First Solo Female Health Startup Founder Raise $1.8 Million in Pakistan

Dr. Saira Siddique has become the first solo female creator of a Pakistani firm, medIQ, that has raised $1.8 million in pre-seed capital. In Pakistan, women-led firms have only raised 3% of overall investment for the startup ecosystem in the last five years, therefore this fundraise represents a watershed moment for Pakistani women entrepreneurs, demonstrating what they can accomplish.

Dr. Saira Siddique, Founder & CEO of medIQ, said, “We are happy to complete this critical fundraising round, which is an affirmation of our holistic healthcare strategy from top investors with significant healthcare and technology expertise.”

“With a great capacity to become a regional player, medIQ is playing a crucial role in reinventing digital healthcare services by enhancing quality and convenience for patients, cutting costs for consumers, healthcare providers, and insurers.” In order to deliver an efficient model of care at scale, a healthcare system today must have an integrated digital platform. “mediQ has a proven track record, having serviced over 300,000 patients in just eighteen months,” she continued.

The COVID-19 pandemic acted as a spark for Pakistan’s startup scene, which saw investments jump from $65 million in 2020 to $350 million in 2021 across 83 deals. Despite its large market potential, the healthcare sector has lacked venture capital funding, which is projected to change as investors become increasingly interested in this sector.

“Our health-care system is fragmented, and hospitals are overcrowded since patients are required to visit a hospital even for minor illnesses.” “Timely, inexpensive, and holistic treatment is unattainable” because of an inefficient, “brick and mortar, hospital focused” strategy, according to Dr. Saira. “The average consultation wait time in hospitals is 90 minutes, with only 2.5 minutes spent on the actual consultation.

” 90% of patients can be treated without going to the hospital if they are treated at the point of need. With a “patient-centered” approach, medIQ is reversing the present model of hospital-centered healthcare delivery by bringing healthcare to individuals at their moment of need.

The round brings together a number of strategic investors, including Amaana Capital, based in the United States, and Cordoba Ventures, which focuses on the Middle East and Pakistan (CorVCF). Seraph Group, TAJDEED, APPNA (All Pakistani Physicians of North American Descent Association), House of Habib, and notable health tech angel investors from Silicon Valley also participated in the round. It is NRD Capital and Seraph Group’s first direct investment in a Pakistani startup.

medIQ is Pakistan’s first full B2B virtual care platform, offering everything a business or insurance needs to provide virtual care to its customers. It also serves individual clients in both urban and rural areas by linking them directly to health-care providers.

The medIQ-powered B2B virtual care solution includes a configurable plug-and-play technology stack, a full network of online pharmacies, online laboratory services, and GPs and specialists from 32 specialties, as well as nursing staff and dedicated home care teams. This is brought together by a proprietary electronic medical record system that records patient data in a single profile, facilitating data exchange and interoperability, and so enhancing care quality while lowering costs.

medIQ intends to use the funds to expand its tech infrastructure in order to deliver complete virtual care to businesses and patients, based on the development of AI and Machine Learning tools and the use of high-quality patient data. The organisation intends to spread its services across 20 Pakistani cities and regionally.