“The Doctor Said the Administration Punishes This”
— I initially built my career as an employee: for several years, I headed marketing at the UMC network of medical centers, then moved to Beeline Kazakhstan, where I was responsible for e-commerce.
The idea of a digital clinic came from a personal need. Due to chronic illnesses, both my relatives and I had to visit doctors frequently. Once, I asked a doctor if I could get a consultation via WhatsApp. He agreed but warned me that the hospital administration punishes doctors for doing that.
That’s how the idea of legalizing online medical consultations was born. Moreover, back in 2018, I had experience implementing telemedicine solutions, but at that time neither the market nor the legislation was ready. Now things have changed, so we launched the company and became residents of Astana Hub.
— Who founded the project? Do you have a large team?
— There are two co-founders, both of us coming from commercial healthcare. My expertise lies in building digital businesses, marketing, and product development. My partner is responsible for medical management and clinical processes, as we also operate our own offline clinic.
The project team consists of six people. Regardless of formal status or payment terms, all specialists—including developers—de facto work with us most of the time as a single in-house team.
Of course, this isn’t enough—we need to scale and hire more people, and I’m not particularly fond of outsourcing. But at this stage of the startup’s life, it’s justified: external specialists are cheaper and allow us to implement ideas faster.
“For 1,000 Tenge, You Can Get a 15-Minute Consultation”
— How does Metaclinic work? For example, if I want to consult a doctor.
— You go to our website, metaclinic.kz, and choose a specialist based on what’s bothering you. If the issue isn’t clear, it’s best to start with a general practitioner.
To lower the entry barrier, we set a symbolic price of 1,000 tenge for a 15-minute consultation with an on-duty therapist or pediatrician. Doctors are available almost instantly—within 10 minutes after booking. A standard online consultation usually costs between 5,000 and 10,000 tenge, depending on the doctor’s specialty and qualifications.
The process works like this: the patient selects a doctor and a convenient time slot, pays for the appointment, and connects at the scheduled time. After the consultation, the doctor can issue an official medical report, which makes our product a fully legitimate remote medical service.
This is Metaclinic’s key feature: all doctors have valid certificates, and the partner clinics they work through are licensed. We fundamentally do not work with freelance doctors who consult privately—without a valid medical certificate and a licensed medical institution, such activity is not legitimate.
— Is payment only per consultation?
— Recently, we launched subscription plans. Under a selected plan, a client and their family members receive a certain level of access to doctors. For example, the standard package costs 12,000 tenge per month for one child and one adult and includes unlimited consultations with on-duty doctors plus one consultation with a specialist.
Subscriptions emerged at the request of patients who consult doctors regularly—people asked for the option to pay upfront so they wouldn’t have to enter card details every time.
We also offer corporate plans. This is the same subscription model, but paid for by the employer. It works similarly to health insurance and is especially effective for companies whose employees work remotely or on rotational shifts without direct access to clinics.
— Tell us about Metaclinic’s monetization. Is the project already profitable?
— We earn commissions from one-time consultations as well as from subscriptions. Unit economics are positive in both cases. I won’t disclose exact figures now, as things are changing with the onboarding of new partners.
Even at the stage when we were growing independently, we managed to reach market benchmarks: customer acquisition costs were several times lower than the revenue generated per customer, even after accounting for doctor payouts and operating expenses.
A month ago, the project reached operational break-even. Now that we’re covering current expenses, our goal is to become profitable within the next six months, taking into account the new revenue structure.
“A Senior Doctor from a Village Doubled Her Income”
— How can a doctor join the platform?
— After receiving an application, we conduct strict compliance checks: we verify diplomas and confirm certificate validity through the E-license portal to ensure compliance with Kazakhstan’s legislation. Then we sign contracts online via a partner clinic.
After paperwork, the doctor moves on to training. Before allowing a specialist to work with real patients, we familiarize them with standards and conduct test calls. These may be carried out by our staff or by mystery shoppers.
At this stage, we closely monitor metrics: how quickly the doctor joins the call, how long the consultation lasts, and the rating they receive. Only after completing this process does the specialist officially start consulting patients.
