25 Foundation Grantees
Angela Lim
Leadership
Health tech entrepreneur Angela Lim describes her membership of the Foundation's Leadership Network as a turning point in her career. “I don’t think I’d be where I am today without it,” she says.
Today Angela is a medical doctor and CEO /co-founder of Clearhead – a one-stop-shop online mental health platform designed to help Kiwis find and access the help they need. She is also the chair of the 20/20 Trust, which builds New Zealanders’ computer skills and online access.
“I’m taking a break from clinical practice,” she says. “I miss it, but I think if the company is successful, I won’t be returning.”
In 2018 Angela was one of five Kiwi Young Business Leaders selected by the Foundation to visit Indonesia to learn about its business and tech environment. “It gave me insight into the scale of what they could achieve using tech to solve health problems,” she says.
“Their Alodokter is a startup with 18 million users who pay only $1 for a telehealth session. This shows it’s possible to solve a need at an affordable price point and a sufficient scale to benefit the masses.”
Angela’s own company Clearhead started in September 2018 and launched in April 2019. It has 1300 unique visitors each month.
“It’s going well just on word of mouth at this stage,” Angela says. “Most of our users are currently aged between 20 and 40 – this is the group that has increased awareness of mental health and is at the stage of looking for help.”
Angela says it’s been “hugely inspiring” to meet fellow Leadership Network members. As a child in Malaysia, she says she was indoctrinated in a good work ethic but didn’t think about leadership.
“In New Zealand I had the room to discover what I enjoyed. Being diverse, young, female, ethnic and a migrant all allow me to bring a viewpoint.”
