Manila, Philippines — When Emil Eriksen first looked at the Philippine healthcare landscape, he didn't see a broken system. He saw a missing one.

A Danish entrepreneur with decades of experience spanning Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, Eriksen had seen what good healthcare could look like and what happened when people were left without it. In the Philippines, he found a population that was mobile-first, community-minded, and deeply motivated to take care of their health. What they lacked wasn't the will. It was access.

That observation became &you, a digital-first healthcare platform built entirely from scratch, designed specifically for the way Filipinos live.

Building for the Filipino Experience

Most global health platforms are adapted from models built in the US or Europe, then exported with minimal adjustments. Eriksen chose a different path entirely.

"We didn't take a template off the shelf," he says. "We started from zero, because the Filipino context is specific. The cultural dynamics around health, the stigma around certain conditions, the infrastructure realities all of it had to be factored in from day one."

The result is a platform that feels native. From its user interface to its care protocols, from the way doctors communicate with patients to how medications are packaged and delivered, &you was designed around the Filipino patient not retrofitted to accommodate them.

This included building the company's proprietary technology in-house rather than relying on outsourced systems. Full control of the tech stack means faster iteration, tighter security, and a patient experience that can be refined in real time based on user feedback.

The Conditions That Matter Most

Eriksen was deliberate in choosing which health categories &you would address first. Rather than trying to be everything at once, the team focused on conditions that were both widespread and deeply underserved: weight management, hair loss, sexual health, and mental wellness.

These aren't trivial issues. They affect quality of life, relationships, professional performance, and long-term wellbeing. Yet for years, many Filipinos have managed them in silence because the conversation felt too private, the clinics too crowded, or the treatments too expensive.

"There's a reason people don't talk about these things," Eriksen says. "It's not because they don't care. It's because the environment hasn't made it safe to ask for help. We're trying to change that environment."

The platform's GLP-1 weight loss program offering semaglutide treatments at significantly lower prices than traditional channels has been particularly impactful. Over 10,000 Filipinos joined the waitlist in the platform's first months, many of them citing access and affordability as the reasons they had never sought treatment before.

The Team Behind the Mission

Eriksen didn't build &you alone. The company brought together a multidisciplinary team of doctors, technologists, logistics specialists, and operators alongside a roster of investors and advocates who shared his conviction.

Kylie Verzosa, former Miss International and wellness advocate, joined as Brand Director and investor, lending both her platform and her personal commitment to mental health advocacy. Her background has shaped the way &you communicates about wellness with care, nuance, and an understanding of the Filipino emotional landscape.

Meanwhile, Roland Ros, co-founder of Kumu and a respected voice in the Philippine tech ecosystem, came on board as investor further anchoring &you in the country's entrepreneurial community.

The pre-seed round, led by New York's Everywhere VC, closed shortly after launch, giving the company the resources to scale its team, reduce waitlist times, and begin expanding its reach beyond Metro Manila.

The Long Game

Eriksen is clear-eyed about the scale of the opportunity. Southeast Asia's digital health market is projected to surpass $22 billion by 2030, and the Philippines with its large, young, mobile-first population sits at the center of that growth.

But the numbers, he insists, aren't what drives him. "The numbers are a byproduct," he says. "What we're building is trust. Trust takes time. It takes consistency. It takes showing up for people even when it's hard. That's the work."

The next chapter for &you includes AI-assisted telehealth tools, expanded physical wellness touch points, and deeper community programming building on initiatives. For Eriksen, it all comes back to a simple idea: healthcare should feel like care. Not like a transaction. Not like a bureaucratic process. Like someone actually has your back.

"That's not a revolutionary concept," he says. "It's just one that the system forgot. We're reminding it."

For press, media requests, and official statements, please direct all communications to the &you Press Team at press@andyou.ph