Dubai: A one-stop platform for all your doubts on skin treatments. Throw in a bit of cosmetic care treatments. And connect them to a vetted group of clinics and medical practitioners offering these treatments.
That is what selfologi, which launched its operations this week in the UAE, offers. It was last year that the concept was first sounded out and then the succeeding phase was used to building up all of the healthcare connections and content onto the portal. More than 100 skin and cosmetic surgery specialists are listed on the portal, each of them having to provide credentials of their licensing and other details before they make the cut on selfologi.
What the portal does not aim to be is just a directory of clinics offering these treatments in the UAE (and at some point in the near future, launch in Saudi Arabia too). “The aim is to offer treatments for everything from curing acne to botox fillers – and everything in between,” said Tamer Wali, founder. “There is still so much of unawareness about the how and where to source such skin and cosmetic treatments – I would say it’s as high as 75 per cent.”
There are a handful of portals that offer such listings of medical practitioners and how to access service. What Selfologi wants to do is to widen that access further. (At a later date, this could be expanded to include dental services, nutrition and life coaching.)
selfologi derives its cashflow not through a user making a consultancy appointment with one of the listed clinics. “That side of the service is offered free, but the clinics provide a 30 per cent commission on each referreal made through the platform,” said Wali.
Funding is all internal – so far
From concept to launch, including a high-profile show on the Burj Khalifa façade, was funded from own sources. The CEO is no stranger to the business of skin treatments and cosmetics, having spent three decades in the sale of medical devices. “Yes, new investors are always welcome, but we wanted to establish that we could launch and operate. That goal has been achieved.”
Saudi plans
Clearly, Saudi is the next big move and “the timing depends on soon we can onboard an optimum number of clinics and specialists in the Kingdom,” he added. “We have already started onboarding some in that market – let’s hope we reach the magic number for the launch soon enough.”
