Ghanaian E-health Startup Redbird Secures $1.5m Seed Funding

Redbird, a Ghanaian e-health startup, has raised US$1.5 million in seed funding to expand access to rapid medical testing and digitised health records throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.

Founded in 2018, Redbird allows patients to access their digital health records via five-minute assessments available at neighbourhood pharmacies. The platform includes 10 rapid assessments and is currently available in over 350 neighbourhood pharmacies.

The results are saved in a user’s personal Redbird health record, which can be accessed through the app or at any partner pharmacy. The team also hopes to give doctors access to these health records with patients’ permission, allowing doctors to get a more complete image of a patient’s medical history.

The company, which has previously received funding from coLABS and Founders Factory Africa, has now reported a US$1.5 million seed round led by Johnson & Johnson Foundation and Newtown Partners through the Imperial Venture Fund.

This investment takes Redbird’s total secured investment to US$2 million, which will be used to expand Redbird’s operations in Ghana and into new markets.

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Redbird co-founder and CEO Patrick Beattie said, “We’re thrilled to work with Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures and Newtown Partners. Newtown and Imperial’s expertise in African supply chains, coupled with Johnson & Johnson’s long-standing commitment to improve care for the most vulnerable populations through technology, create a strong support for our vision of revolutionising health monitoring”.

The managing partner of Newtown Partners (one of the investors), Llew Claasen expressed excitement about Redbird’s decentralised business model, which facilitates rapid diagnostic testing at the point of primary care in local neighbourhood pharmacies.

“Redbird’s digital health record platform has the potential to drive significant value to the broader healthcare value chain and is a vital step toward improving healthcare outcomes in Africa. We look forward to supporting the team as they prove out their business model and scale across the African continent,” he said.