision in his feature debut.

Image Source: Yahoo

A Strong Screening at the San Francisco Metreon

The event at the Metreon brought together creators, film lovers, and local community members for an open discussion about the upcoming release. The gathering served as a space for people to share expectations, explore the film’s themes, and talk about the real-life issues it aims to portray.

The audience noted how the film reflects real family struggles, especially those found in immigrant households. Its grounded approach to fear and uncertainty sparked discussions about mental health and cultural expectations.

After the screening, conversations centered on Liu’s controlled yet deeply affecting performance. Lawrence Shou also drew attention for his breakout role, adding to the anticipation for the film’s one-week run in selected theaters this December.

Experience the film in theaters and see why it’s already drawing strong early interest. Rosemead is set to premiere in select theaters on December 5, 2025 in New York City; December 12, 2025 in Los Angeles, and more cities to follow on January 9, 2026.

Image Source: Nikolas Liepens

Nov 25, 2025
4 min read

Stories

The Story Behind Inspire To Create Media: How Trysen Kaneshige Uses Art to Heal and Connect Community

Born and raised in Kauaʻi, Hawaii, Trysen Kaneshige never imagined that a series of brain injuries would redirect the course of his life. Art, which had once been a hobby, became his lifeline—a way to heal, process, and reconnect with the world around him.

What began as a personal form of therapy soon turned into a mission: to use creativity not only for his own recovery but to uplift his community and share stories that mattered.

As he experimented with murals, branding, and design, Trysen discovered that each project could bridge culture, healing, and connection in ways he had never anticipated. Through perseverance and collaboration, he began working with brands like Volcom, Olukai, and Soulection Radio, while also leading projects for schools, nonprofits, and community organizations across Hawaii.

From these experiences, Trysen founded Inspire To Create Media, a healing-centered creative agency that blends streetwear aesthetics, cultural storytelling, and design to create work that resonates far beyond the islands.

Finding Inspiration in Adversity

Trysen’s path to entrepreneurship was shaped by necessity and resilience. “I wasn’t able to work a regular job since I would have a lot of migraines or dealt with depression etc. It’s been challenging but I’ve learned to be resilient and not give up. What also inspired me was to create something for my community and for the next generation that is after me,” he recalls. The setbacks could have ended his creative ambitions, but Trysen chose to focus on what he could control: his art and his recovery.

Instead of succumbing to frustration, he saw opportunity in every challenge. He began creating small pieces, testing ideas, and using art as a method to regain focus, confidence, and purpose. These early efforts helped him realize that healing and creativity could coexist and even amplify one another.

What started as a personal journey of recovery soon became a mission to uplift others. Trysen wanted to leave something meaningful for his community and for the next generation, showing that creativity could transform not only individual lives but also the cultural landscape of Kauaʻi.

Overcoming Challenges Without a Safety Net

The road to building a creative business was far from smooth. Trysen faced difficult challenges that he considered walking away from everything, grappling with both the physical and emotional toll of head injuries. Each day was a battle between self-doubt, pain, and the desire to keep moving forward.

Beyond personal health struggles, he had no investors, no team, and no corporate backing. Every decision, every financial risk, and every project came solely from his determination and willingness to learn through trial and error. “If I had someone that saw what I was creating in the beginning, it would’ve been easier,” he admits.

Gratitude and persistence became his anchors. By embracing the lessons from failures and small victories alike, Trysen built a foundation that was resilient, flexible, and authentic. This mindset allowed him to continue pursuing his vision even when support was scarce and the path ahead was uncertain.

Turning Achievements Into Community Impact

Despite obstacles, Trysen’s journey is marked by achievements that combine personal growth with community recognition. He takes pride in consistently showing up, even on days when recovery felt impossible, and in taking creative risks that shaped the identity of his agency.

Inspire To Create Media has earned acknowledgment on multiple levels—from Proclamations by Mayor Derek Kawakami highlighting community murals and workshops to features in local newspapers chronicling his evolving projects. These recognitions validate his belief that creativity paired with purpose resonates far beyond personal satisfaction.

For Trysen, the real measure of success is impact. Each mural, logo, or art initiative tells a story and strengthens the connection between people and place, leaving a lasting mark on Kauaʻi’s cultural and creative landscape.

Building a Healing-Centered Creative Vision

At the heart of Inspire To Create Media is a philosophy that creativity can heal, connect, and inspire simultaneously. From large-scale murals to branding and apparel, every project is designed with intention, reflecting local culture while appealing to a global audience.

