MedIQ, a health tech and a solo female-founded startup, has secured $1.8M in a pre-seed round to enable businesses to deliver health tech services to the community.
MedIQ intends to use the new capital to expand its tech infrastructure 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. In addition to spending money on client acquisition, the company wants to expand its services throughout 20 cities in Pakistan and expand regionally.
Dr. Saira Siddiqui, a healthcare expert with an MBBS, a master’s degree in public health, and a Ph.D. in health economics, launched MedIQ in the mid-2020s.
MedIQ began by focusing on enabling businesses to provide healthcare services through a backend system, rather than pursuing the B2C sector, which is crowded with the existence of a sprinkling of well-funded health IT startups.
“We become their virtual healthcare arm,” adds Dr. Saira, “and once it’s incorporated, it becomes a part of the company’s processes.” She claims that the platform covers the entire healthcare continuum, from doctor discovery to medicine delivery and lab testing, and that it serves as a store of digital medical information that can be furnished on-demand at hospitals and clinics, lowering healthcare expenses and time.
“After that, if you want nursing care or help, we can provide that at the patient’s home, and if you require hospitalization, we can make referrals at competitive prices.”
According to MedIQ, the platform has 7,000 clinicians on it, including general practitioners and experts from 32 different specialties. The MedIQ platform functions as a healthcare marketplace.
Customers can use the site to find and interact with doctors of their choosing, as well as order drugs from a list of renowned pharmacies, which are supplied by third-party logistics companies. Patients can also choose from a list of laboratories to order tests.
MedIQ offers its platform to clients for free and makes money by charging healthcare providers such as doctors, pharmacies, and labs.
MedIQ’s competitors, such as the aforementioned Ailaaj, Sehat Kahani, and DoctHERs, also cater to B2B clients, but according to Dr. Saira, their moat is protected due to exclusive agreements with clients that limit competition for some time.
While MedIQ also has a B2C model that provides tech-enabled healthcare to the general public via the MedIQ app, Dr. Saira adds that the customer-facing model is small at the moment and that the company’s main focus is on consolidating its B2B presence.
