Africa Health Ventures #5: Deals, News, and Opportunities
Your rundown of what's going on with health ventures in Africa
Welcome to the 5th edition of the Africa Health Ventures newsletter. This is your go-to resource to find out what’s happening with healthcare startups in Africa.
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Deals
🧪MDaaS Global in Nigeria has raised $3 million in pre-Series A funding to expand their network of tech-enabled diagnostic centers across Nigeria. They aim to cover all Nigerian states through a combination of company-owned and affiliate clinics.
👩⚕️RecoMed: South African RecoMed has secured a significant but undisclosed amount of funding from Japanese pharmaceutical firm Eisai to support its growth. RecoMed, a digital healthcare marketplace, connects patients with healthcare providers and has seen a 150% revenue growth in 2023. The investment will be used to improve services to prevent and treat breast cancer.
🚚Pharmacy Marts: Egyptian healthtech Pharmacy Marts has raised a six-figure bridge round from Acasia Ventures. Pharmacy Marts digitizes the pharmaceutical sector's supply chain in Egypt. The platform connects pharmacies and medical suppliers for efficient access to medicine and medical supplies, covering 20% of Egypt's market with over 200 suppliers.
🎓 30Med: Egyptian healthtech startup 30Med has secured an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding from anonymous angel investors. The company aims to enhance medical education and showcase new medicines from pharmaceutical companies to physicians through interactive videos and conference events.
💊 DPI, BII and EBRD Exit: Development Partners International (DPI), British International Investment (BII), and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have committed to exit their investment in KELIX bio, a leading biopharmaceuticals platform. This marks one of the largest private equity exits in Africa's pharmaceutical sector over the last twenty years. Their ownership will transfer to the Abu Dhabi investor, Mubadala Investment Company.
The private equity firm Admauis Capital Partners announces a strategic investment in Parkville Holding Company B.V., a leading Egyptian healthcare and wellness firm. This partnership aims to leverage Parkville's brand and medical marketing network to expand regionally, supporting growth in Egypt's consumer healthcare market.
P1 Ventures received $5 million from IFC to bolster the African startup ecosystem, focusing on early-stage health, fintech, e-commerce, and software companies. This partnership aims to expand support beyond the "Big Four" African markets, especially into Francophone Africa and underserved regions, to increase access to growth capital and operational support for startups. P1 Ventures has backed healthcare companies such as Reliance Health, Yodawy, and Amenli.
XSML Capital has successfully raised $98.7 million in the first close of its fourth fund, African Rivers Fund IV, aimed at supporting SMEs in Central and Eastern Africa. The fund expects to provide growth capital to over 50 companies. Previously they have invested in healthcare companies such as SOS Médecins de Nuit (MDN), a healthcare clinic in Kinshasa, and Ecopharm, one of the leading pharmacy chains in Uganda.
News
The HealthTech Hub Africa announced 31 ventures as part of its 2024 accelerator program cohort. This 10-month program provides access to mentorship, a partner ecosystem, and resources to enhance innovation and promote scalability.
Blueroomcare and SmartPharm, two Nigerian healthtech startups, were chosen among ten startups for the Innovest Ignite accelerator program, hosted by Innovest Afrika and Techpoint Africa. This eight-week initiative targets early-stage startups, providing them with tailored training and mentorship. The top-performing startups will also receive $60,000 in equity investment.
Yemaachi Biotech as part of Team SAMBAI, have received a Cancer Grand Challenges award of up to $25 million over five years to advance research on cancer inequities.
Events
April 9-12 in Oxford, UK: The Skoll World Forum is a high-profile international platform for advancing entrepreneurial approaches and solutions to the world’s most pressing problems, hosted by the Skoll Foundation.
The Africa Health Ventures Podcast is coming to Oxford! We’ll be hosting a dialogue on AI For Health with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Reach Digital Health, IDInsights and others. Register for the panel or reply to this email if you want to meet up in Oxford.
April 16-17 in Wassenaar, Netherlands: The Invest in Africa Summit connects business professionals, policy makers, and investors from around the globe to foster economic growth, sustainable development, and innovative future investments in Africa.
