Africa Union’s CDC goes digital, Yodawy’s $16m raise and Zipline’s new African markets
Egyptian healthtech start-up Yodawy raised $16 million in a Series B round co-led by Global Ventures and Delivery Hero Ventures, with participation from AAIC Investment, Dallah Al-Baraka Holdings, Middle East Venture Partners, C Ventures, and P1 Ventures. Founded in 2018, Yodawy ensures easier access to health products for patients through an e-commerce platform, and digital solutions for pharmacies and insurance providers. The funding will drive Yodawy’s expansion across Africa and the Middle East.
A rare acquisition in African healthtech ecosystems
Ecosystem watchers are paying more attention to how African online pharmacy start-ups have launched models to serve users in local markets. Innovators such as MyDawa (Kenya) and MyMedicines (Nigeria) are being credited as notable players in the ongoing disruption of the traditional retail pharmacy industry due to their resilient, patient-centric models, end-to-end partnerships and by adopting efficient, low-tech approaches to simplify user experience and drive customer retention.
Innovators continue to raise funding amid a global investment slump
Afrihealth, a Nigerian digital health solutions provider, launched Rigour+ for Manufacturers, a serialisation tool enabling manufacturers and importers track products across health supply chains and potentially initiate product recalls. The solution aims to safeguard health supply chains and reduce the proliferation of counterfeit drugs.
AI solutions to improve healthcare in Africa are taking centre stage
Investing in Innovation, a pan-African initiative to support the commercialization and impact of African health supply chain innovators, is seeking applications for its second cohort. Selected early and growth-stage start-ups will receive risk-tolerant grant funding and access to market support to accelerate their scale. The program is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and sponsored by AmerisourceBergen, Merck Sharpe & Dohme (MSD), Microsoft, and Chemonics. Applications are open until June 26. The selected start-ups will be announced on September 14.
A global coalition is set to back high-impact African health innovators with $50 million
EMGuidance, a South African digital health startup, launched PrescriBIT, a new digital prescription tool, to enable healthcare providers analyse medications and make prescription processes safer and faster. Operating in South Africa, EMGuidance provides clinical decision-making support to healthcare providers across the country and reports having 55,000 registered health practitioners as users.
A record-breaking funding round women-led African health startups
Salient Advisory’s new report, Innovations in Digitizing Health Supply Chains in Africa, is the first pan-African assessment of health supply chain innovators on the continent. Supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the report tracks nearly 350 technology-enabled innovators digitizing supply chain processes across 27 African countries.
Global donors are backing homegrown AI solutions to advance health equity
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other Global Grand Challenges partners have awarded $100,000 grants to 19 digital health researchers and innovators across eight African countries as part of the broader Catalyzing Equitable Artificial Intelligence Use Challenge. The selected innovators will be supported to develop AI solutions that advance equitable access to healthcare, particularly in low to middle-income countries.
African health-tech innovators attract interest from global investors
Salient Advisory’s new report, Online Pharmacy in Africa: Regulatory Landscape and Opportunities for Action, highlights the status of regulatory frameworks that enable direct-to-consumer access to essential health commodities, including contraceptives, via online pharmacies across 15 African countries and four Asian comparator countries.
Kenya is ramping up adoption of digital solutions to drive universal health coverage
Our new report, Digitized Supply Chains & Contraceptive Care: Opportunities for Expanding Access in Africa offers insights into healthcare supply chain innovators that are enabling access to contraceptive care services and products across 27 African countries. The report highlights opportunities for enhancing regulatory frameworks and expanding innovators’ contraceptive product mix, especially for online pharmacies and e-commerce companies. Read the full report!
African governments are adopting digital health strategies and solutions
The Lagos State Ministry of Health has partnered with mDoc, a telemedicine and personal health startup, to launch the Digital Mom Project, an online platform aimed at enhancing maternal health outcomes by increasing women’s access to healthcare services. Supported by funding from MSD for Mothers, the project will empower healthcare professionals to provide support to low to middle-income pregnant women and encourage positive health-seeking behaviours.