After that, doctors can set available time slots and accept patients. They determine their own schedules and consultation fees. There are also on-duty doctors who receive fixed hourly pay plus a bonus per consultation. These specialists work on a strict schedule, allowing us to maintain SLA (Service Level Agreement) standards and guarantee consultations within 10 minutes.
— Why would doctors want to consult online?
— The key motivation is income and transparency. Through Metaclinic, doctors can consult legally without worrying about bureaucracy or deductions—the partner clinic handles everything, including tax payments.
In offline clinics, doctors earn less because service pricing includes rent, administrative, and operational costs. Online, these expenses don’t exist, so doctors receive a higher share of revenue.
Additionally, about a quarter of our doctors are women on maternity leave. They can’t return to clinics but don’t want to lose their qualifications or income. Remote work suits them perfectly. Some allocate just one hour per week—two 30-minute slots—for online consultations.
We’ve seen some truly inspiring cases. For example, a senior doctor working in a remote village managed to more than double her income within a month of joining the platform. She personally reached out to thank us. These stories are incredibly motivating—they show that we’ve built a service that’s intuitive even for older specialists.
— How many doctors work through Metaclinic? Are you satisfied with the platform’s growth?
— We currently have about 370 doctors in our database, with 100–150 maintaining daily active schedules. Over the entire period, just over 3,000 unique patients have used our service.
To be honest, the pace of onboarding new doctors is below expectations. But this was a conscious decision. Instead of chasing quantity, we’ve focused on efficiency over the past six months—and the results are strong. Our key metric, LTV (Lifetime Value), is growing. Our current goal is not just to attract users, but to retain both patients and doctors so they stay on the platform longer and generate sustainable revenue.
“People Simply Don’t Have Time to Take Care of Their Health”
— Do you see growth potential in Kazakhstan?
— Absolutely. It’s directly linked to urbanization: city residents have less and less free time due to traffic and dense schedules.
The second factor is the overall growth of digital services that simplify life in Kazakhstan. This trend applies to all industries, and healthcare still has enormous room for improvement in terms of customer experience—even if we exclude public healthcare and mandatory insurance systems.
— Do Kazakhstanis trust doctors on a screen?
— It depends on the person. Explaining how online services work to older people is much harder than to urban youth.
As a startup, we initially focus on a more prepared audience—those who will become our early adopters. It’s cheaper and more realistic at this stage. We can’t yet afford to attract “expensive” customers who require extensive explanations. At the same time, I understand that as disruptors, we’ll need to educate both doctors and patients.
It’s encouraging that we’re not alone in this process. Many similar startups and even government pilots are emerging. At this stage, we don’t see them as competitors—we’re collectively building the digital healthcare market. Every new project helps educate participants and form a habit of seeking medical care online.
Doctors, by the way, are easier to onboard. Thanks to the pandemic, many are already familiar with online consultations but conduct them informally. They quickly understand how Metaclinic works and are happy to switch to a legitimate platform.
— What motivates people to seek medical help online?
— The main reason is lack of time. Interestingly, we initially thought distance would be the key factor. But data showed otherwise: most of our users are city residents. Clinics are accessible, but people simply don’t have time for traditional healthcare. When illness strikes, they need help immediately—“here and now.”
Another key group is mothers with young children, for whom leaving the house is difficult or impossible. Online consultations are ideal for them.
The third scenario is hybrid—patients move from offline to online. For example, you’ve had an in-person visit and don’t need a follow-up exam, just clarification or help interpreting test results. That can be done online. Most consultations are with therapists and pediatricians—people primarily seek general advice.
“A Digital Clinic Fits Perfectly into Large Ecosystems”
— How do you promote Metaclinic?
— We rely on three main acquisition channels. First, doctors themselves. Over the past year, we’ve built a pool of loyal specialists who actively use the service. They encourage patients to book follow-ups via the platform and sometimes dedicate one day a week to fully remote work.
The third—and currently most important—channel is partnerships. We recently completed an integration with a telecom operator, making our service available inside their app, where users can book online doctor consultations.
Another major partner from the fitness industry is coming soon—they want to integrate healthcare into their product lineup. We’ve identified strong market demand for ecosystem-based solutions among digital players in Kazakhstan.
