Ununice, a pharmacist and immigrant to Canada, co-founded ASEFA, a $4 million AI startup that automates repetitive pharmacy tasks to reduce paperwork by up to 75%, allowing pharmacists to focus more on patient care. Partnering with a technical expert, they developed adaptable AI agents with a human-in-the-loop approach, aiming to streamline healthcare communication and improve patient outcomes while emphasizing hard work, transparency, and rapid iteration in their company culture.
Ununice, a pharmacist and first-generation immigrant to Canada, co-founded ASEFA, an AI startup aimed at alleviating the manual workload burdening pharmacists. ASEFA develops intelligent agents that automate repetitive tasks such as data entry, phone calls, and prior authorizations, reducing the time pharmacists spend on paperwork by 50 to 75%. This automation allows pharmacists to focus more on direct patient care, enhancing the quality of healthcare delivery.
Ununice’s journey from pharmacist to AI founder was driven by frustration with the healthcare system’s inefficiencies and an aging population that demands more sustainable solutions. She partnered with John, a technical expert who had worked on microchips powering OpenAI and Azure, after meeting in a Canadian accelerator program. Their complementary skills—clinical pharmacy knowledge and technical expertise—enabled them to build ASEFA from scratch, learning coding and healthcare intricacies collaboratively.
The company’s AI agents are built on internally developed models trained on a mix of synthetic and real-world data. A key challenge they addressed was creating adaptable software that respects individual clinician preferences, as healthcare professionals have unique workflows. ASEFA maintains a human-in-the-loop approach to ensure safety and accuracy, with pharmacists reviewing AI outputs to prevent errors, which currently stand at around 3-4%. This balance ensures automation supports rather than replaces clinical judgment.
ASEFA’s business model is usage-based, charging clients according to patient volume, which helps healthcare providers avoid overstaffing during fluctuating demand. Having raised $4 million, the company plans to expand its vision by integrating the entire patient journey into a unified AI-driven communication system. This system aims to streamline interactions between physicians, nurses, and pharmacists, reducing delays and miscommunication, and ultimately improving patient access to medications and care.
Reflecting on her founder experience, Ununice emphasizes the intense hard work and sacrifices required, far beyond what she had anticipated. She advises aspiring founders to be open-minded, embrace iteration, and learn from feedback quickly. ASEFA’s culture values radical transparency and constructive challenge, inspired by leaders like Ray Dalio. Looking ahead, Ununice predicts a significant acceleration in AI adoption within healthcare, breaking traditional slow innovation cycles and unlocking new opportunities for improving patient outcomes.