Salient Advisory studies innovations in healthtech across the African continent. This newsletter summarizes the most interesting news we read each month. Submissions are welcome. Feel free to share.
An experimental approach to improve emergency medical care is underway in Kenya
The Kenyan Red Cross Society is teaming up with online pharmacy MYDAWA to test an experimental approach to improving emergency medical care for roadside accidents by training transport delivery riders in emergency first aid treatment. The training will cover critical areas, including, bleeding, fractures, CPR, burn treatment, spine injuries, and infection prevention, to enable riders to provide first aid assistance for road accidents and similar emergencies and improve survival rates of victims. The training will be initially piloted with MYDAWA’s network of delivery riders before possibly being expanded to include other organizations that operate large delivery fleets across the country.
Lagos State is doubling down on tech-enabled approaches to healthcare data management
In Nigeria, the Lagos State Ministry of Health has partnered with eClat, the healthtech subsidiary of digital payments platform, Interswitch to launch the Smart Health Information Platform, a cloud-based platform to digitize data management for all state-owned healthcare facilities. The initiative will streamline the collection and sharing of healthcare data for over 256 public healthcare facilities, and facilitate digital payments services at these facilities. Founded in 2012, eClat was acquired by Interswitch after seven years of operation to expand its payment solutions and services in the healthcare industry.
Funding slowdown last month resulted in only one investment deal for an innovator…
Egyptian pharmaceutical distribution startup i’SUPPLY secured an undisclosed pre-Series A funding round to drive its expansion plans and continue product development. Investors include Disruptech Ventures, OneStop Capital, Axian Investment, CVC, and Egypt Ventures. Founded in 2022, i’SUPPLY offers a digital-based marketplace platform to connect pharmaceutical stakeholders and facilitate product distribution. One of the company’s key ambitions with the new funding is to secure relevant licensing required to provide financing and working capital solutions to small and medium-sized pharmacies in Egypt.
…but opportunities for technical support for early-stage innovators still abound.
CheckUps, a Kenyan health benefits management platform, was the only healthtech startup selected to participate in the inaugural cohort of the Accelerate Africa accelerator program. The program aims to provide early-stage African startups with investment readiness support, including business development, product development, and fundraising.
HealthX Africa, a data-driven primary healthcare provider utilizing both digital and physical channels, was selected with eight other startups for the Spark Accelerator Program by Safaricom, M-Pesa Africa, and Sumitomo Corporation. The initiative offers training, mentorship, funding, and market entry assistance to tech startups.
The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority selected five healthtech startups—Radease, OneHealth, Doktorconnect, BetaLife, and Centio Healthcare—to participate in the accelerator stage of the NSIA Prize for Innovation. The program is seeking to support promising early-stage startups with cash and equity investments of up to $220,000 to scale their operations.
Three Nigerian healthtech startups, 10mg Pharma, Eight Medical, and Preggify, have been selected as finalists in the Pitch2Win competition by TechCircle to compete for a $10,000 equity-free funding prize and participation in a follow-on conference in Japan.
Recommended Read
“Local innovators understand the specific needs and challenges within African communities and are developing tailored solutions more likely to succeed in these contexts.” In a World Economic Forum op-ed, Somto Keluo-Udeke, our colleague at Salient, outlines how African-led healthtech innovations have improved the lives of millions of patients and why systemic change in global health procurement is required if more local innovators are to succeed.
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