Egyptian healthtech startup, Esaal, announced that it has raised $1.7 million seed investment from A15 to expand across Middle East and North Africa. It says it intends to use the funds to scale across MENA, invest in product and brand development and hire more talent.
Founded in 2018, Esaal is an online platform that seeks to connect users to trustworthy health and wellness experts, through offering a seamless user experience that guarantees the privacy of the user.
Through its health and wellness consultation platform, Esaal provides consultation services on physical health, mental health, physiotherapy, paediatrics and nutrition amongst other things. It currently has over 350 consultants on the platform and the services are available in 12 countries.
To access the platform services, users download an app which avails them the chance to book for a consultant who will communicate with them via text, video/voice calls and in-person visitations. Users pay with cash, credit cards, Vodafone and Fawry.
Esaal also partners with over 10 medium to large companies to provide these services to their 5,000+ employees. It charges subscription fees and on-demand consultation fees with plans to make money from in-person visitations in subsequent updates
The COVID-19 pandemic provided opportunities for the growth of its services which led to an increase of its user base by 55% and currently stands at over 1 million. The company’s revenues and ARPU also increased 250% to $4.4 million in 2021 and 130% between 2020 and 2021.
According to Karim Beshara, A15’s managing partner on the investment; “They have been prudent in the deployment of capital to date, demonstrating outstanding efficiencies in unit economics, which has enabled their expansion ambitions. We are proud to see their growth and enjoyed building the business with them throughout the last four years. There is so much more to come from Esaal and this sector.”
Fadi Doss, Esaal founder and CEO says its competitive edge is in its capital efficiency and the merging of three verticals – doctor consultations, mental health, or nutrition – on one platform.