Soowgood: A step closer to perfecting telemedicine in Bangladesh?

Yes, the name of the telemedicine platform is indeed pronounced 'soo good,' British-Bangladeshi founder Sanjida Alam confirmed. 

"The idea was access; make doctors available to the patient within five minutes by the click of a button," Sanjida recently told TBS over a Zoom call. 

Soowgood has onboarded 187 doctors onto their platform and has served approximately 25,000 people nationwide since September 2023 by facilitating patient consultations. 

"We started our work using Whatsapp video calls to connect and Soowgood officially launched in February 2024," the founder said. 

While Sanjida is based in London and frequently visits Bangladesh, Soowgood has a physical office and a co-founder based in Dhaka. It also has scores of "agents" who go to the depths of villages to provide people with instant access to doctors.  

The potential of telemedicine remains largely untapped in the country. It was during a post-pandemic visit to her homeland that Sanjida took notice of the prevalence of the digital gap and illiteracy. 

Driven by a multitude of factors, she engineered the concept of Soowgood, worked out the kinks and dove head-first right into her third social enterprise — but this time, based in Bangladesh. 

Soowgood: Idea, execution and results 

In late 2021, Sanjida was visiting Bangladesh. This time, it was a sombre affair. Her cousin's three-year-old child had passed away from a congenital heart defect. 

Sanjida also travelled to India around that time with her mother to see doctors. "I realised it's not that Bangladesh does not have the facilities, but people know more about what's available in Singapore, Thailand, India, etc, than they do about Bangladesh," she recalled. 

It was more to do with fragmented information, she realised at the time. 

That is when Sanjida decided on starting a telemedicine platform. "I went back to London and spoke to my family, who actively do charity work. I told them what I wanted to do, and asked for a budget."

On her next trip to Bangladesh, Sanjida travelled to the villages in the Chattogram division with a colleague from another project. 

"In 2023 and last year, we travelled across rural Bangladesh, visiting districts like Munshiganj, Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj to understand the ground realities and the breadth of access to doctors for people," she said. 

While travelling, Sanjida realised her cousin's story is that of 132 million people living outside the cities. 

Initially, Sanjida envisioned a simple video call system where patients could connect with doctors via an app. However, she soon discovered that digital literacy and trust were major barriers. 

"People weren't comfortable using an app. Instead, they trusted recommendations from family, friends, or their local community," she explained. Additionally, it was not as easy for someone to download an app, register, look for a doctor, etc as previously assumed.

Soowgood pivoted to an agent-based model, partnering with Zaytoon Business Solutions. The local agents in the rural areas would assist patients in booking doctor consultations.

Soowgood operates on a dual-doctor model: full-time telemedicine doctors and chamber-based specialists. The platform not only facilitates virtual consultations but also helps doctors manage appointments and patient records more efficiently. "Most doctors still use pen and paper for scheduling, and those records get lost. With Soowgood, they can track patient history, send reminders, and manage their practice digitally," she explained.

The app also streamlines doctor availability by allowing patients to check real-time schedules and book appointments. 

"What we want doesn't yet exist in Bangladesh. Patients should be able to see what chamber slots are open and get a serial number instantly," Sanjida added. "So whenever a doctor is free, they can make themselves available on the app. Doctors themselves refer others because they see value in our platform."

Soowgood operates on a dual-doctor model: full-time telemedicine doctors and chamber-based specialists. The platform not only facilitates virtual consultations but also helps doctors manage appointments and patient records more efficiently. "Most doctors still use pen and paper for scheduling, and those records get lost. With Soowgood, they can track patient history, send reminders, and manage their practice digitally," explained Sanjida Alam, founder of Soowgood.

Of the 187 doctors that Soowgood has onboarded, 150 actively use the platform. Appointment numbers have been growing by 59% month to month. The platform has also partnered with hospitals like Japan Bangladesh Friendship Hospital and pharmaceutical companies like Navana Pharma to expand its reach.

"In January 2025, we started generating revenue from doctors. Chamber-based doctors pay a monthly fee to manage their appointments, while telemedicine doctors currently use the platform for free. We are bootstrapped, with all initial investment coming from my personal savings and the sale of my tuition centre," shared Sanjida.

Soowgood also plans to onboard 3,000 doctors within the next two years. The partnership with Navana Pharma is expected to accelerate this growth, with a pipeline of 30,000 potential doctors. "The goal is to create a fully integrated healthcare ecosystem where patients can book doctors and find availability for medical tests," she said

Soowgood also emerged as a critical player in crisis response. When the devastating floods hit Cumilla last year, remote villages were left cut off from medical aid. Sanjida and her team mobilised volunteers, equipping them with internet access to connect stranded patients with doctors. 

"Doctors treated patients for free, volunteers onboarded as agents, and we helped children, elderly patients — anyone in need," she recalled. 

Behind the scenes 

While Sanjida's visit to Bangladesh in late 2021 struck a chord, other factors surely helped. Sanjida has already launched two social enterprises. Her first was at an education centre in East London when she was 17 years old. "I loaned 5,000 pounds from my father — paid it back eventually. I leased out a space and hired university students to teach kids to prepare them for grammar school," Sanjida explained. 

The centre was a success story which started to generate 100,000 pounds annually. 

This was Sanjida's brainchild. She eventually sold the centre. "It happened last year, I handed it over to an experienced teacher, better hands." 

At the age of 23, Sanjida also started a travel agency based in Paris. "Expats were already coming to our office [her family is in the business of distributorship for money transfer companies based in Paris] to send money back home. They would also travel home and look for cheaper deals. At first, I just helped them look for it." 

Then, the agency was founded. "I am just the director there now. My focus is on Bangladesh and Soowgood." 

Born in Chattogram, Sanjida later moved to the United Kingdom. She wanted to pursue medical school but could not get in. Then she enrolled in biomedicine, thinking she would eventually retry for medical school. 

"But six months into my four-year programme, working in the lab, I realised I hated it. Instead, my passion lies in building businesses," she recounted. 

It was the family dinner table conversations centering on the economy and business challenges that sowed the seed of motivation, Sanjida claimed. "I wanted to build something of my own," she said, also crediting her father's support with her ventures. "He played a big part in big decisions, but the execution was all me," she added. 

But Sanjida did not quit college. When she started the education centre, she also taught students on the side. "So on Saturdays, I would work and earn money, then on Sundays, that money would be spent on the centre. 

"I was working and studying from 8am to 12am on most days. I was living the best days of my life," she said. 

Sanjida was driven by this. "I don't like the programme, so might as well do something along with it that I enjoy." Later on, Sanjida would also go on to study fintech at Cambridge University adding to her gumption behind building Soowgood.  

Lessons learnt?

Sanjida is also acutely aware that not every woman has that safety net of family support. Even without it, she said to aspiring women entrepreneurs, "Take that one step. Even if you don't have the support. The passion finds a way." 

She emphasises the need to overcome imposter syndrome. "I work with people twice my age. They know so much more, but I remind myself — I belong here too."

Adjusting to Bangladesh's business culture was another learning curve for Sanjida. Having lived abroad, she was unfamiliar with the rigid hierarchical norms. For instance, businessmen being chaperoned by others, car doors being opened for them, bags carried etc.

"I once offended a customer by not calling him 'bhaiya'," she laughed, recalling how cultural nuances took time to grasp. But she adapted, proving that resilience and a willingness to learn are key to thriving in any environment.