Pride Health empowers Southeast Asia’s marginalised communities with digital care

HLTH Europe wasn’t just a forum for European startups; some participants had travelled from across the globe to attend Europe’s largest healthcare innovation event — including Pride Health from ASEAN. In an interview with HealthTechAsia, founder and CEO Bruce Li discusses how this Bangkok-based healthtech company is using digital solutions to support LGBT patients across Southeast Asia.

According to Li, an estimated 400 million LGBT individuals live in the Asia-Pacific region, making up around 10 percent of the population. Yet, despite their numbers, many continue to face significant barriers and stigma when seeking inclusive healthcare—particularly in more religious countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

Research shows that 70 percent of LGBT people in the region encounter obstacles in accessing appropriate care, with half unable to find doctors who are affirming of their identities. This is largely due to healthcare systems that do not encourage or support doctors and patients to come out, leading 30 percent to delay seeking medical treatment altogether.

To tackle these challenges, Bangkok-based founder Bruce Li — a former professional who worked in pharmaceutical companies in Singapore — launched Pride Health in March, a digital health startup designed to connect LGBT patients with affirming healthcare providers across the region, built on three core pillars.

The first is telehealth, enabled by a licence registered with the Thai public health authorities. This expands access to LGBT-friendly doctors across borders, offering discreet and culturally sensitive consultations.

The second pillar is an e-pharmacy delivery model, developed in collaboration with local pharmacy partners. It provides prescriptions for chronic conditions such as HIV and mental health disorders, with subscription plans designed to reduce the financial burden for patients.

Finally, Pride Health is embarking on a preventive medicine approach specifically tailored to the needs of the LGBT community. Li highlighted the importance of addressing the long-term health implications of gender-affirming care — such as hormone therapy and potential complications related to gender reassignment surgery. Personalised blood testing, asking questions, and formulating personalised healthcare plans are central to this effort.

Since launching in March 2025, Pride Health has registered over 500 patients and served more than 120 paying clients. As the network expands, the platform plans to move beyond its current focus on mental and sexual health into broader areas of care.

“Our broader mission is to serve marginalised communities seeking inclusive healthcare,” Li explained, “while we’re geared towards LGBT patients.” 

He compares Pride Health to platforms like FOLX Health in the US, which supports the LGBTQIA+ community, or Superpower, which focuses on preventive care. “You might even think of us as the Hims & Hers Health of Asia Pacific,” Li added, “but tailored for them.”

Pride Health is building a one-stop platform by pooling resources across its network to offer multidisciplinary care. “At this stage, we’re working more with clinics than hospitals,” Li explained. “And we’re actively bringing LGBT doctors from across the region into the fold. Many already run their own practices locally.”

They’re also partnering with stakeholders including academic institutions, NGOs, and other LGBT healthcare platforms — such as Voda, a mental wellbeing app for the LGBTQIA+ community.

Surmounting barriers 

While founder Li is careful to distance the platform from being labelled an “AI solution” outright, Pride Health is integrating AI to improve backend workflows and operational efficiency.

“When I pitched my startup, I deliberately avoided using the word ‘AI’ — it’s become far too overused,” he said. “Doctors still play a crucial role in validating any recommendations before they reach patients. AI simply helps reduce the time required for tasks like capturing consultation notes and generating prescriptions — all while remaining explainable and transparent.”

The AI journey begins at the patient intake stage, where Pride Health has integrated an AI-powered chatbot to streamline data collection. “It identifies what the patient is seeking and asks tailored follow-up questions to gather accurate information,” Li explained. “For instance, if a patient flags a sexual health concern, the system dynamically generates relevant queries. It’s all driven by a natural language processing (NLP) machine learning approach.”

The next step involves structuring the collected data — from intake forms and video consultations to transcripts and prescriptions — ensuring it is well-labelled and clean.

“This enables us to apply large language models (LLMs) in a way that truly augments the clinician’s role, improving both accuracy and efficiency,” he said.

For clinical documentation, Pride Health leverages existing AI scribing tools: “We use solutions from Microsoft and other providers that are specifically tailored for sexual health, mental health, and trans health,” Li added.

Yet technology can pose its own challenges.

According to Li, platforms like Google and Meta limit advertisers from directly targeting specific groups, such as the LGBT community. “I believe that stems from concerns around political campaigning,” he explained. “But ironically, those are the only platforms with the scale and precision to reach the audiences we’re trying to support.”

Still, Li noted that social media’s very structure can work in their favour. “These platforms have created echo chambers — and in some ways, that makes it easier to reach communities. They’re already forming organically around shared identities and needs. When we launch campaigns that genuinely speak to those needs, people share them with friends and family, and that word-of-mouth really amplifies our message. By pinpointing the pain points these groups face, we can reach them more effectively and meaningfully.”

Towards a more inclusive future

Pride Health may still be in its early stages, but its mission is clear: to bridge gaps in access and equity for communities too often overlooked by traditional healthcare systems. By combining culturally sensitive care, region-specific partnerships, and cutting-edge technology, the platform is carving out a much-needed space for LGBT individuals across Southeast Asia — and potentially, far beyond.

This includes a growing emphasis on older members of the LGBT community. “One of our goals is to develop solutions for the ageing LGBT population, such as nursing and retirement homes, and I hope to champion that here in Asia,” Li said.

Expansion beyond Southeast Asia is also on the horizon. At HLTH in Amsterdam, Pride Health explored emerging technologies — particularly in diagnostic testing and telehealth — while engaging with potential investors to support the company’s next phase. “I was approached by two white-label telehealth providers from the United States and Europe,” Li added, “asking if I’d be interested in bringing the Pride Health brand to those markets.”

With bold ambitions and a growing global footprint, Pride Health is not just building a business — it’s helping redefine what inclusive healthcare can look like in the digital age.