The problem
For patients across Lebanon and the Arab world, even a simple health question had no trusted online answer — while, as co-founder Paul Saber put it, doctors were “not very digital when it comes to their profession,” leaving inaccurate health information to fill the gap.
How it works
eTobb connects patients with doctors on a free platform: patients anonymously ask health questions and get professional advice, browse physicians’ full professional profiles across 38 medical specialties, and book appointments. The founders met at the Seeqnce Accelerator Program in 2012, quit their jobs, launched out of beta in November 2013 with 700 physicians on board, and released an Arabic version for the 15,000+ Arabic speakers already waiting for it.
Pain points
Unanswered everyday health questions, a flood of unreliable medical content online, patients struggling to find the right specialist, and doctors invisible to the patients searching for them.
Business model
A free Q&A and doctor-discovery front end that aggregates patient demand, with appointment booking and physician visibility as the commercial layer on top of the audience.
Challenges
Turning free anonymous Q&A traffic into revenue, keeping a large volunteer physician network engaged and responsive, and convincing a traditionally offline medical profession to work through a digital platform across multiple Arab markets.
Funding
- Selected for 500 Startups Batch 11 in Mountain View, announced November 2014, as the batch’s Lebanese health platform (500 Global).
- Began at the Seeqnce Accelerator Program in Beirut in 2012, where the three co-founders met and committed full-time.
Latest — Nov 2014
On 5 November 2014 eTobb was announced as part of 500 Startups Batch 11 in Mountain View — described as an “Interactive Health Platform focused on connecting patients and doctors in the Arab World,” founded by Paul Saber, Jad Joubran, and Sara Helou, from Lebanon (500 Global).