— What do you gain from partnerships?
— First, audience expansion and clearer communication of product value. Second, strategic benefits. We see that a digital clinic integrates seamlessly into large ecosystems. Partnerships also enable entirely new products—for example, combining online medical consultations with gym visits.
“We’ll Be Testing the Uzbekistan Market Soon”
— How much money has been invested in the startup overall?
— We closed our latest investment round in the summer, raising $150,000 at a $2 million valuation. In total, we’ve raised around $250,000 so far.
A significant portion of the latest funds went into expanding the tech team to prepare for partner integrations.
Another portion goes into classic marketing tools: Google search ads and targeted advertising. We’re testing campaigns in both major cities and remote regions.
Upcoming investments will be used to build two separate apps—one for doctors and one for patients. Experience has shown that a web version isn’t enough for doctors; mobility is critical. We’ve adapted the current version quickly, but fully standalone apps are in the roadmap.
— Are you currently looking for new investments?
— Yes, and we’re exploring two strategic growth scenarios. The first is moving into the B2B segment: we see demand from large medical clinics that want deeper integration beyond pure telemedicine, linking online and offline care.
The second scenario involves AI and data processing. The platform accumulates large volumes of data, and while I can’t go into details, broadly speaking, we’re exploring an AI assistant—not for individual doctors, but for medical centers as a whole.
We’re testing both paths, and future investments will largely depend on the results.
— What about entering other markets?
— We’ll soon be testing the Uzbekistan market. The initiative came from outside—a major ecosystem player invited us as a partner for a joint pilot. We’re now studying how to launch as quickly and efficiently as possible.
However, our primary focus remains Kazakhstan. At this stage, it’s crucial to grow here and continue improving product quality.
— What is your medium- and long-term vision for Metaclinic?
— Regardless of the path our startup takes, the core focus will always be the quality of medical care patients receive on Metaclinic. That’s why we’re now testing AI-driven quality control for clinical decisions. AI will analyze doctors’ clinical decisions based on national protocols and international clinical guidelines.
Read more on Digitalbusiness.kz
“The Doctor Said the Administration Punishes This”
— I initially built my career as an employee: for several years, I headed marketing at the UMC network of medical centers, then moved to Beeline Kazakhstan, where I was responsible for e-commerce.
The idea of a digital clinic came from a personal need. Due to chronic illnesses, both my relatives and I had to visit doctors frequently. Once, I asked a doctor if I could get a consultation via WhatsApp. He agreed but warned me that the hospital administration punishes doctors for doing that.
That’s how the idea of legalizing online medical consultations was born. Moreover, back in 2018, I had experience implementing telemedicine solutions, but at that time neither the market nor the legislation was ready. Now things have changed, so we launched the company and became residents of Astana Hub.
— Who founded the project? Do you have a large team?
— There are two co-founders, both of us coming from commercial healthcare. My expertise lies in building digital businesses, marketing, and product development. My partner is responsible for medical management and clinical processes, as we also operate our own offline clinic.
The project team consists of six people. Regardless of formal status or payment terms, all specialists—including developers—de facto work with us most of the time as a single in-house team.
Of course, this isn’t enough—we need to scale and hire more people, and I’m not particularly fond of outsourcing. But at this stage of the startup’s life, it’s justified: external specialists are cheaper and allow us to implement ideas faster.
“For 1,000 Tenge, You Can Get a 15-Minute Consultation”
— How does Metaclinic work? For example, if I want to consult a doctor.
— You go to our website, metaclinic.kz, and choose a specialist based on what’s bothering you. If the issue isn’t clear, it’s best to start with a general practitioner.
To lower the entry barrier, we set a symbolic price of 1,000 tenge for a 15-minute consultation with an on-duty therapist or pediatrician. Doctors are available almost instantly—within 10 minutes after booking. A standard online consultation usually costs between 5,000 and 10,000 tenge, depending on the doctor’s specialty and qualifications.
The process works like this: the patient selects a doctor and a convenient time slot, pays for the appointment, and connects at the scheduled time. After the consultation, the doctor can issue an official medical report, which makes our product a fully legitimate remote medical service.
