“Our mission is to promote a state of well-being, and the pursuit of having a healthy mind by making online counseling available to anyone, anytime, and anywhere,” says Hammad, co-founder, and CEO. The team also aims to break the cultural stigma around mental health through content creation and awareness campaigns and to generate social impact for the benefit of society. “A general lack of such services coupled with a high demand and need in the market is what drove us to try and fill that gap,” Hammad says.

Hammad also points out how notable organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Economic Forum (WEF) noted that the world’s population is at risk for a mental health crisis. “Six months after being diagnosed with COVID-19, one in three patients had experienced a mental health illness, mostly anxiety or depression,” says Hammad. “The confluence of events post the pandemic we are living through, and what transpired since, is another key reason we were able to accelerate our buildout and offering, with support from key government and private sector stakeholders, and more importantly, a new personal willingness from individuals to embrace this service,” she says. “Speaking to a professional is now being viewed more like a way to exercise the mind, similarly to how one exercises their body, and the two are very intertwined as anyone who regularly exercises can tell you there is a significant mental benefit that is induced.”

Takalam is now backed by Hub71, wherein it was able to receive a generous support package of exposure opportunities and incentives. It was also selected to participate in Hub71’s Demo Day, in partnership with the Abu Dhabi Investment Office, where the team was able to receive a grant to onboard new talent. “Being in that ‘cradle’ has allowed us the benefit of expertise and networking, as well as the resources in talent acquisition which really became a force multiplier to Takalam and accelerated our evolvement,” notes Hammad. And now, the team is gearing up to propel its growth. Hammad concludes, “We are a few steps away from closing our seed round which will help us grow in the UAE and expand our presence to Saudi Arabia, where a significant interest in Takalam has been generated.”

Source Credit: Entrepreneur