Africa Health Ventures #7: Qualcomm Make in Africa, The Africa Impact Summit, and WHA77
Your rundown of what's going on with health ventures in Africa
Hello! Welcome to the 7th edition of the Africa Health Ventures newsletter. This is your go-to resource to learn about deals, opportunities, and events relevant to anyone interested in healthcare ventures in Africa.
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Deals
🤰🏽Malaica in Kenya received 100,000 € grant funding and technical support from DEG Impulse GmbH through the develoPPP program funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Malaica is an online pregnancy program that matches pregnant women to peers and midwives for support, community, services and products to improve their pregnancy journey.
⚕️Medikea in Tanzania was also a recipient of 100,000 € from the same develoPPP program. Medikea combines virtual and in-person care using its own electronic medical record system as well as appointment booking and dispensing systems.
🧬Immobazyme in South Africa announced a new round of funding, bringing total investment raised to date to R24.5 million (~$1.3M). Investors included the University Technology Fund (UTF). Immobazyme developers a variety of enzymes and growth factors used in the production of novel pharmaceuticals and foods.
💰The private equity fund Adenia Partners closes oversubscribed $470mn fund for African growth investments. Past healthcare investments from Adenia include Africa Biosystems Limited in Kenya, Opham in Madagascar, and Proximed in Mauritius.
News
The 77th World Health Assembly (WHA77) just wrapped up in Geneva a few days ago. Delegates from all WHO Member States convened to discuss matters of health security, global health strategy, and the WHO’s first investment round. Among the many side events was a workshop on AI for Good.
Qualcomm has announced the startups for its Make in Africa 2024 program, highlighting innovative tech solutions from across the continent that are driving social impact and economic growth in Africa. Healthtech recipients include:
Aurora Health from Kenya provides AI-based cardiovascular health care tools.
Cure Bionics from Tunisia makes smart 3D printed prosthetic arms.
MobiHealthCare Limited (MobiHealth) in Nigeria and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) have signed an agreement for up to $1.5 million for a project preparation facility. The goal of this project is to improve the bankability of MobiHealth and unlock further investments totalling $65 million. Mobihealth's platform employs local and diaspora medical professionals to diagnose and prescribe for patients remotely.
EHA Impact Ventures converted $3 million in debt financing into equity for EHA Clinics, strengthening its financial standing. This move will help EHA Clinics prepare for its Series A funding round, expand operations, and enhance healthcare delivery in Nigeria. The decision reflects EIV’s confidence in EHA Clinics’ mission to improve healthcare accessibility through innovative technology and quality care.
Andrew Ddembe of MobiKlinic in Uganda was named to Forbes Africa’s 30 under 30. MobiKlinic provides home-based healthcare in rural Uganda through a network of community health workers and a digital platform to connect them with doctors for guidance and emergency referrals.
Nanosene has launched in South Africa. Founded by Dr. Gestél Kuyler, Nanosene develops novel polymers to isolate and investigate membrane proteins, which are crucial for drug development.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) launched an advisory program with Egypt’s Universal Health Insurance Authority (UHIA) to enhance healthcare quality for Egyptians. IFC will develop a contractual framework between the government, healthcare services providers, and local insurance industry stakeholders to expand universal healthcare coverage for Egyptians - and scale private sector investments into Egypt.
Events
June 5-6 in Munich: health.tech is a high-profile global healthtech conference. While it does not have a specific focus on Africa, it convenes global industry leaders across health, wellness, insurance, and more. This is a useful networking opportunity for African companies looking to expand to international markets.
June 5-8 in Utah: Sorenson Impact from the Sorenson Impact Institute at the University of Utah convenes impact investors active on a variety of issues.
June 7 in London: Africa Tech Summit London connects tech leaders from the African ecosystem and international players under one roof at the London Stock Exchange.
June 11: Tech in Ghana convenes Ghana’s tech ecosystem.
June 13 virtually: The Global Digital Development Forum (GDDF) co-organized by USAID and others convenes international development professionals across multiple sectors (including health) exploring how innovation and new technologies can improve aid delivery.
July 17-19 in Nairobi: Africa Impact Summit 2024 drives networking, deal making and impact investing thought leadership in Africa.
October 22-24 in Cape Town: Africa Health showcases medical equipment, services, and technologies.
Oct 29-31: The Africa HealthTech Summit will take place in Kigali alongside the Mobile World Congress and the HealthTech Hub Investor Summit
Nov 26-29: The International Conference on Public Health in Africa will take place in Rabat, Morocco
Opportunities for Startups
Due June 9: Nominations for Africa’s Business Heroes. First place takes home $300,000.
June 19 Deadline to Register: Grand Challenges for Mental Health is designed to fund innovative approaches to youth mental health and well-being across 12 countries. The program focuses on early prevention and promotion strategies, targeting underserved youth aged 10 to 24, with a strong emphasis on involving youth-led organizations from the specified countries in the implementation of these projects.
Due June 23: The United States African Development Foundation (USADF), in partnership with the Stanbic Kenya Foundation (SKF) will award $25,000 to Kenyan startups to help them address gaps in their internal systems and capabilities to meet investment requirements by commercial investors.
Due June 25: The Rising Tide Africa Accelerator is accepting applications to its Cohort 5. Women-led and gender-diverse startups are encouraged to apply.
Due June 30: The Global Good Fund Fellowship 2025 is accepting applicants from for-profits and non-profits.
Due June 30: AWS Health Equity Initiative offers healthcare startups and nonprofits in Africa AWS promotional credits and technical support. Savannah Global Health Institute in Kenya was an early recipient of this support.
Due June 30: The Nutriset Research Grant will award 10,000 Euro grants for the nutritional care of adult patients with/or at risk of disease-related malnutrition. Applicants must be a health professional and preference will be given to projects in Burkina Faso, Nigeria, Madagascar, and Ethiopia.
Due June 30: develoPPP Growth Funding will support startups in Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Africa. develoPPP provides non-dilutive matching grants to startups that secure matching investments. As you can see at the top of this newsletter, they have funded several heathtech startups in the past.
Ongoing: ALX helps first-time tech founders go from idea to impact. Past graduates include YeneHealth in Ethiopia and HealthTracka in Nigeria.
Ongoing: The Catalyst Fund by the Roddenberry Foundation provides grants ranging from $2,500 to $15,000 for individuals or groups globally, supporting early-stage ideas and projects aimed at addressing global challenges.
Ongoing: Renew Venture Lab applications are open for ventures in Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Sudan and Mozambique. Participants gain mentorship from an experienced investment team and access to a network of partners and investors. Selected startups receive funding ranging from $50K to $300K.
A Peek Inside the WHO and IDRC
In Part 2 of our podcast series on AI for Health, we take a peek inside the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). We dive deeper with Andy Pattison on how the WHO is using AI internally, and also speak with Dr. Sam Oti, host of the MedxTek Africa Podcast.
In Part 3, we’ll hear from a Nigerian healthtech founder who is leading the largest study in the world of how LLMs are being used for healthcare in Africa.
Subscribe wherever you get notified when it airs.
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Our next newsletter will hit your inbox in August. As we see every year, we’re expecting a slowdown of activity in the coming months, so we’ll bundle up the news for you in our August edition. For me personally, this break gives me a rare moment to bring my kids to see their grandparents on the other side of the world.
In the meantime, thank you for continuing to support our work and this newsletter. See you in August!