3 African Health Tech Startup Making Power Moves

The African health tech startup has recently been making big power moves. This has ranged from funding, expansion, and innovation. With the sole aim of enhancing the health space on the continent.

The COVID-19 pandemic has had mixed effects on the health technology startup space. We’ve seen failure rate  of startups increase as a result. However some startups soared in the face of new opportunities arising from the pandemic on the continent. In 2020, healthtech investment totalled $106.7 million across 62 fundraising rounds. This is accounting for 12% of all disclosed investment rounds.

Investment in the African health technology startup space continues to grow, even in 2021. A total of $61.982 million was raised by healthtech businesses in the first half of 2021 with over 15 acquisitions. 

Popular African health tech startups like Africa Health Holdings, mPharma, Dabadoc, Helium Health and DrugStoc, are making power moves either by getting more investments, creating more expansion or increasing its shareholders. 

Let’s have a look at three African healthtech startups that are making the headlines for their innovative solutions and ground breaking funding. 

Africa Health Holdings

The healthcare startup, Africa Health Holdings founded by Sangu Delle has raised $18 million in Series A round. The company plans to use the funding to expand the company’s “tech-forward healthcare system” throughout Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria.

The funding round was led by Asia Pacific Land and Natural World Limited. Other investors include, PTRB Advisors, Breyer Capital, M3, Inc., Valiant Capital, Kepple Ventures, and SUNU Capital.

Africa Health Holdings, plans to expand its portfolio beyond in-person meetings and allow electronic follow-ups using its mobile app. The MyCareMobile app, according to the company, gives patients teleconferencing access to a variety of services, including doctor consultations. This is in addition to offering access to test findings and emergency response 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“Africa Health Holdings will expand by bringing its telemedicine technology to multiple countries. Currently, the telemedicine service is only in Ghana, but soon, it will expand to Kenya and Nigeria”, said the firm’s chairman and CEO, Sangu Delle.

DrugStoc

DrugStoc is a Nigerian pharmaceutical distribution firm founded by Opara and Yehia in 2015. The two business partners met as students at Maastricht University in the Netherlands.

Recently, the firm raised $4.4 million in Series A funding. The investment will help promote the startup’s rapid expansion strategy. This includes distributing high-quality pharmaceutical products to Nigeria’s population of approximately 100 million people.

The recognition of strategic infrastructure, such as fulfillment centres and warehouses, where processing, packing and shipping is being prioritized alongside tech solutions.

“It’s the fact that we are transforming not just convenience and access but also paying great attention to quality which every healthcare professional at the end of the day is bothered by, that is the underlying drive in a lot of healthcare facilities or pharmacies”, Opara said.

Helium Health

The African health tech startup, Helium Health based in Nigeria and San Francisco recently acquired Meddy, a doctor booking platform based in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates for an undisclosed sum.

The startup founded by Adegoke Olubusi, Tito Ovia, and Dimeji Sofowora will also integrate Meddy CEO Haris Aghadi and Coo Abed Alkarim Khattab on Helium’s leadership team as part of the deal for the acquisition. They will play critical roles in Helium’s Gulf Cooperation Council strategy and operations, according to the company.

The Helium Health and Meddy teams, according to both founders, are identical in terms of operations, technological, execution, culture, and market price points. Because of their commonalities, both companies were able to close the acquisition in less than four months.

“Beyond the actual product and market opportunity, what made this possible was the expertise of the team, how well they executed the fact that they share a DNA and culture that’s very similar to ours”, Olubusi said.

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