This is Metaclinic’s key feature: all doctors have valid certificates, and the partner clinics they work through are licensed. We fundamentally do not work with freelance doctors who consult privately—without a valid medical certificate and a licensed medical institution, such activity is not legitimate.
— Is payment only per consultation?
— Recently, we launched subscription plans. Under a selected plan, a client and their family members receive a certain level of access to doctors. For example, the standard package costs 12,000 tenge per month for one child and one adult and includes unlimited consultations with on-duty doctors plus one consultation with a specialist.
Subscriptions emerged at the request of patients who consult doctors regularly—people asked for the option to pay upfront so they wouldn’t have to enter card details every time.
We also offer corporate plans. This is the same subscription model, but paid for by the employer. It works similarly to health insurance and is especially effective for companies whose employees work remotely or on rotational shifts without direct access to clinics.
— Tell us about Metaclinic’s monetization. Is the project already profitable?
— We earn commissions from one-time consultations as well as from subscriptions. Unit economics are positive in both cases. I won’t disclose exact figures now, as things are changing with the onboarding of new partners.
Even at the stage when we were growing independently, we managed to reach market benchmarks: customer acquisition costs were several times lower than the revenue generated per customer, even after accounting for doctor payouts and operating expenses.
A month ago, the project reached operational break-even. Now that we’re covering current expenses, our goal is to become profitable within the next six months, taking into account the new revenue structure.
“A Senior Doctor from a Village Doubled Her Income”
— How can a doctor join the platform?
— After receiving an application, we conduct strict compliance checks: we verify diplomas and confirm certificate validity through the E-license portal to ensure compliance with Kazakhstan’s legislation. Then we sign contracts online via a partner clinic.
After paperwork, the doctor moves on to training. Before allowing a specialist to work with real patients, we familiarize them with standards and conduct test calls. These may be carried out by our staff or by mystery shoppers.
At this stage, we closely monitor metrics: how quickly the doctor joins the call, how long the consultation lasts, and the rating they receive. Only after completing this process does the specialist officially start consulting patients.
After that, doctors can set available time slots and accept patients. They determine their own schedules and consultation fees. There are also on-duty doctors who receive fixed hourly pay plus a bonus per consultation. These specialists work on a strict schedule, allowing us to maintain SLA (Service Level Agreement) standards and guarantee consultations within 10 minutes.
— Why would doctors want to consult online?
— The key motivation is income and transparency. Through Metaclinic, doctors can consult legally without worrying about bureaucracy or deductions—the partner clinic handles everything, including tax payments.
In offline clinics, doctors earn less because service pricing includes rent, administrative, and operational costs. Online, these expenses don’t exist, so doctors receive a higher share of revenue.
Additionally, about a quarter of our doctors are women on maternity leave. They can’t return to clinics but don’t want to lose their qualifications or income. Remote work suits them perfectly. Some allocate just one hour per week—two 30-minute slots—for online consultations.
We’ve seen some truly inspiring cases. For example, a senior doctor working in a remote village managed to more than double her income within a month of joining the platform. She personally reached out to thank us. These stories are incredibly motivating—they show that we’ve built a service that’s intuitive even for older specialists.
— How many doctors work through Metaclinic? Are you satisfied with the platform’s growth?
— We currently have about 370 doctors in our database, with 100–150 maintaining daily active schedules. Over the entire period, just over 3,000 unique patients have used our service.
To be honest, the pace of onboarding new doctors is below expectations. But this was a conscious decision. Instead of chasing quantity, we’ve focused on efficiency over the past six months—and the results are strong. Our key metric, LTV (Lifetime Value), is growing. Our current goal is not just to attract users, but to retain both patients and doctors so they stay on the platform longer and generate sustainable revenue.
“People Simply Don’t Have Time to Take Care of Their Health”
— Do you see growth potential in Kazakhstan?
— Absolutely. It’s directly linked to urbanization: city residents have less and less free time due to traffic and dense schedules.
The second factor is the overall growth of digital services that simplify life in Kazakhstan. This trend applies to all industries, and healthcare still has enormous room for improvement in terms of customer experience—even if we exclude public healthcare and mandatory insurance systems.
