The problem
Gulf health systems pour money into bigger hospitals while primary care — the regular check-ups, chronic-disease management, and prevention that actually keep people healthy — stays fragmented and thin. Patients burn hours in waiting rooms for ten-minute consultations, and mental-health care remains stigmatised and hard to reach.
How it works
Born inside regional venture builder The Taken Seat in 2019, Sihaty launched its telehealth platform in 2020 for users in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Patients consult doctors online; doctors use Sihaty’s products to speak to patients, save their medical records and history, and prescribe medicines delivered to the patient within 24 hours.
Pain points
Finding a trusted doctor, waiting-room hours, scattered paper records, and chronic patients juggling refills, tests, and follow-ups with no single coordinator.
Business model
Revenue from virtual consultations and ongoing care management, with partner pharmacies and laboratories fulfilling the prescriptions and tests ordered through the platform.
Challenges
Clinical services face licensing scrutiny in every market; patients default to in-person visits when seriously ill; and winning trust for sensitive chronic and mental-health care takes years of consistent quality.
Funding
- Raised: $1.3M Pre-Series A from Rasameel Investments, The Taken Seat Fund, and Doha Tech Angels alongside regional angels (MENAbytes).
- Valuation: MISSING.
Latest — August 2021
In August 2021 Sihaty closed its $1.3M Pre-Series A to expand across the Gulf, announcing plans for an assigned family doctor for every user to manage chronic conditions, plus a dedicated mental-health service — with co-founder and CEO Dr. Nadeem Alduaij framing the mission as shifting the region from expensive sick care to prevention and primary care.