UAE – Wamda Capital, an active startup investor in the Middle East, has made a substantial investment in Turkey’s mental health platform Salus.
Wamda Capital support pushes forward its plans to provide patient capital to technology startups across a range of industries and locations.
In a statement from its website, Wamda Capital states: “Our portfolio companies are at the forefront of innovation and are making a positive impact in their respective industries.”
Through its two entities, Wamda Capital – Fund I and Wamda Capital – Evergreen, Wamda Capital takes pride in investing in a diverse range of companies.
Wamda Capital is strategically positioning itself to play a pivotal role in shaping exceptional entrepreneurs building the most promising high-growth technology businesses in the Middle East and North Africa.
Hence, Salus’ financial assistance from the Wamda Capital marks a significant step forward in the latter’s mission to support and empower the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Commenting on the news, Alperen Adikti, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Salus said: “Salus is thrilled to announce its closing of a US$4.7 million seed investment round, closing more than US$5.5 million since inception.”
Salus scooped up US$4.7 million in the fundraising round led by Northzone, a multi-stage venture capital fund headquartered in London, England.
Northzone led the fundraising round with participation from major investors, including 500 Emerging Europe, Pitchdrive, and the CVC arm of Türkiye İş Bankası, a commercial bank in Turkey.
Existing investors, Wamda Capital and Collective Spark, made double-down investments to Salus as the company requires large funds to expand its business.
This seed round also saw double-down investments from angel investors, including Fırat İleri (Hummingbird Ventures), Adam Anders (AnterraCapital), İnanç Balcı (Crestone VC & Lazada), Egem Eraslan (Midas), Can Yücaoğlu (MAP Investment), Mehmet Yılmaz (Freeletics & Zavvy), Joshua Cornelius (Freeletics & Zavvy), and Kıvanç Semen (Dataguard).
Market penetration and product development
Moreover, Salus raised US$4.7 million in a seed funding round, primarily due to the disruptive nature of its comprehensive personalized mental health product.
“Salus is forging a new path in the digital health landscape, starting with a robust mental health service offering that includes self-care, meditation, coaching, and therapy,” highlighted Alperen Adikti.
The seed round reportedly marks one of the largest ever raised by a Turkish startup just 16 months post-founding, according to the statement released by Salus.
It will provide additional capital to increase Salus’ investment in innovation, expand its clinical network, enhance user experience, and scale its B2B business development efforts to solidify its market presence.
“Our platform offers a science-backed, measurable approach to persuade employers to invest in their employees’ mental health, demonstrating a substantial return on investment and enhancing employee well-being at scale,” highlighted Salus.
Currently operating in Turkey, the mental health platform plans to expand its services across the Middle East and Eastern Europe.
Salus will use the freshly acquired funds to not only increase the affordability but also the accessibility of preventive health services, with a particular focus on mental health.
With the regional expansion, there will be a wide range of preventive healthcare services availed by Salus throughout targeted markets.
“The platform is exploring expansion into nutrition and physical health services, with a long-term vision of becoming the sole health app in the region, providing an unparalleled user-centric healthcare experience,” confirmed Adikti.
It is worth highlighting that startups in the MENA region raised US$156 million in October 2023, way ahead of September’s US$63 million figure, representing a 333 percent increase month-on-month but a 76 percent drop year-on-year.
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