Azran Osman-Rani: From AAX CEO To Digital Health Startup Founder

On this edition of Open For Business, we speak to Azran Osman-Rani, CEO and Co-founder of digital health startup Naluri, about his transition from the corporate world and C-Suite into the startup ecosystem and then to starting up his own venture. Among other things, you will learn the reason behind this focus on employee wellbeing and digital health, how he balances the double-edged sword of bringing on strategic investors early in a startup’s life, lessons learnt from his times with AirAsia X and iFlix that have helped him build Naluri, and what his ambitions for the company look like ahead.

Before his startup Naluri, Azran Osman-Rani started his career in management consulting, before moving to Bursa and then Astro in business transformation and business development roles. In 2007, he got his first taste of building and running a company, taking on the CEO role at AirAsia X for almost 8 years, before joining iFlix’s leadership team as Group COO and CEO for Malaysia for around 2 years.

All these experiences played a role in his journey to startup founder and how he approached building Naluri.

Founded in 2017, Naluri takes a proactive approach at tackling employee health and wellbeing in the hopes that preventive healthcare will lead to improved employee productivity, reduced healthcare claims, and ofcourse, improved real-world business results.

Naluri made around $4 million in annual revenue last year and is aiming to drive growth ahead through more geographic expansion, expanding their focus from the large enterprise space to the SME space, and looking into more products and services that compliment their existing offerings. Currently operationally profitable in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore, Naluri aims to break-even this year and is working on raising its next funding round which it hopes to be in the USD$10-20 million range.