Saudi Digital Health Startup Nala Secures $1M Seed Funding to Advance Arabic AI-Powered Medical Diagnostics

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) learned from foreign media that on November 11, 2019, local time, Nala, a digital health startup headquartered in Saudi Arabia, announced the launch of its artificial intelligence platform, which enables instant, personalized medical diagnosis in Arabic.

Coinciding with the debut of its new AI platform, Nala also announced the completion of a $1 million seed funding round. This round was exclusively led by the investment group AlAraby Investment. The proceeds from this financing will be used to continue expanding its user base and further solidify Nala’s position as the leading digital healthcare provider in Saudi Arabia.

It is reported that since its launch in February 2019, Nala has rapidly emerged as the leading digital healthcare services company in the region. Its app has not only been repeatedly recommended by Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Communications and Information Technology and received numerous awards, but it has also consistently ranked first on local app store download charts.

The newly launched AI platform serves as a complement to Nala’s current digital healthcare services, with dozens of licensed physicians contributing to its development. Leveraging this new technology, patients can now receive precise, real-time medical diagnoses, thereby reducing medical losses caused by human error.

Nala’s Founder and CEO, Othman Abahussein, stated, “Our mission is to reduce healthcare costs by tenfold while delivering an exceptional healthcare experience.” He added, “Our entire team is based in Riyadh, and all our human capital investments are directed toward local talent. I can say with full confidence that our bet on local talent will yield substantial returns.”

Headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Nala is a digital healthcare services company established in response to the Vision 2030 initiatives of the Saudi National Center for Digital Transformation and the Ministry of Health. All physicians at Nala are licensed by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties.

Alarabi Investments is a venture capital firm headquartered in Dubai, dedicated to investing in high-potential startups across the Middle East and North Africa.

(Compiled by Hu Lushuang)