Ameen el-Morabaa, 37, launched Pinwheel startup last June to make psychological treatment affordable for employees, after he found that staff are often less productive if their well-being is absent.
EG: Why did you start and what’s?
the passion behind it?
Ameen el-Morabaa: Therapists and psychiatrists are too expensive. Since I had my treatment years ago, I found that people need to be connected to trusted psychiatrists before taking any medication and to get a consultation first. The name ‘Pinwheel’ refers to the seven basic feelings of any human being: happy, sad, disgusted, fearful, bad and surprised. Access to quality mental health should be available to everyone and I believe the working capital should be able to use mental health services as part of their company benefits.
EG: What is your background?
AM: I am a graduate from the faculty of business, Benha University. Currently, I’m studying well-being online at Yale University. I’ve worked in the business development career in many multinational companies as well.
EG: What are the issues you are solving and what is your value proposition?
AM: Firstly, convincing employers to share the idea of better well-being in work time. Secondly, educating people about psychological issues. There should be no stigma attached and too few make the effort to learn about mental health. Statistics show that people have been using medication for mental health disorders 400 more times in the last 20 years. When employees suffer from poor mental health, productivity is low and their physical health may be affected.
EG: Tell us more about the process,
users, business model.
AM: We are connecting companies with psychiatrists online through our website. We first seek companies and if they agree, the deal is done through a contract and a non-disclosure agreement. We start telling employees about what we do and raise their awareness of the science of well-being and that psychiatric disorder is not a stigma. We usually contact them through the company official email to make them feel more at ease and not be shy to asking for a consultation.
EG: What are your main challenges?
AM: Dealing with the stigma associated with mental problems. Also, the case for investing in employee’s mental health is not at its best, at least in Egypt.
EG: What are your achievements?
and coming plans?
AM: Our technology is up and running. Our network of qualified and trusted therapists has been established. At the moment, we are working with more than 40 companies, adding big firms such as venture capital and accelerator of 500 Startups to our network. We have managed to build partnerships with local insurance companies, where we bundle our product with medical coverage.
EG: How do you find the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Egypt?
AM: There’s definitely a lot of support that is truly helping us learn from the market. The startup, however, is still trying to learn about ways to offer its services while keeping the costs down. We believe that partnering with insurance companies will allow us to penetrate the market faster and help us reach more companies and help greater numbers of employees.
