The problem
The GCC has some of the world’s highest diabetes rates — out of 260 million people with diabetes or prediabetes across the GCC and South Asia, 163 million have confirmed diabetes, heading toward 320 million by 2030. Yet a patient’s reality is a clinic visit every few months with no guidance in between, and the digital tools that exist barely speak Arabic.
How it works
Droobi’s app enrolls members in Diabetes/Prediabetes or Wellness programs: snap a photo of each meal, sync steps, weight and blood pressure through Apple Health, and get smart insights plus weekly lessons. Behind the software sits a dedicated human health coach, chatting daily and giving round-the-clock feedback on blood glucose, food intake and activity — behavior-change science with a person attached. An American Diabetes Association paper singled it out as the first Arabic digital therapeutic for increasing patient self-reported data between visits.
Pain points
Months-long gaps between appointments, English-only apps in an Arabic-speaking epidemic, and generic diet sheets with no feedback on whether anything is working.
Business model
A freemium consumer app — free to download, with in-app purchases unlocking the coached programs — distributed alongside institutional chronic-care programs across the region.
Challenges
Digital therapeutics live or die on adherence: the coach-and-photo loop only works while members keep logging. Each payer and health system needs its own outcomes proof, and after the January 2024 merger with India’s Smit.fit the combined DroobiSmit moved its headquarters to Singapore — leaving open how much of the operation stays Qatari.
Funding
- Raised: ≈$5M combined backing to date for the merged DroobiSmit, with support from QSTP, QDB, Barzan Holding, Doha Tech Angels, M Venture Partners and ~20 angels (Wamda, Jan 2024). QSTP, QDB and MVP backed both companies at seed stage.
- Valuation: MISSING.
Latest — January 2024
Qatar’s Droobi Health merged with India’s Smit.fit to form DroobiSmit, headquartered in Singapore — positioning the combined entity, with ~40,000 users reached and documented improvements in HbA1c, blood pressure, weight and cholesterol, as the premier digital-diabetes provider across the GCC and South Asia.