UAE-based healthcare startup Alma Health has raised US$10 million in a Series A round led by Knuru Capital, a Dubai-based investment company that supports high growth technology businesses, and Hamro Oryx Fund, a London-based MENA-focused investment fund.

The round also saw the participation of e& capital, an Abu Dhabi-based global technology investment group, S3 Ventures, a US-based venture capital (VC) firm, Pinnacle Capital, a KSA-based investment group, and Khwarizmi Ventures, a KSA-based VC company.

Founded in 2021, Alma Health offers digital doctor consultations via its application with one of the company’s licensed, in-house physicians. The company also offers convenient lab tests which can be done in the comfort of one’s home. From there, patients can obtain prescriptions on a renewable basis which can be delivered with no added costs. Additionally, patients can also benefit from a second opinion on their chronic condition, as well as a customized management plan directed at improving clinical outcomes.

As per Alma Health co-founders Khaldoon Bushnak and Tariq Seksek, the new funds will be used to regionally expand to fulfill Alma’s vision of becoming the leading direct-to-patient healthcare provider with a focus on chronic condition management. “[We aim to] expand to Saudi Arabia where we can play a pivotal role in supporting the current healthcare system to offer people living with chronic conditions a number of digital-first healthcare services such as virtual consultations with our top-tier physicians who are specialized in chronic care, lab tests from home and the free delivery of chronic medications from our cloud pharmacies,” Bushnak says.

The co-founders also highlighted the company’s desire to expand technologically, especially in terms of doubling down on Alma’s efforts to develop backend systems. One such strategy will be to introduce physician and pharmacist platforms that reduce the time healthcare professionals spend on administrative tasks. “We want to introduce new programs to improve our users’ clinical outcomes,” Seksek adds. “For example, we recently started working with our healthcare teams to build a management program for a specific chronic condition, with high prevalence rates in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, to offer the user a comprehensive care plan. This plan will include virtual consultations from different physicians with different specialities via our mobile application and referrals to brick-and-mortar healthcare centers for radiology and dentistry. One of the exciting parts of this program is offering our users with clear key success metrics related to their chronic condition, and using these metrics to measure the improvement of clinical outcomes, from the beginning of the care journey until its end.”

Now, it is no secret that the COVID-19 crisis gave physicians and patients around the world the opportunity to experiment with digital healthcare. For instance, the European parliament estimated the global telehealth market would reach US$80.53 million in 2021 and grow to $218.5 by 2025. On its part, Alma Health aims to capitalize on these trends that continue to shape the future of digital healthcare. “The pandemic was a difficult experience for many families and businesses, but we are fortunate to have lived through this difficult time in countries like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, where the lockdowns were managed efficiently to protect communities and businesses,” Seksek notes. “The vaccination rollouts were among the first in the world as well. These governments also enabled and approved many healthcare regulations during the pandemic, with impressive speed, such as the licensing of digital clinics, and enabling the delivery of prescription medication. Alma Health wouldn’t grow at this rate without such digital-friendly healthcare regulations“.

As for the road ahead, both Khaldoon and Seksek remain confident that the new funding will drive forward their ultimate goals for the region. “Our vision is to create a world where chronic conditions no longer complicate the lives of those they affect,” Khaldoon declares. “As a team of healthcare professionals and technologists, we believe we can achieve this vision by placing our users at the center of our technology products and the healthcare services that we offer.”

Related: Making The Case For Telehealth in the GCC