Dubai’s Valeo raises $3 million seed to give users control over their health

Dubai-based wellbeing-tech startup Valeo Wellbeing has raised $3 million in seed funding from Global Founders Capital, Global Ventures, Nuwa Capital, and FJ Labs, it announced today. The startup is led by third-time entrepreneur Sundeep Sahni who has previously co-founded Southeast Asia’s largest ecommerce platform Lazada and mobile wallet HelloPay, which were acquired by Alibaba for $3 billion.

Prior to co-founding Valeo with Nadine Karadag earlier this year, he was the CEO of a mobile wallet and digital payments company. Nadine was previously Director of Portfolio Management at Growthgate Capital, a specialist buyout firm engaged in direct equity investments, where she helped accelerate the growth of several portfolio companies.

The two started working on Valeo after realizing a gap in the market with no one properly addressing the users who are not sick but are not feeling their best. To solve this, Valeo has launched a personalized health tracking and guided wellbeing app that enables users to schedule at-home wellbeing tests, get actionable advice on their results and connect with certified wellbeing coaches. The app that’s currently available for iOS (with Android version in the works) helps users better understand their bodies with wellbeing data.

Valeo currently has two tests available on the app; the baseline test that costs AED 595 (USD 162) and the advanced test that’s priced at AED 1395 (USD 380) for females and AED 1495 (USD 405) for males. The prices include an at-home collection of samples for the test and an easy-to-understand analysis of results that comes with impactful guidance from a wellbeing coach. The users can then engage with a wellbeing coach on a regular basis for a three-month subscription fee of AED 995.

The wellbeing coaches on Valeo are trained and certified in behavioral health and nutrition, and provide personalized lifestyle, food, and movement guidance to set users on the right track to optimal health, “They take the time to get to know users fully, find their internal motivation, ease the change to healthier habits, and set them up for feeling their best,” explained Valeo Wellebing’s co-founder and CEO Sundeep Sahni, in a conversation with MENAbytes.

Nadine Karadag, co-founder and COO of Valeo, in a statement, said, “Maintaining your wellbeing in the fast, modern world can be time and money consuming. You can find yourself paying a lot of money chasing health fads, and yet the right personalized advice at the right time remains difficult to find. Where do you go when you are not sick but you are not feeling your best? Valeo closes this gap in the market by providing a solution that is convenient, impactful, and reasonably priced. We want users to start their journey towards feeling their best using the Valeo app from the comfort of their homes.”

Stephanie Nour Prince, a Partner at Nuwa Capital, speaking to MENAbytes, said, “By allowing consumers access to and a better understanding of their wellness data as well as offering them actionable insights, Valeo is essentially them back in control of their wellness and wellness journey. It’s a space where people are still largely underserved although there is a clear need for more consumer-centric propositions. We were keen on partnering with Valeo early on in their journey, Sundeep and Nadine have a very impressive track record, there are very few founders who have previously operated large businesses at the highest level, and we strongly believe in their vision for the company.”

Valeo plans to use the funds to scale the platform and launch new wellbeing products in the local market. The startup plans to expand to other GCC markets in the coming years.