April 24-25 in London: the Impact Investing World Forum highlights investments that meet ESG and UN Sustainable Development Goals, drawing experts to discuss social impact, sustainability, and the role of emerging technologies.
May 16-17 in Kigali, Rwanda: the Africa CEO Forum convenes 2,000 CEOs, investors, business leaders and heads of state
May 21 in London: AfricaArena will be hosting a 1-day London summit to showcase Africa’s startups to British investors.
May 22-25 in Paris: VivaTech is Europe’s biggest startup and tech event showcasing startups from around the world to European and other investors.
May 29-31 in Oslo: Katapult Future Fest is a gathering of impact investors, tech entrepreneurs, and purpose-driven changemakers.
May 29-31 in Marrakech, Morocco: GITEX Africa is a major African conference showcasing high-tech startups from the continent.
Opportunities for Startups
Due April 14: Gavi and Seedstars have launched INFUSE 2024, a global initiative seeking innovative solutions to strengthen health systems against climate challenges and improve immunization. The program aims to foster low-carbon, sustainable healthcare through innovative approaches that bolster vaccine distribution and frontline health workers' capacity under adverse climate condition. Selected INFUSE Pacesetters will receive focused support from Gavi and its private sector partners to scale.
Due April 19: The African Health Startup Forum is a program aimed at accelerating and facilitating market access for tech ventures by offering training, exposure, and networking opportunities. It highlights tech innovations from Africa, giving them a platform to succeed.
Due April 21: IEEE Computer Society Emerging Tech Grants Program: Funds innovative technology projects with grants ranging from $5,000 to $50,000, focusing on ideas that could revolutionize technology or convene communities around emerging tech, following IEEE guidelines.
Due May 5: The Global Startup Awards provide a platform for participants to connect with potential mentors, partners, and clients, while staying updated with industry trends.
Due May 15: Tällberg-SNF-Eliasson Global Leadership Prize: Awards three leaders in biotech, activism, climate, or media with a $50,000 unrestricted grant and Tällberg network membership for global positive change efforts.
Due May 16: Flat6Labs and Organon have launched the second cycle of their Women's Health Accelerator Programme, aimed at empowering digital health startups focusing on women's health across the Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey. The program targets three key areas: family planning, fertility, and wellness, aiming to tackle specific health challenges women face in these regions.
Due May 26: Orange Social Venture Prize in Africa and the Middle East: Recognizes start-ups for social and environmental impact, offering €25,000, €15,000, and €10,000 prizes, plus a €20,000 International Women’s Prize and business development support.
Ongoing: The Baobab Network will invest 100K into 25 African startups admitted to its accelerator program in 2024. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Ongoing: Accelerate Africa is seeking startup applications for its 8-week program in a variety of areas including digital health. While the initial deadline has passed, they continue to accept applications on an ongoing basis. It is affiliated with Future Africa, the investment platform from the renowned Nigerian entrepreneur Iyinoluwa Aboyeji.
Coming Soon
We're recording for the Africa Health Ventures podcast. We’ll be tackling two separate topics:
Healthcare Financing, or "How do we pay for better healthcare for more people?" We will be speaking to guests with first-hand experience paying directly for healthcare delivery. This includes governments, donors, insurance providers, and employers.
AI for Health: What are the possibilities, the risks, and the way forward to apply AI to Healthcare in Africa?
Click ‘reply’ if you’d like to nominate a guest.
To get notified when the podcast airs, subscribe here: https://rowenaluk.substack.com/s/podcast.
Correction: in our last newsletter, we referred to Founders Factory Africa Gen F as an incubator program. It is in fact an Entrepreneur-In-Residence studio. If you’re a healthtech entrepreneur ready to get going on your startup idea, they are still accepting applications.
Looking for more? What did we miss? Hit ‘reply’ to share any reactions, suggestions, deals, news, opportunities, or insights to include in our next newsletter. You can also:
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Thanks for giving us a bit of your time. We’ll be back again next month.