Rachade Hmamouchi grew up in Morocco and have lived in France, Switzerland, and Canada. She is a bioinformatician by training, and over the span of her career, she has worked at universities, biotech, and pharmaceutical companies, where she acquired experience in both the academic and industry fields. Based in Canada now, she founded Iaso Genetics to help people reach their wellness goals, using their genetic data and artificial intelligence.
“Through my scientific career, I realized that research is really advanced but at the same time it’s not accessible to everyone: it’s really hard to see how this kind of discoveries can help us in our day to day life. Indeed, we live in an era where technology is ever-present in our lives and information is more accessible than ever, and despite that, it is sometimes difficult to find advice and recommendations that are relevant to our own needs. With Iaso Genetics, I want to help people to understand more how this information can help them, and how that can improve their everyday wellness, using algorithms, artificial intelligence, and genomics,” says Rachade.
How does it work?
Iaso Genetics works in 3 simple steps:
Step 1: Start with your genetic data
Order your kit (where provide a small sample of saliva), which is delivered with easy-to-follow instructions and a prepaid mailing box. If you already have a file containing your genetic data, you can connect to our secure web platform and simply upload it.
Step 2: Unleash the power of science
We analyze genetic markers in your DNA and combine them with our algorithms in order to help you understand your nutritional and wellness needs. All the information we provide is supported by peer-reviewed scientific studies. Over time, artificial intelligence will help us improve our analyses and personalize your results even more.
Step 3: Access your Intelligent Wellness Space
You will be notified as soon as your results are available online on your Intelligent Wellness Space. You’ll be able to access our secure platform and customize how you get your results according to your specific needs. If you want to shop online for supplements and natural products, we also allow you to do so according to your own criteria.
Challenges Faced
Coming from a scientific background, Rachade had to quickly learn about marketing and financing related to her business.
Rachade says, “Defining our target market was also a challenge: because what we do is quite innovative, and it’s a new area, we had to work hard to better define what our place could be and what was the best value we could provide. One way we did this is by trying out things early and adapting to the response we received. Having mentors and being part of a start-up incubator was also really helpful.”
“At the personal level, being a new entrepreneur was not an easy status to endorse. Surrounding myself with other entrepreneurs was really helpful for me, as our realities are very similar, which is why sharing our experience helps.”
Vision
The vision I have for Iaso Genetics is for it to become the main resource that everyone can use to easily understand how they can reach their wellness goals, using their genetic data.
“We want to empower people by helping them understand what are the best choices they can make, that are specific to them, using the latest advances in science and technology,” says Rachade.
Iaso Genetics aims to be an Intelligent Wellness Space that is simple to use, easy to understand, and that can be customized according to one’s own preferences.
Life Lesson
“Do what you think is interesting, do something that you think is fun and worthwhile, because otherwise you won’t do it well anyway” – Brian Kernighan
