This Indonesian app makes mental health for Muslims a priority

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Hello reader,

Monday, October 10 marked three decades since the world celebrated the first international mental health day. It has been a long and, at times, tumultuous journey raising awareness on a topic considered taboo (or just not a good look) in most modern societies, especially in Asia.

But the tides are turning and archaic views on mental health are melting away. Courtesy the internet and, later, social media, growing awareness is slowly breaking down the wall of stigma around the subject.

In fact, my colleague, Winston, investigates the topic’s evolution in this profoundly insightful and engaging podcast around mental health in the startup world.

The focus of today’s featured piece, Indonesia-based Qalboo, offers a unique pathway toward bringing mental health services to the masses. While it is common to see startups offer Islamic banking services, it is less so to find one doing the same with mental health.

That’s the void Qalboo, which recently bagged pre-seed funding from big-name investors Antler and Iterative, looks to fill.

The app seeks to cement itself as the go-to wellbeing platform for Muslims in Indonesia, home to the world’s largest Muslim population, by providing actionable and easy-to-follow solutions to mental health issues.

Today we look at:

• The pre-seed funding of Islamic wellbeing platform Qalboo
• A F&B software-as-a-service platform bags US$2 million in pre-seed funding
• Other newsy highlights such as Livspace setting aside US$100 million for M&As and over 2,000 pink slips being handed out at Crypto.com

— Shravanth

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Finding peace

Image credit: Timmy Loen

It’s not unusual for founders to draw inspiration from their past to kickstart their businesses. A few years ago, my school friend launched his own mental health-focused startup after experiencing the benefits of therapy.

Fusing F&B & SaaS

Quick bytes