hygia saúde, the first finhealth (a mix of fintech and healthcare) in Brazil and one of the largest healthcare startups in Latin America, was founded in 2019 by Maikol Parnow, a former marketing executive, and Alexandre Parma, a physician. Joel Jota, a former athlete and investor, joined them as a partner in 2022. Together, they started researching Brazil’s private health market. “Seventy percent of deaths are from five diseases,” says Maikol. “Cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, breast cancer and lung cancer. All of them can be avoided or postponed if we look more at preventive health. But only nineteen percent of our interviewees do check-up exams. We realized that people aren’t afraid of getting sick, they’re scared of not having the financial means to cover their treatment. It’s about money, not about health.” 

With hygia saúde, they want to change that. As a B2B company, the startup offers preventive health plans for companies that want to improve their employees’ productivity and well-being. “We want people to look at health as a preventive investment. Preventing diseases costs a lot less than treating them,” he says. Following previous B2C products, it successfully launched its B2B product in October 2022, and its goal is to become the biggest preventive health solution in Latin America within the next five years. “We look at health holistically: mental health, nutritional health, sleep quality, physical health, social health, financial health … then we can really prevent, react to and predict health outcomes.”

“Focus and execution are essential,” says Maikol. “For that, you need a capable team with committed members.” Since the startup was initially bootstrapped, the first hires came from family and friends. “People we hired bet on the company’s future, and we’re lucky that some of them are still with us. They grew up with hygia; none came ready-made from the market. We gave them challenges and responsibilities, and they have been with us for four years, since the beginning. I hope they stay with us for much longer.” 

Today, the team of thirty-five is a diverse workforce, with 60 percent of leadership positions being women. hygia saúde also includes a diversity program to better reach Brazilians at all levels.