Startup Story
Onkgopotse Khumalo is a South African entrepreneur and the founder of The Pocket Couch, a health tech startup that aims to democratize access to mental healthcare. Her early professional journey saw her navigating financial services in the investment and portfolio management space, later transitioning to a management consultant role at McKinsey and Company. She then ventured into entrepreneurship after identifying that what she had initially thought was a problem unique to her own circumstance, was in fact more widespread across the globe. It was her personal journey trying to find avenues to better their mental wellbeing, that catapulted her journey into entrepreneurship, ultimately founding the startup with which she has a strong personal nexus. She prides herself first and foremost, however, as a dedicated mother to her 3 year old son whom she affectionately calls "boy genius".
LoA spoke to the impact-making Onkgopotse Khumalo about her own personal journey to becoming an entrepreneur, and to learn more about her unique business that is helping others with their mental healthcare.
What does your company do?
The AI enabled platform provides access to mental health professionals, resources, and support in a way that is more affordable, convenient and discrete. In less than 5 minutes, people can access a vetted and highly qualified mental healthcare expert aligned with their preferences and needs at the time. The business is centered on leveraging B2B partnerships to provide affordable access to their employees, teams, members and students.
What inspired you to start your company?
It was my personal journey trying to find avenues to better mental wellbeing that catapulted my journey into entrepreneurship, ultimately leading me to found the startup with which I have a strong personal nexus. After losing a dear friend to suicide, I then decided to invest my time, energy, and efforts into finding solutions for this very complex and nuanced problem.
“It was my personal journey trying to find avenues to better mental wellbeing that catapulted my journey into entrepreneurship, ultimately leading me to found the startup with which I have a strong personal nexus.”
Why should anyone use your service or product?
Our product is intentionally created with inclusivity and culturally sensitivity in mind, to accommodate the plight of a diverse set of needs and preferences. Our clients are able to leverage our AI enabled platform to communicate what these might be with the output being accessible to experts and resources customized to suit their unique situations.
Tell us a little about your team
The Pocket Couch was founded by me. With my background in management consulting, I was able to leverage this skillset to structure my problem solving approach. I worked closely with my team member at the time, Shreeya Khoosal, to build out the initial MVP and proof of concept. She has a computer science background, an impeccable academic track record, and a deep passion for creating value in the form of social impact. Our respective experiences as high performers navigating the complexities of finding and accessing appropriate mental wellbeing resources drove us to create a solution to a problem that resonates strongly with the both of us.
Share a little about your entrepreneurial journey. And do you come from an entrepreneurial background?
My passion for entrepreneurship was heavily influenced by my mother's entrepreneurial journey. Growing up, I witnessed first-hand the challenges and rewards of building a business from the ground up. Being involved in building the family enterprise, I was able to both admire and learn from my mother and sister as they navigated the complex world of building a business, particularly as a black women entrepreneur. Despite operating in a space where allocators of capital are predominantly white men, they endured and were ultimately primarily funded by a black women owned VC to form what is now known as the Mediwell Dainfern Medical Centre. This experience, combined with my own professional journey, gave me the inspiration and drive to start my own company, not surprisingly, in the healthcare space.
“My passion for entrepreneurship was heavily influenced by my mother's entrepreneurial journey. Growing up, I witnessed first-hand the challenges and rewards of building a business from the ground up.”
What are your future plans and aspirations for your company?
The Pocket Couch has ambitions to become the most inclusive, holistic, and affordable Pan-African mental wellbeing service in the market. We plan to do this by expanding our network of providers, content, and online communities to build a culturally competent suite of resources to help people across various socio economic backgrounds better manage their mental wellbeing. Additionally, by leveraging intentional strategic partnerships, we plan to extend our reach so that even those that had never thought access to mental wellbeing tools would be within their reach, would be able to do so efficiently, conveniently and in an affordable way. In the near future, the business will increase the language suite from the 6 South African languages, in which online therapy is provided on the platform, to become more inclusive as we continue to prioritize cultural sensitivity along the mental wellbeing continuum. We also plan to refine our tech stack, leveraging tools such as more advanced AI and analytics tools to optimize efficiency across our product offering.
What gives you the most satisfaction being an entrepreneur?
Being able to find solutions to complex and ambiguous problems is one of the most rewarding things about being an entrepreneur. It also validates one’s ability to create something tangible and meaningful with very limited resources at one’s disposal. Additionally, seeing something one had envisioned coming to life and having real impact inspires more confidence and the will to keep iterating, innovating, and driving towards more impact.
“The Pocket Couch has ambitions to become the most inclusive, holistic, and affordable Pan-African mental wellbeing service in the market.”
What's the biggest piece of advice you can give to other women looking to start-up?
Find a community, or set of communities, with whom you can share ideas, networks, facilitate collaboration and that can empathize with the inherent challenges of navigating the startup landscape. It’s also incredibly important to build a network of allies who don't necessarily look like you, come from the same background as you, or occupy spaces that you would ordinarily find yourself in. In this way, you can leverage a diverse set of skills, communities, and proximity to influential players in the space you operate in, to further advance your business ambitions. Finally, as disheartening as it can be sometimes, get comfortable with failing and hearing "no". Develop enough conviction in your idea leveraging data, personal and macro insights, and sheer tenacity so that you can keep driving towards your desired outcome regardless of the roadblocks along the way.
Contact or follow The Pocket Couch
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | INSTAGRAM | EMAIL onkgopotse@thepocketcouch.com
Why LoA loves it…
At Lionesses of Africa, we love to see women entrepreneurs who are driven to build businesses to solve challenges that they have personally encountered in their lives, and in turn improve the lives of others. Onkgopotse Khumalo is certainly doing that with her health tech startup that aims to democratize access to mental healthcare. In a world where taking care of our day-to-day mental health has never been more needed, she is harnessing the power of technology to make a real difference to people’s lives. — Melanie Hawken, founder & ceo, Lionesses of Africa