KARACHI: Sehat Kahani, a woman-led health-tech startup, said on Thursday it has closed a Series A funding round of $2.7 million.

The announcement makes the start-up the first all-female-led company in Pakistan to secure Series A funding, according to a press release.

Amaanah Circle, a Singapore-based health tech fund led by Dr Razi Yousuf, spearheads the funding and is joined by key investors including Epic Angels, a female-only investor collective, Cross Fund, USAID Investment Promotion Activity (IPA), Augmentor, Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) and the Elahi Group of Companies.

Founded by Dr Sara Saeed Khurram and Dr Iffat Zafar Aga, Sehat Kahani’s technology ensures a seamless virtual connection between doctors and patients within 60 seconds. The platform offers on-demand at-home or on-premises laboratory services and online medicine delivery. It caters to a diverse nationwide patient base, including business-to-business, business-to-consumers and the underserved population in rural areas.

Dr Khurram said the funding will enable the company to develop advanced features, including decision support systems, precision medicine tools and predictive AI models, to help patients live fully by knowing their disease better.

Sehat Kahani extends its corporate application into a comprehensive OPD management solution, providing corporate employees and their families 24/7 cashless access to specialists, online medicine delivery and claims management. The consumer application, operational in over 310 cities and towns across Pakistan, integrates into prominent banking and lifestyle platforms, ensuring affordable and accessible healthcare.

Dr Iffat Zafar Aga said the start-up has shown on average a year-on-year growth of 141 per cent in the last three years, overcoming the myth that telemedicine was only beneficial during Covid-19. She said the platform has seen five times cumulative growth in the number of consultations in the post-Covid-19 era.

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2023