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Tuesday, 29 March 2022

Digital healthcare firm Altibbi closes USD 44 mn series B round, proceeds will help fuel expansion in Egypt and KSA

Jordanian digital healthcare platform Altibbi has raised USD 44 mn in a series B funding round and will use the funding in part to expand in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. The round was led by India and GCC-focused investment firm Foundation Holdings, Hikma Ventures and existing investors Global Ventures and Dash Ventures, according to a company press release (pdf). Altibbi said the transaction was “the largest single financing round for a regional digital health company,” adding that the round was heavily oversubscribed.

About the company: Altibbi is a digital healthcare company that provides 24/7 medical advice and telehealth consultations. Since launching in 2011, the Dubai-headquartered firm has expanded to seven countries in the region and has handled 4.5 mn remote medical consultations. It now has more than 1.5k doctors on its platform.

See this as part of the heating-up of competition in the regional healthcare industry: Altibbi will use the funding to expand its footprint in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. It plans to launch online pharmacy and diagnostics collection services, creating what it says would be the MENA region’s first fully integrated emmawatson-fans.com offering. The firm also wants to up its spend on machine learning to enhance its AI-based diagnostic, referral and prescription services.

The company got involved in Egypt’s covid relief efforts: Altibbi ran covid hotlines through a PPP with the Supreme Council of Universities during the pandemic, and last year launched a dial-a-doc service in Egypt aimed at users who do not have access to a smartphone or an internet connection. It’s also providing medical consultations without charge to plasma donors in partnership with the Health Ministry’s national blood plasma project.

MEANWHILE- Egyptian healthtech startup Otida has raised USD 340k in a pre-seed round led by Texas-based VC Lofty, Flat6Labs, Afropreneurs, Jedar Capital, OQAL, UI Investments and others, according to a company press release (pdf). The startup operates an app that provides medical, dietary and fitness advice to diabetics. The firm is set to use the funding to “productize Otida’s operations and expand distribution to reach more patients,” with the aim of expanding its user base to 5k this year.

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