I dreamt of building rockets until my aunt's illness inspired me to build an AI startup that's raised nearly $10 million

Lily Vittayarukskul grew up with ambitions to build rockets. An aerospace engineer by training, her career path took a sharp turn when her aunt was diagnosed with cancer. The experience revealed the fragmented nature of long-term care, exposing the financial and emotional strain families face when they have no clear roadmap for managing a health crisis.

Watching her family struggle through the medical system, Vittayarukskul recognized that many others were stuck on autopilot. Her family faced exhaustion, tension, and financial instability as they navigated the unknown. This personal ordeal moved her to reconsider the impact she wanted to make. She transitioned away from aerospace to build something that could provide families with stability during their most difficult moments.

She cofounded Waterlily, an AI-powered platform designed for long-term care planning. The service assists families in estimating potential costs and identifying funding strategies by analyzing health and financial data. It aims to replace uncertainty with actionable projections, helping people plan for aging with the same rigor one might apply to a complex engineering project.

Scaling a company across the healthcare, insurance, and financial sectors has presented significant hurdles. Vittayarukskul notes that these industries often operate in silos with conflicting incentives. Despite the complexity, her focus remains on the specific needs of families. Since the launch of the platform, the business has raised $9.2 million.

For Vittayarukskul, the mission is now personal. She measures success not by technical complexity, but by the tangible help her company provides to families. By offering tools to manage the logistics of aging, she intends to help others avoid the isolation her own family experienced. Her goal is to bring clarity to a process that often feels overwhelming.