# Lily Vittayarukskul

> Lily Vittayarukskul is the co-founder and CEO of Waterlily, a San Francisco AI company that predicts when a person will need long-term care, for how long, and what it will cost - then helps families figure out how to pay for it. A child prodigy who started college at 14 and interned at NASA by 16, she pivoted from aerospace engineering to healthcare after her aunt's terminal cancer diagnosis exposed how unprepared most families are for the cost of caregiving. Waterlily runs more than 500 million data points through proprietary AI models, has raised roughly $10 million from investors including Genworth, Nationwide and Edward Jones Ventures, and landed Lily on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

- **Role:** Co-Founder and CEO at Waterlily
- **Organizations:** Waterlily, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, UC Berkeley
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** B.S. in Genetics and Data Science, University of California, Berkeley, Aerospace engineering coursework, Community college / early college (started at age 14)
- **Known for:** Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 (2026), Built Waterlily, adopted by four of the five largest insurance carriers and multiple Fortune 100/500/1000 companies, Raised roughly $10 million in venture funding

## Career timeline

- **~14** — Began college coursework, initially pursuing aerospace engineering
- **~16** — Interned at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory; aunt diagnosed with terminal-stage colon cancer, sparking a career pivot
- **Pre-2021** — Graduated from UC Berkeley; led product and engineering at multiple startups; patented computer-vision algorithms for fall detection
- **2021** — Founded Waterlily to predict and plan for long-term care needs and costs
- **2025** — Raised ~$7M seed round led by Brewer Lane Ventures, with Genworth, Nationwide and Edward Jones Ventures
- **2025** — Launched 'Quote-and-Apply' to simplify long-term care insurance shopping
- **2026** — Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 (Social Impact)

## Achievements

- Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 (2026)
- Built Waterlily, adopted by four of the five largest insurance carriers and multiple Fortune 100/500/1000 companies
- Raised roughly $10 million in venture funding
- First company to win both Best in Show and Advisor's Choice at XYPN Live in its eight-year history
- Patented computer-vision algorithms for fall detection
- Started college at 14 and interned at NASA by 16

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Social Impact
- **2025-10** — Waterlily launched 'Quote-and-Apply' to simplify long-term care insurance shopping
- **2025-01** — Closed roughly $7M seed round led by Brewer Lane Ventures with strategic insurers participating

## Links

- Website: https://www.waterlily.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lily-vittayarukskul/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/lvittayarukskul
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L8XRBt0vyQ
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joinwaterlily/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Waterlily/100082997283058/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/lily-vittayarukskul
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-27