Exclusive: Antler, Iterative back Indonesian mental health app for Muslims

Qalboo, an Indonesia-based Islamic well-being platform, has raised an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding from Antler and Iterative.

In an exclusive email interview with Tech in Asia, Qalboo said it will use the proceeds of the round to build its app and R&D program as well as recruit its first few team members.

Graphic of Qalboo app / Photo credit: Qalboo

A member of Antler’s first Jakarta cohort, Qalboo was founded in early 2022 by Windy Dhaliana, who previously headed the B2C business of local agritech firm Sayurbox. 

The idea for the platform stemmed from Dhaliana’s own struggles with mental health, which made her realize that the joys of faith had a direct impact on her well-being. 

She then teamed up with Arjun Sumarlan, an experienced Muslim-focused app builder, to develop a platform that would provide Muslims with actionable and easy-to-follow solutions to mental health issues. The co-founders think Qalboo is a product that’s sorely missing in a market that’s home to the world’s largest Muslim population.

However, Dhaliana stresses that Qalboo does want not to “geographically limit” itself in offering assistance to Muslim users. “We always envision our platform as being the leading global Islamic well-being app,” she says. 

Serving underserved Muslim market

An internal study carried out by Qalboo found that 70% of Muslims in Indonesia suffer from mental health issues. However, it also found that there is a stigma around mental health that holds people back from seeking help, and that many would prefer getting support that adheres to Islamic rules and laws.

To serve this market, the Qalboo app offers anonymous community and Q&A forums with selected psychologists, while also enabling users to book one-on-one counseling appointments with them. It’s also working on rolling out Islamic content related to mental health, such as mindfulness.

Other initiatives in the pipeline include partnerships with Muslim creators and brands as well as kickstarting monetization through a “freemium” model.

To fuel its growth, Qalboo is eyeing a seed round in early 2023, targeting to raise a sum of around US$1 million to US$1.5 million, Dhaliana adds.

Qalboo co-founders (from left) Arjun Sumarlan and Windy Dhaliana at the Antler Demo Day in September 2022 / Photo credit: Qalboo

With enough backing, the company hopes to emulate the growth and impact of peers that serve different markets and different religious communities, such as US-based Glorify and Hallow, which have attracted considerable venture capital interest.