In the fast-evolving world of healthtech, few entrepreneurs are reimagining clinical workflows as radically as Wael Bizri. A seasoned dental surgeon turned visionary founder, Wael leads Toothpick, a UAE-based healthtech startup that sits at the intersection of healthcare, fintech and supply chain. With an ambition to empower modern clinics to operate efficiently and sustainably, Toothpick has quickly risen as a one-stop, vertically integrated digital platform for dental procurement, financing and logistics.

Wael’s story is not just about building a product, it’s about challenging legacy systems, solving operational inefficiencies and creating tangible impact across the healthcare ecosystem. From launching the game-changing Toothpay financing solution to streamlining procurement through intelligent automation, Toothpick is helping over 1,300 clinics and 75,000 patients experience a better, smarter and faster dental care process.

In this exclusive interview, we speak with the Founder himself, Wael Bizri about his journey, the startup story behind Toothpick and his long-term vision for transforming healthcare systems globally.

TFS: Wael, welcome! It’s great to have you here today. Let’s begin at the heart of your startup journey. Toothpick is making waves in the dental tech space, what sparked the idea for it?

Wael Bizri: Thank you! It’s a pleasure to be here and share Toothpick’s story.

The idea behind Toothpick was deeply personal and professional. As a practicing dental surgeon in high-volume clinics, I constantly encountered daily pain points – delayed supplies, fragmented vendor relationships and patients struggling to afford care. These weren’t just operational bottlenecks, they were systemic barriers that hindered care quality.

With a background in both clinical dentistry and business, I realized that solving these issues wasn’t just about adding another software layer. It required rethinking the entire ecosystem. I envisioned a platform that didn’t just digitize a few steps but fully integrated procurement, financing and logistics into one seamless experience. That vision became Toothpick: a scalable infrastructure designed to empower modern clinics to run more efficiently, sustainably and equitably.

TFS: Was there a specific turning point when you realized that Toothpick could actually transform entire healthcare ecosystems?

Wael Bizri: Absolutely… and that realization was a defining moment in our startup journey.

It became clear when we observed how mid-sized and smaller clinics began transforming after adopting Toothpick. By gaining access to financing, real-time ordering and significantly reduced procurement costs, all within a single digital workflow – they weren’t just improving processes. They were scaling.

One example that always sticks with me is a clinic in Dubai that, within just three months of onboarding Toothpick, increased its monthly patient capacity by 25% and improved its inventory turnover by 30%. That was no small feat. It signaled that we were not just fixing inefficiencies, we were unlocking potential. At that point, we understood Toothpick wasn’t just a product; it was a platform capable of catalyzing systemic change across the healthcare landscape.

TFS: Entrepreneurship in healthcare tech isn’t easy. What were some of the biggest roadblocks you faced and how did you overcome them?

Wael Bizri: Healthcare tech definitely brings unique complexities.

Two major challenges early on were adoption and trust. Healthcare, by nature, is conservative when it comes to change – especially operational or technological shifts. Clinics are often risk-averse and for good reason. To navigate this, we made it our mission to demonstrate value without forcing disruption.

Our approach was to provide structured onboarding, offer immediate and measurable ROI and deliver hands-on support consistently. But more than that, we built trust by listening – truly listening, to our users. Rather than lead with a sales pitch, we led with empathy. We understood their workflows and pain points and tailored our solutions accordingly. This approach helped build credibility, which is crucial in a sector where every decision impacts lives.

TFS: How has your leadership style evolved from those early bootstrapping days to now managing regional expansion?

Wael Bizri: In the beginning, I wore every hat – product development, operations, partnerships, customer support – you name it.

As the startup grew, I quickly realized that scaling a company means scaling leadership. My role evolved from doing everything myself to building frameworks and systems that enable others to succeed. Today, I focus on setting vision, ensuring alignment across functions and maintaining momentum as we grow.

Most importantly, I now emphasize culture as much as strategy. A startup’s ability to scale sustainably depends on its values being lived across the organization. So I invest heavily in team empowerment, giving our people the autonomy to make decisions and the accountability to learn and grow from them.

TFS: Looking back, what advice would you give yourself before launching Toothpick?

Wael Bizri: Focus on depth before breadth. That’s the advice I’d give to any founder starting out.

Early on, it’s tempting to expand quickly – across products, markets or segments. But real traction comes from nailing one problem for one user type in one market. Once you’ve built something truly impactful at that focused level, expansion becomes a natural next step, not a stretch.

Sustainable growth isn’t defined by how many markets you’re in, it’s defined by how well you retain and grow within the ones you serve. That clarity would have saved me a lot of trial-and-error in the early stages.

TFS: Toothpick sits at the intersection of healthcare, fintech and supply chain. How did you design such a vertically integrated model and what were the key challenges?

Wael Bizri: From the outset, we recognized that procurement, financing and logistics were deeply interdependent. Modernizing one without addressing the others would lead to fragmented progress.

So we committed to building a vertically integrated solution, one that could address the full lifecycle of clinic operations. Yes, it was more complex and resource-intensive in the short term. But in the long run, it allowed us to deliver unmatched value and stickiness.

The main challenge was orchestration – bringing together the right talent, systems and partners to build a platform that didn’t just function but delivered real impact. But once we crossed that initial complexity curve, the results validated the model: high retention, fast adoption and a clear product-market fit.