Mudar Obaid Dabbous + Laila
Aman Collective
What will your new startup’s offers be?
Aman Collective is an innovative online platform that carefully addresses the psychological, linguistic and cultural needs of the Arabic-speaking community in exile. Through affordable, easily accessible, and inclusive virtual therapy, Arabic-speaking refugees and immigrants can receive adequate mental health support. While virtual therapy in itself is not new to the world, our innovation is that we operate and work completely online, and benefit therapists based in the MENA region.
Who will be your customers?
The mental health of conflict survivors and immigrants is greatly overlooked, regardless of how advanced the healthcare system is; there seem to be structural, cultural, and linguistic barriers. Our main target group is Arabic-speaking refugees, asylum seekers, and immigrants in exile. Only in Europe, there are more than 6 million native Arabic speakers. Virtual mental health services for Arabic-speaking communities are almost non-existent, and those existing are not affordable for most people.
How will you make money?
Our main source of revenue is the services we sell (therapy sessions) to those who have specific linguistic needs. Our services are affordable, with the cost being ~12$/session. The total amount goes directly to our therapists based in the MENA region, while we deduct a small percentage to cover our cost of operation. We plan to diversify our streams of revenue by designing mobile apps and self-authoring programs designed to support the mental health of Arabic-speaking communities in exile.
How will you take care of your entrepreneurial responsibility?
Our social responsibility lies in the fact that we aim to provide accessible and affordable mental health care to the Arabic-speaking community in exile; as well as support mental health professionals in the region by increasing fair employment opportunities. We designed a sustainable business model whose revenue is destined to implement on-the-ground projects to reach the most vulnerable communities, and to ensure the continuity of our services without future external funding.
