Saudi healthtech startup Blazma makes ambitious MENA entrance plans

In the Middle East and Africa (MENA) area, Saudi Arabia’s ambition to spend heavily on healthcare infrastructure and the region’s strong potential for growth in the digital healthcare segment are supporting the startup company Blazma’s aggressive expansion plans.
The startup, which operates a platform connecting medical testing laboratories, healthcare chains and patients, also plans to launch a fundraising plan soon to finance its growth plans, the top executive of the venture said.
“We are planning to expand to cover the MENA region, starting with UAE and Egypt,” Abdullah Aljathlani, founder and chief executive officer of Blazma.
“In Saudi Arabia, we are operating in the main cities currently but working aggressively to expand to have a pan-country presence,” Aljathlani said.
The Blazma founder also revealed that the venture would be looking to strike a few partnership deals both in its home market and in the MENA region to fast track its proposed expansion plans.
“We are actively studying the opportunities [for partnerships] with leading health provider players to achieve the best experience for our patients, while increasing the revenue for our partners as well,” Aljathlani said.
Recent studies said Saudi Arabia was expected to invest $66 billion in healthcare infrastructure in the next seven years, as part of its Vision 2030 plan, a move which is projected to drive the healthcare diagnostic market in the country to reach over $23 billion by 2027.
Aljathlani said though the healthcare sector globally and in the Middle East was currently in a massive transformation-cum-growth phase, the traditional, transactional labs – which continue to serve as a foundation of the sector – will hold back the industry transformation in the Middle East region if it is not transformed.
“What we are attempting to do is to put labs as the cornerstone of this transformation and enable innovative business models for re-engineering this vital healthcare segment’s role in the healthcare system in Saudi Arabia, as also in the wider region,” Aljathlani said.
He said Blazma’s cutting-edge platform connects labs and other diagnostic centres with the relevant industries, thus driving the segment towards a value-based healthcare chain.
“What we have achieved so far is only the beginning of a long journey and promising roadmap that aims to connect the healthcare and wellness eco-system to enable industry players to innovate more business models and value-based care driven by data insight and AI,” Aljathlani said.
On fundraising plans, Aljathlani said the startup was readying plans to hit the investment round in the next two months.
“We have been waiting for launching and validating our new product – Blazma Connect – and after its successful launch in June this year, we are now ready to raise capital,” he said.
Aljathlani said he was confident of getting good investor response as the venture’s business model was gaining faster traction with the entire healthcare ecosystem.
He added the business has already performed four million medical tests and is on track to reach the next major milestone soon.