Shezlong was founded by Ahmed Abu Elhaz in 2015 based in Cairo, Egypt. He thought of a way patients can connect with therapists via Video or text chat for their mental health practice. Investors in Shezlong includes Asia Africa Investment & Consulting, Mohamed El Khamissy, Khaled Ismail, Seedstars and Vision Ventures. 2020 June gave the Egyptian based Healthcare startup a new boost as they raised $600,000 in seed funding.
According to a research report, In 2018, about 25% of Egypt’s estimated 72.2 million people are deemed to be battling mental health issues. Therefore this metamorphosed the starting of Shezlong which vision is to reduce this percentage drastically and create a better atmosphere for Egyptians. The rise of underaged sexual activities, trauma, consumption of drugs, broken homes, loss of close relatives and friends can be highlighted as a high cause for mental depression. Shezlong provides counselling services to the client to ease them and discuss ways to overcome and have stable mental health. With an easy to use platform, all you need is four steps; choose your therapist, reserve your session, select a payment method and finally, enjoy your session.

Shezlong is doing a great job, however, We can’t overlook the presence of hindrance from the government in terms of providing necessary Infrastructures and also personal ideology towards embracing technology on the African soil. There are instances when a depressed person won’t be able to express oneself very well via text, another situation where poor internet night interrupt video session, also the situation where communication might not be effective as recent studies of communication research claimed communication is bound to be more effective when it is physical.
Finally, the idea seems to shift more towards the rich although we understand the main objective of businesses is to make a profit, technology is developed to solve problems and make life easier for everyone. Therefore Shezlong should make effort to connect the middle class and poor to therapists and bring them together at a cheaper option because mental health is a general problem.
Get updated by following our social media accounts and supporting our ever-growing Youtube Channel.