The Crunchbase “Female Founder Series” is comprised of stories, Q&As and thought-leadership pieces from glass-ceiling-smashers who overcame the odds and are now leading successful companies, or investing in them.

Jessica Kim is the co-founder/CEO of ianacare—a company on a mission to encourage, empower and equip family caregivers with practical tools and communities needed, so no one does it alone. The platform leverages a powerful combination of technology and caregiver coaches to organize and mobilize layers of support. 

Kim’s dedication stems from her experience as the primary caregiver for her mom who fought a 7-year battle with pancreatic cancer. She is a 3x startup founder, speaker and caregiving advocate. Kim was honored as Crain’s Top 40 under 40, Woman in Digital Health Award 2020, and currently serves as a venture partner at Praxis Labs, the inaugural Entrepreneur-In-Residence and Presidential Council adviser at Brown University, and board member of Be the Bridge for racial reconciliation and justice. 

In this Q&A, Kim shares her journey to entrepreneurship, experience raising a just-announced Series A, how she’s integrated her values into company culture, and more.

Q: Did you always know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

Not at all. I didn’t even know what an entrepreneur was. I didn’t come from a family of entrepreneurs. My dad was a psychiatrist and, early on, I loved studying people, cultures and human behavior. My deep curiosity in people and anthropology drew me to understand human problems. The desire to solve these (Read more...)