A four-hour clinic visit revealed a healthcare gap this Dubai founder set out to solve.
Dubai: A clinic visit that lasted from 11am to 3.30pm became the catalyst for two Dubai entrepreneurs to build a healthcare technology business aimed at reducing the time doctors, pharmacists and patients lose to outdated systems.
Sreecharan, co-founder of Neulink, visited a well-known clinic for severe neck pain and migraines, but repeated registration issues and system failures delayed his consultation before it even started.
“The doctor was not diagnosing the patient; he was troubleshooting software,” said Mahmoud Suliman, Neulink’s 25-year-old Sudanese co-founder.
A separate hospital experience highlighted another gap. Although the medication was available on the pharmacy shelf, the system incorrectly showed it as out of stock, causing a 45-minute delay while the insurance claim was processed.
“When we compared our experiences, we realised this was not an isolated problem. Medication dispensing is slow across the industry, and pharmacies are relying on systems that were never designed for the speed and complexity healthcare requires today. That is what pushed us to build Neulink,” he said.
From solar engineering to healthcare technology
Born and raised in the UAE, the founder holds a Bachelor of Technology degree in Solar and Alternate Energy and began exploring entrepreneurial ideas while still at university.
His early projects included designing and fabricating a solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle with a university batchmate, followed by the launch of an online auction-based marketplace, his first business venture. He was later recognised as one of the top 25 Ideators at the Hello Business Pitch 3 by e&.
“The thought of taking a regular job has crossed my mind, especially during the difficult periods at Neulink when progress feels invisible. But whenever that happens, I remind myself how close we are and that the goals we set are still within reach.”
— Mahmoud Suliman, Co-founder of Neulink
Entrepreneurship was familiar to Suliman from an early age, with his father running a law firm in the UAE. However, his initial plan was to find a job in his field after graduation.
That path changed during his final year at university when he began selling in-demand luxury products and discovered that he enjoyed interacting directly with customers.
“That is when I realised I wanted to build something of my own,” he said.
Grants funded Neulink’s first product
Neulink’s early development was supported by grants from the Ministry of Education and the Telecommunications and Digital Government Regulatory Authority after the co-founders secured wins in pitching competitions.
The founders also invested proceeds from a previous venture into the business, helping the team build a minimum viable product and begin pilot programmes with retail pharmacies.
The company received its first external investment cheque after joining the Sanabil Accelerator by Orbit Ventures — a milestone the founder describes as Neulink’s biggest achievement to date.
“Joining the Sanabil Accelerator by Orbit Ventures validated what we are building and gave us access to the Saudi market at a stage when that kind of exposure mattered most,” Suliman said.
Learning healthcare from scratch
Neither founder came from a medical background, meaning they had to learn how pharmacies operate, how different healthcare stakeholders interact and how regulations differ across markets.
Support from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund has helped the company connect with government and enterprise organisations, providing opportunities to showcase and implement its solutions.
Why Dubai became the base for Neulink
The founder said the UAE’s startup ecosystem gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to test ideas, experiment and build companies. Dubai was the natural home for Neulink, he added, as it is where he was born and where he first experienced the healthcare challenges the company aims to solve.
The pull of a regular job
Suliman has never held a full-time nine-to-five role, although he completed a three-month internship at a subsidiary of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority.
A conventional career path occasionally seemed more appealing during periods when Neulink’s progress was difficult to measure, but Suliman remained focused on the goals set by the founding team.
The company’s five-year ambition is to become the region’s leading end-to-end pharmacy management platform.
His advice to aspiring founders is to solve a genuine customer problem and choose a co-founder who shares the same vision and commitment to building the business.
“Build something that people want and keep working towards it. Doubt is something you will face, but it should not be the reason you stop,” he said.
