Shezlong Gets New Investment to Expand and Create Innovative Products

• Shezlong, the mental health platform based in Cairo has secured fresh investment that it announced today in a statement without disclosing the size of the investment.
• The investment will be used to expand its services in the Middle East and North Africa region as well as all Arabic speaking population globally.
• It will be also used to develop and introduce new innovative products that focus on mental health including Texting-Base Therapy and Corporate Wellness programs.

The new investment came from: The Asia Africa Investment and Consulting Pte. Ltd. (AAIC), a Singapore based investor with an office in Nairobi that is focused on the healthcare sector in Africa, Mohamed El Khamissy, the Chairman of MK Capital, and Khaled Ismail, Chairman of HIMangel, the leading angel fund in Egypt and is one of Shezlong’s early investors. 

Shezlong is the first online psychotherapy platform in the MENA region, which provides anonymous and affordable online video conference therapy sessions with professional and certified Therapists. In 2014, Shezlong is founded and started at Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC) incubation and were provided their initial fund. They had raised USD 150K equity investment in 2017 and in 2018, Shezlong had raised $350,000 in a bridge round.

“Mental health is important at every stage of life and our mission in Shezlong is to help people manage their psychological and mental health at all times and make therapy accessible to everyone. We believe that with the new investment, Shezlong will be able to expand its services vertically and horizontally in the Middle East”, said Ahmed Abu ElHaz, Founder and CEO of Shezlong. 

** Learn more about Shezlong story in the 3rd episode of the EgyptInnovate Podcast with Ahmed Abu Elhaz, CEO and Co-founder of Shezlong.

Shezlong with support from Expo 2020 Dubai offered 15,000 free online therapy sessions with licensed therapists with different specialties in order to assess the patients’ mental health and to detect any psychological problems. You can book your free session here.

In addition, the platform uses cognitive behavioral therapy, which teaches individuals how to manage stress and anxiety and provides them with relaxation techniques. Besides that, they provide free guides, articles, and videos on how to deal with the anxiety surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic, available on Shezlong’s Facebook page and on their blog.

Shigeru Handa, Director of AAIC said: “Your mind controls your health. Shezlong has great potential to help bring people back to good health through its platform with its privacy protection. We live in a stressful world with uncertainties such as COVID-19, which has led to increased psychological distress. We are excited to join Shezlong’s journey to address such mental health challenges”,

“I am excited to be part of this deal with Shezlong; a much needed online service amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought with it a lot of emotional pressure. I believe that having a balanced mind and body is essential for individuals to live a healthy lifestyle, and Shezlong along with its professional therapists offer the perfect platform for that”, said Mohamed El Khamissy, Chairman of MK Capital.  

Dr. Khaled Ismail, Chairman of HIMangel said “HIMangel has invested early in Shezlong and decided to join this round too as we continue to believe in the mission of the company, serving people who need mental health support. Besides the peak in demand that is happing during these difficult times, we believe that the number of people who need mental health support is much higher than reported, and the convenience and quality of support offered by Shezlong will uncover these numbers”.