• Egypt-based healthtech Rology has acquired Saudi Arabian counterpart Arkan United. The value of the transaction was not disclosed.
• The acquisition will help Rology make inroads into the Saudi healthcare sector.
• Founded in 2017 by Amr Abodriaa, Mahmoud Eldefrawy, Moaaz Hossam and Bassam Khallaf, Rology offers an on-demand teleradiology platform that uses AI and cloud computing to deliver reports within 12 hours or in 60 minutes for emergency cases.
• The startup raised a couple of rounds over the past three years. Last year it raised a pre-Series A round used for ramping up its presence in the Middle East and a number of African markets, notably Kenya.
• Arkan was founded in 2020 by Tarik Baeshen, and it offers a teleradiology platform that caters to medical centre, local hospitals and polyclinics.

Press release

Rology, the leading teleradiology company in the Middle East & Africa has acquired Arkan United, a teleradiology provider, headquartered in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, that provides teleradiology. 

The deal was signed by Rology CEO Amr Abodriaa and Arkan’s CEO Tarik Baeshen. "We're excited to announce our acquisition of Arkan for medical services in Saudi Arabia. 

This acquisition allows us to accelerate our mission of bringing the latest innovations in teleradiology to healthcare providers and patients in the kingdom and beyond. 

By combining Rology’s cutting-edge technology and network with Arkan's established expertise, we're poised to revolutionize the field of teleradiology and improve patient care in unprecedented ways. 

We're excited to continue on Arkan’s success with Tarik Baeshen, and to be at the forefront of this exciting future and to continue to lead the way in teleradiology." Amr Abodriaa shares “We look forward to seeing how Rology will take Arkan forward in the Saudi market. 

What is clear to me is that Rology has the right people and the right disruptive solution that the Saudi healthcare system truly needs. I am proud of what Arkan has done for the healthcare landscape in the kingdom, and I am eager to see Rology take it one step further” Tarik Baeshen shares.

As part of its strategic choice to focus on KSA as a key market, Rology is making inroads with this major acquisition. Saudi Arabia’s healthcare sector remains to be the largest in the region and Rology will play a critical role in delivering top quality reporting for the healthcare system in a highly efficient and cost efficient manner. As the leading teleradiology provider in the MEA, it is the logical next step for Rology to expand into KSA. 

The company has saved over 500,000 lives from Egypt to Kenya, through its one-of-a-kind solution. Rology’s acquisition of Arkan and the other local partnerships its forging, is evidence of the commitment the company has to the kingdom. 

This is the right time for Saudi, and Rology knows it. ‘Saeed ElAnsari & CEO of Tawaref (Rology investor) Demand for healthcare in KSA is rising, driven by population growth and aging as well as rising incidence of noncommunicable diseases. The large size of the country and the dispersed nature of its population has made it more challenging to deliver care to all segments. According to the 2020 Saudi Ministry of Health statistics 10 out of the 20 regions in KSA have no radiology consultants in private sector hospitals. 

And where they do exist, radiology departments are severely understaffed with shortages occurring at a time when radiology volume generally is increasing. That’s where Rology comes in. The combination of Rology’s rigorous radiologist recruitment process, its matchmaking algorithm that connects each case with the right expert and its recheck process ensures fast and high quality reporting.