Pakistan’s healthtech sector has earned a significant marker of international recognition as Sehat Kahani, the country’s leading telemedicine platform, has been featured as a case study at Harvard — a distinction that places one of Pakistan’s most impactful startups alongside the world’s most studied models of healthcare innovation.
The announcement was shared by Dr Iffat Zafar Aga, co-founder and Chief Operations Officer of Sehat Kahani, on her LinkedIn. While the LinkedIn post itself was not publicly accessible, the recognition reflects a journey that has been years in the making. A researcher at Harvard’s Health Systems Innovation Lab, working under the mentorship of Professor Rifat Atun, developed a case study focused on Sehat Kahani after it emerged as a standout example during coursework on innovation and global health systems. The case involved conducting interviews with industry leaders and exploring the broader ecosystem of healthcare startups in Pakistan.
For a startup that began as a response to one of Pakistan’s most persistent structural failures — the acute shortage of accessible, affordable primary healthcare — reaching the curricula of one of the world’s most prestigious academic institutions is a meaningful arrival. Sehat Kahani operates as a one-stop telemedicine solution connecting patients to a network of over 7,500 healthcare professionals, with consultations available across the country within 60 seconds. The platform serves patients through multiple channels: a consumer-facing application, a corporate health and wellness programme, and a network of physical e-health clinics that bring virtual consultations to communities that have historically been cut off from specialist care. In July 2025, Sehat Kahani, in collaboration with Fauji Fertilizer Company and Sona Welfare Foundation, opened e-health clinics in underserved communities where trained nurses assist patients in connecting with licensed doctors through video consultations, providing access to primary care, mental health services, and support for those with disabilities. It is precisely this model — combining technology with on-the-ground infrastructure to reach populations that neither private clinics nor public hospitals adequately serve — that has drawn the attention of global institutions.
The company was founded by Dr Sara Saeed Khurram and Dr Iffat Zafar Aga, both practising physicians who identified the gap between Pakistan’s available medical workforce and the population’s ability to reach it. Sehat Kahani demonstrated an average year-on-year growth of 141 percent over three years, with five times cumulative growth in the number of consultations in the post-COVID-19 era, disproving the assumption that telemedicine demand was a pandemic-specific phenomenon. The platform now serves over 800 corporations and operates 62 e-health clinics nationwide. The startup’s trajectory has also been reflected in its fundraising. Sehat Kahani closed a Series A round of 2.7 million United States dollars, becoming the first all-female-led company in Pakistan to secure Series A funding, with investment from Amaanah Circle, Epic Angels, Cross Fund, USAID Investment Promotion Activity, Augmentor, Impact Investment Exchange, and the Elahi Group of Companies.
Being selected for a Harvard case study carries weight beyond prestige. Case studies at institutions like Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Harvard Business School are used to teach future policymakers, health system leaders, and entrepreneurs how to navigate complex problems at scale. Sehat Kahani’s inclusion means its model — female-founded, technology-driven, and designed for a low-resource, high-need environment — will now be studied and debated in classrooms that produce the next generation of global health leadership. For Pakistan’s startup ecosystem, it signals that homegrown solutions to domestic challenges are increasingly legible and credible on the world stage.
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