Launching a new start-up in the middle of a pandemic lockdown may seem strange, but Sara Al Madani, CEO of HalaHi, says it was the ideal time to launch HalaHi, the region's first celebrity shout-out platform.

"In a crisis, there is opportunity," said the Emirati entrepreneur.

HalaHi launching during coronavirus solved a problem, she added. "Celebrities have an expensive lifestyle to maintain and during the lockdown, there were no concerts, movies, football games, etc. So through HalaHi, they were making money at home," she explained.

"Also, the fans were depressed in quarantine because they could not leave the house so something like that would cheer them up."

HalaHi has quickly outgrown its original vision of being the Arab region's Cameo, the world's first celebrity shout out program launched in 2017. "In three months, we accomplished what took Cameo three years to do so then we knew our vision was narrow," said Al Madani.

Since its launch in June, HalaHi already has 480 celebrities on board, some of whom get 30 requests per day. Celebrities are from across the globe and include Turkish, Bollywood, Mexican, Hollywood and European actors, influencers, singers and YouTubers.

Users of the app request a shout-out video from one of the celebrities on the platform, which they receive on their phones. Celebrities set their own rates per video, with prices ranging between $20 and $300, according to Al Madani. Some stars, such as influencer Niki Shah charge $900 per video.

Al Madani said the majority of shout-out requests are from women, followed by children who typically request advice videos from their favourite YouTubers or birthday wishes.

Twenty percent of the requests received are from couples who are having a fight and want the celebrity to apologise on their behalf to their partner, according to Al Madani.

"So, for example, one request was from a husband whose wife got mad from him because he had kept her waiting so he requested her favourite celebrity to tell her he's sorry and make her smile."

Currently, HalaHi makes its money by taking a small percentage of profit from the users and celebrities. A percentage of what is taken from each celebrity goes into marketing him or her.

HalaHi is the only celebrity shout-out app to take the concept further by allowing brands to directly collaborate and engage with the celebrities on board. "This saves companies from having to pass through several agencies and saves them money and time," said Al Madani.

While she said it is too early to assess the impact of this channel since it was launched earlier this month, Al Madani expects it will be a significant revenue stream for HalaHi.

HalaHi was founded by five partners including Al Madani, president Saif Belhasa, COO Ibrahim Naji, CTO Mohamed Amine Belarbi and Italian actor Michele Morrone.

HalaHi has expanded into five countries with offices in Turkey India, Egypt, Morocco and the UAE.

On adjusting to life as an entrepreneur is a post-COVID world, Al Madani says: "COVID was a blessing in disguise and taught us so much. I realized it is OK not to be working sometimes, it's ok to spend time with family and to take care of ourselves. It changed us as entrepreneurs internally because we realized that our mental health comes first."

Top 5 most expensive celebrities on HalaHi:

1. Niki Shah, influencer, $920

2. Gizem Karaca $700

3. Elnaz Golrokh, model $500

4. Ahmad Mawas, actor $380

5. Anna-Maria Sieklucka $365