Trysen explains, “Art became my way to rebuild, reconnect, and serve. What began as personal recovery grew into a mission: to use art as a tool for transformation for myself, for my community, and for the next generation of island creatives.”

Today, Inspire To Create Media continues to expand its reach, bridging art, healing, and business. Trysen’s story proves that even the toughest setbacks can spark the most powerful creativity—turning personal recovery into a force that inspires communities, cultivates connection, and demonstrates that a small island studio can have a big global impact.

Follow Trysen’s journey:

📍 @trys.creates | @inspiretocreate.media

Nov 14, 2025
4 min read

Stories

Building Meraki: How Vivian Kwan Turned Passion into Purpose

The first time Vivian Kwan realized she could build something on her own terms was during her college years in the U.S. — a time that completely shifted her perspective on what a career could be.

She found herself surrounded by students who were running side hustles, freelancing, and starting companies before graduation. It was a stark contrast to her upbringing in Hong Kong.

“Back home in Hong Kong, the path was pretty clear: study hard, land a stable job, and climb the corporate ladder,” she recalls. “But in the U.S., I met people who were building something entirely their own. That inspired me to think differently.”

Curious and driven, Vivian began experimenting — running a small photography business and creating content for fun. That experiment grew into Meraki Group, a boutique talent management agency representing a diverse roster of lifestyle creators — and now a 7-figure business built entirely from the ground up.

Redefining Success as a First-Generation Founder

When Vivian launched Meraki Group in 2021, she had no network, no outside funding, and no PR machine behind her, just the belief that creators deserved better representation.

As a first-generation Asian immigrant, Vivian was raised to stay quiet and keep her head down. “But entrepreneurship requires something different,” she says. “I had to learn to advocate for myself and my talents loudly and unapologetically.”

Without big teams or resources, she leaned into what she could control: being hands-on, transparent, and relationship-driven. That boutique approach became Meraki’s unique selling point: brands and creators know they can reach Vivian directly, and that trust has allowed Meraki to thrive against the odds. Today, Meraki has closed 300+ brand campaigns with brand partners like HOKA, REI, Shark, Columbia Sportswear, Libman, Google, and UGG.

The Challenge of Balance

Motherhood has always run parallel to Vivian’s entrepreneurial journey — two worlds that demand her heart in equal measure. In the early years of Meraki, she often found herself caught between deadlines and bedtime stories, client calls and school drop-offs. The guilt was relentless: every hour spent growing the business felt like time borrowed from her children.

But over time, her perspective shifted. She began to see that showing her kids what fulfillment looked like was one of the greatest gifts she could give them. Building Meraki wasn’t just about proving something to the industry — it was about showing her children what resilience, purpose, and self-belief looked like in real life.

“My kids deserve a mother who’s confident and happy,” she says simply. “That thought keeps me grounded when things get hard.”

A Year of Growth and Gratitude

In October, the Meraki community came to life in a way that no Zoom call ever could. Vivian and her team hosted their annual NYC dinner — an intimate gathering of creators, brand partners, and friends who had helped shape the agency’s journey. The room buzzed with laughter, warm reunions, and stories that stretched back to Meraki’s earliest days.

For Vivian, it was a full-circle moment. Many of the guests were creators she had signed during the uncertainty of the pandemic — people she had championed from afar before ever shaking their hands in person. Watching them share a table, swapping stories and ideas, felt like witnessing the agency’s spirit materialise in real life.

It wasn’t a night of flashy sponsors or curated photo ops, but of genuine connection — the kind that has quietly fueled Meraki’s success from day one. “What I’m most proud of isn’t the growth,” Vivian reflects. “It’s loyalty. Many of my creators have been with me for three or four years. In an industry where talent often comes and goes, that kind of long-term commitment means everything.”

What Comes Next

As Meraki continues to grow, Vivian is laying the groundwork for a new chapter — one that strengthens the agency’s foundation while amplifying its impact. She’s focused on expanding her team and refining systems to preserve Meraki’s signature boutique quality, even as it scales.

“I’m being intentional with this next chapter,” she says. “Before stepping deeper into consulting and mentorship, I want to make sure the agency continues to run with the same care and creative integrity it was built on.”

With that foundation in place, Vivian plans to open limited consulting slots and launch educational programs for creators and emerging talent managers. Her goal is to nurture the next generation of creative leaders — empowering them to build with heart, purpose, and the courage to redefine what success can look like.

