Mosh’s telehealth service raises $10m to help treat men’s health

It aims to take the shame and anxiety out of finding help for “embarrassing” health issues like erectile dysfunction and hair loss.

When Gabriel Baker was suffering hair loss in his early 20s, he wanted to find a fix but found the big clinics were “quite old fashioned, embarrassing and expensive”.

“For me it was something I was very self conscious about so the experience of walking into a big hair clinic was an embarrassing one and that was an industry that was ripe for disruption,” he told news.com.au.

“I felt there was a way you could do it more transparently and make it more affordable and partly more discrete and guys would lap it up.”

It gave him the idea for a more modern approach to men’s health and along with his roommate David Narunsky, the duo decided to launch a telehealth service called Mosh in 2018.

The Sydney duo are passionate about reducing the shame and anxiety which prevent men from consulting with their doctors on issues that are considered embarrassing.

While they initially focused on hair loss, they soon uncovered a lack of transparency in sexual health clinics and Mosh has now further expanded their offering to treat erectile issues, skin, mental health and – most recently – everyday health.

Mosh started off as a side hustle however became a full-time venture when Tinder co-founders Sean Rad and Justin Mateen made Mosh their first Aussie investment. Picture: Monique Harmer/AAP

Mr Baker, who was previously a lawyer, said men are notoriously bad at looking after their health.

“It sounds like a generalisation but if you speak to any guy we deprioritise our health issues and looking after own health ends up number 50 on the to do list,” he said.

“We thought we would make it easy for guys to engage with health and access platforms for treatments. It’s about making men’s health easy and safe and the key differentiator is it has been done online.

“Covid and lockdowns have had a negative impact on the economy but one area that has boomed as result of the pandemic is the utilisation of telehealth services.”

Mosh has recently obtained $10 million in funding, while co-founders of global dating app Tinder, Sean Rad and Justin Mateen, were the first to back the health start up in 2019 with a $1 million investment.

Since the pandemic hit, the business has quadrupled due to customer demand, according to the founders.

Tinder founders Sean Rad and Justin Mateen, were the first to back the health start up in 2019. Picture: Michael Buckner/Getty Images for Glamour

Mr Narunsky, a former investment banker, said Mosh allows men to go to the website, select an area of concern such as erectile dysfunction and complete an interactive questionnaire.

“It gets sent to a doctor and then the doctor conducts a review with you, so it’s a combination of texts, phone calls or video to work out a customised treatment plan and prescription which is delivered to your door,” he said.

Users can sign up to a subscription service which costs between $30 and $70 a month and includes delivery of medications every three months from a pharmacy registered on the Mosh platform.

So far Mosh has treated 30,000 men across its platform, added Mr Narunksy.

For Mr Baker, 34, he also wants to help treat the huge mental health crisis by making it easier for someone to connect with a doctor without having to leave their house.

This means bulk billed psychology appointments with no gap fee, so the consumer isn’t out of pocket a dollar, added Mr Narunsky.

‘There is a shortage of psychologists Australia wide at the moment so to find bulk billing psychologist practices is hard and with mental health we want to play our part and obviously a lot of people are using that service,” the 32-year-old said.

Mosh co-founders Gabriel Baker and David Narunsky want to take the shame and anxiety away from men's health issues like erectile dysfunction and hair loss. Picture: Supplied

But Mr Baker is quick to point out they are not trying to replace someone having a regular GP.

“We are trying to complement that offering and trying to work with a patient’s regular GP to provide an optimal service,” he said.

“Patients are going to see their GP for regular services and then the GP might refer them to a psychologist on our platform and we are getting validation as even now there are government agencies that are referring people to our psychologists for mental health services.”

He is hoping the latest $10 million investment injection will help make Mosh a household name by expanding its efforts into preventative healthcare.

“I think we are just scratching the surface in terms of the opportunity to serve men in Australia,” he added.