An Arabic digital health platform with over 1.5 million pages of medical content and a 24-hour helpline service has announced a new round of venture capital funding worth $6.5 million (23.9 million UAE dirhams).

Dubai-based Altibbi, which was co-founded and is run by Jalil Allabadi and Ayman Sharaiha, said in a statement announcing the fundraising that it plans to use the money raised to grow its offering both to businesses and consumers.

It plans to add more Arabic content to its library and will build on a free Q&A service which currently sees about 1,000 queries per day answered by a directory of more than 12,000 verified doctors.

The company also plans to build on its premium tele-health services, which offers both advice and access to doctors. The company said that the helpline service can help larger employees to promote wellness and save on healthcare costs.

The Series B funding round was jointly led by Middle East Venture Partners and Amman-based venture capital firm Dash Ventures, with participation from a range of other investors, including Rimco Investments and Endeavor’s Catalyst Fund.

It is a follow-on from a previous $2 million funding round undertaken in 2015, which was also led by Middle East Venture Partners and Dash Ventures.

The company operates in 10 different markets across the Arab world, and has potential to expand into new markets.

Sharaiha, who is chief operating officer, said the funding would be “fully dedicated to further growing the company”, which has about 6 million users per month.

Speaking at the launch of its new, $250 million MEVFIII fund last week, MEVP chief executive Walid Hanna said that he expected about 70 percent of the capital to be deployed to Series B investments, and that it expected to back “three or four” companies from its existing portfolio of 40 investments.

© Zawya 2017