Follow Vivian’s journey:
📍 LinkedIn | Instagram

Nov 7, 2025
4 min read

Stories

The Founders Behind Anise Health: How Two Women Are Reimagining Mental Health for the Asian Community

When Nisha Desai and Alice Zhang met at Harvard Business School, neither of them expected that a casual conversation about their frustrations with therapy would spark the idea for something much bigger.

As they juggled graduate school and their own mental health, they often felt therapy wasn’t built for people like them – they spent more time explaining their background to their therapists than actually healing.

They realized it wasn’t just them – there’s a gap in mental healthcare that left many in the Asian and multicultural community feeling unseen and misunderstood.

That shared realization became the seed for Anise Health: a platform built to make therapy culturally attuned, accessible, and truly effective for the AAPI community.

A Problem They Both Knew Too Well

Before their paths crossed, both founders had already seen the same issue from different directions.

Nisha, who grew up in Florida in a family of healthcare entrepreneurs, had always been drawn to questions of access and equity in care. After studying finance and marketing at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and earning her MBA from Harvard, she worked in healthcare investing and later in digital product management at Humana. It was there, while helping build a mental health app, that she started hearing a troubling pattern from thousands of users – the same barriers she had personally faced.

Nisha recalls that people weren’t saying therapy didn’t work. They were saying it didn’t fit, that they didn’t feel understood.

Alice, meanwhile, came to the same conclusion through her own deeply personal experiences. Born in China, raised across Japan and Canada, and now based in New York, she calls herself a “third culture kid.” Her multicultural background gave her adaptability, but also a sense of never fully belonging anywhere.

That feeling resurfaced when she sought therapy during business school. Despite being fluent in English, she found herself translating her own emotions for her therapist – explaining why criticism from parents felt like love, or why pursuing excellence felt non-negotiable.

Alice remembers feeling exhausted after each session, explaining her background again and again, and leaving each time feeling unseen.

Alice Zhang (left) and Nisha Desai (right)

Building a Culturally Grounded Model of Care

After that pivotal conversation at Harvard, the two women began mapping out what culturally attuned mental health care could look like. They spoke to clinicians, patients, payors and community leaders, testing how cultural nuance could be integrated into evidence-based therapy and coaching.

They envisioned a new kind of care model: one that didn’t require clients to educate their therapists or set aside their cultural identity at the door. Instead, therapy would start from a place of understanding.

“Alice and I really built Anise to be what we believe our community has needed during our upbringing. What we kind of wished for ourselves through our own personal journeys with therapy.”

But building what didn’t yet exist came with challenges. They had to prove — to investors, clinicians, and even the broader healthcare system — that cultural context wasn’t just a “nice to have,” but essential to effective care. Many mental health professionals hadn’t been trained to deliver culturally adaptive therapy, so Anise Health had to design that framework from the ground up: provider training programs, accurate diagnostic tools, tailored care plans, curated resources and a scalable model for personalized, culturally attuned care.

Their persistence paid off. What started as late-night brainstorming sessions between classes evolved into a fully fledged mental health platform that blends clinical rigor with cultural empathy.

Growing the Movement

Since its founding, Anise Health has facilitated over 10,000 paid appointments and built a network of 60+ licensed providers across multiple states. The company is now expanding through insurance partnerships that make culturally attuned care more affordable and accessible.

Behind the scenes, Nisha leads operations and product design, while Alice drives partnerships and provider training.

Their complementary strengths, coupled with a shared sense of purpose, have helped Anise Health raise $6.4 million in funding and gain recognition as one of the top 10 most innovative Asian Pacific-led companies to watch by NYSE, Y Combinator, and Gold House.

Redefining the Future of Mental Health for Asian Communities

For both founders, Anise Health’s success goes beyond numbers. It’s about shifting how mental health is understood and delivered, starting with a community that has long been underserved and stigmatized.

“Our goal isn’t just to make care available,” Nisha says. “It’s to make it effective, culturally relevant, and sustainable within the healthcare system.”

By creating a new gold standard of culturally attuned care, Nisha and Alice aren’t just helping Asian Americans access therapy that finally feels like it speaks their language – they’re reimagining what inclusive mental health care can look like for everyone.

Learn more about Anise Health at anisehealth.co

Nov 4, 2025
5 min read

Journey to Venture Capital

Advice for Women in Venture

Being Asian

Skeleton Key

Shoutouts