Reinventing Health Savings: How Alex Cyriac’s Lively is Transforming the Way We Save for Healthcare
Motivated by his mother’s struggle with medical bills, Alex Cyriac co-founded Lively to offer a better, more user-friendly Health Savings Account (HSA) solution.
When Alex Cyriac’s mother faced years of chronic pain and mounting medical bills, it not only strained his family financially but also planted the seeds for a transformative idea. The experience left Cyriac, who has a background in software, operations, and sales, questioning the complexities and inefficiencies of the health insurance industry. With a desire to find a better way, Cyriac teamed up with his childhood friend Shobin Uralil to found Lively, a fintech company that offers a consumer-friendly alternative to traditional Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).
A Personal Journey Sparked by Family Struggles
Cyriac’s journey began in 2002, during his undergraduate years, when a close relative in Germany was diagnosed with leukemia. His mother, a perfect bone marrow match, flew to Frankfurt for the transplant. Unfortunately, complications during the procedure resulted in her needing long-term medication. Years later, as Cyriac was preparing for his wedding in Texas, his mother casually mentioned that she had stopped taking one of her medications because the co-pay had increased by a couple of hundred dollars. Despite Cyriac financially supporting his parents, she chose to sacrifice her health to lessen the burden on him.
Cyriac’s reaction was immediate and heartfelt: “No, Mom, go back on the medicine. We’ll pay for it. Don’t worry.” But as he added up the expenses, he realized that his parents’ healthcare costs had exceeded $5,000 that year, primarily due to his mother’s needs. The experience led him to question how he could continue to manage these rising costs and, more broadly, why the health savings process was so difficult and expensive.
The Birth of Lively: A Mission to Simplify Health Savings
Determined to find a solution, Cyriac reached out to his lifelong friend Shobin Uralil. Their family friendship spanned decades, dating back to the late 1940s when their aunts met in a Catholic convent in India. Both families later emigrated from Kerala to the United States, with Cyriac’s parents settling in Los Angeles and Uralil’s in New York. Despite the distance, the two grew up together, bonded by their shared heritage and values.
By 2016, the duo founded Lively, a fintech company with the mission of reinventing Health Savings Accounts. Their goal was to create a platform that was not only more accessible and user-friendly but also eliminated the frustrations associated with traditional HSAs, such as excessive paperwork, high fees, and unhelpful customer service.
A Revolution in Healthcare Savings
At 41, Cyriac’s vision for Lively was clear: to be a consumer-centric alternative to the industry mainstays, offering a simplified, transparent, and supportive health savings experience. This mission resonated with many, and Lively quickly gained traction. The company’s success is evident in its rapid growth; based in San Francisco, Lively achieved a three-year growth rate of 2,380%, making it a standout in the fintech space.
Cyriac’s journey from a son worried about his mother’s health to a founder leading a revolution in healthcare savings is a testament to the power of personal experiences in driving innovation. Lively is more than just a company; it’s a response to the complexities of the health insurance industry, offering a lifeline to those burdened by medical expenses.
As Lively continues to grow, Cyriac’s story serves as an inspiration, showing how a deeply personal challenge can lead to a solution that helps countless others navigate their own healthcare journeys more easily and effectively. Through Lively, Cyriac has not only addressed his own family’s needs but has also provided a better way for millions of others to save for their health with confidence and clarity.