— Do Kazakhstanis trust doctors on a screen?
— It depends on the person. Explaining how online services work to older people is much harder than to urban youth.
As a startup, we initially focus on a more prepared audience—those who will become our early adopters. It’s cheaper and more realistic at this stage. We can’t yet afford to attract “expensive” customers who require extensive explanations. At the same time, I understand that as disruptors, we’ll need to educate both doctors and patients.
It’s encouraging that we’re not alone in this process. Many similar startups and even government pilots are emerging. At this stage, we don’t see them as competitors—we’re collectively building the digital healthcare market. Every new project helps educate participants and form a habit of seeking medical care online.
Doctors, by the way, are easier to onboard. Thanks to the pandemic, many are already familiar with online consultations but conduct them informally. They quickly understand how Metaclinic works and are happy to switch to a legitimate platform.
— What motivates people to seek medical help online?
— The main reason is lack of time. Interestingly, we initially thought distance would be the key factor. But data showed otherwise: most of our users are city residents. Clinics are accessible, but people simply don’t have time for traditional healthcare. When illness strikes, they need help immediately—“here and now.”
Another key group is mothers with young children, for whom leaving the house is difficult or impossible. Online consultations are ideal for them.
The third scenario is hybrid—patients move from offline to online. For example, you’ve had an in-person visit and don’t need a follow-up exam, just clarification or help interpreting test results. That can be done online. Most consultations are with therapists and pediatricians—people primarily seek general advice.
“A Digital Clinic Fits Perfectly into Large Ecosystems”
— How do you promote Metaclinic?
— We rely on three main acquisition channels. First, doctors themselves. Over the past year, we’ve built a pool of loyal specialists who actively use the service. They encourage patients to book follow-ups via the platform and sometimes dedicate one day a week to fully remote work.
The third—and currently most important—channel is partnerships. We recently completed an integration with a telecom operator, making our service available inside their app, where users can book online doctor consultations.
Another major partner from the fitness industry is coming soon—they want to integrate healthcare into their product lineup. We’ve identified strong market demand for ecosystem-based solutions among digital players in Kazakhstan.
— What do you gain from partnerships?
— First, audience expansion and clearer communication of product value. Second, strategic benefits. We see that a digital clinic integrates seamlessly into large ecosystems. Partnerships also enable entirely new products—for example, combining online medical consultations with gym visits.
“We’ll Be Testing the Uzbekistan Market Soon”
— How much money has been invested in the startup overall?
— We closed our latest investment round in the summer, raising $150,000 at a $2 million valuation. In total, we’ve raised around $250,000 so far.
A significant portion of the latest funds went into expanding the tech team to prepare for partner integrations.
Another portion goes into classic marketing tools: Google search ads and targeted advertising. We’re testing campaigns in both major cities and remote regions.
Upcoming investments will be used to build two separate apps—one for doctors and one for patients. Experience has shown that a web version isn’t enough for doctors; mobility is critical. We’ve adapted the current version quickly, but fully standalone apps are in the roadmap.
— Are you currently looking for new investments?
— Yes, and we’re exploring two strategic growth scenarios. The first is moving into the B2B segment: we see demand from large medical clinics that want deeper integration beyond pure telemedicine, linking online and offline care.
The second scenario involves AI and data processing. The platform accumulates large volumes of data, and while I can’t go into details, broadly speaking, we’re exploring an AI assistant—not for individual doctors, but for medical centers as a whole.
We’re testing both paths, and future investments will largely depend on the results.
— What about entering other markets?
— We’ll soon be testing the Uzbekistan market. The initiative came from outside—a major ecosystem player invited us as a partner for a joint pilot. We’re now studying how to launch as quickly and efficiently as possible.
However, our primary focus remains Kazakhstan. At this stage, it’s crucial to grow here and continue improving product quality.
— What is your medium- and long-term vision for Metaclinic?
— Regardless of the path our startup takes, the core focus will always be the quality of medical care patients receive on Metaclinic. That’s why we’re now testing AI-driven quality control for clinical decisions. AI will analyze doctors’ clinical decisions based on national protocols and international clinical guidelines.
Read more on Digitalbusiness.kz
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