<![CDATA[Africa Health Ventures]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.comhttps://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!7IXS!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5476ffcd-c444-44fb-856d-55b20e2017b0_450x450.pngAfrica Health Ventureshttps://rowenaluk.substack.comSubstackFri, 04 Sep 2026 10:45:11 GMT<![CDATA[Africa Health Ventures #28: The Worst Year On Record]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-28https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-28Wed, 05 Aug 2026 11:45:27 GMTHealthcare ventures in Africa raised less capital in the first half of 2026 than in any comparable period since 2019. The decline is broad-based, affecting equity and debt, across multiple stages. It hits across both deal volume as well as deal count. Only 36 startups tackling health have raised capital so far in 2026, totalling under $20 million.1 To put it bluntly, this is the worst funding market the sector has seen.

Cumulative capital raised by healthcare ventures Jan-Jul 2019-2026

Let’s be precise about what this data says — and what it doesn’t. It is not a verdict on the sector. It says nothing about what consumers are spending on care, and nothing about which business models are working. Healthcare is an essential market and among the most durable of any sector. By any measure the size of the market dwarfs the financing now flowing into it. Capital is retreating from a market that isn’t.

That gap should concern anyone who understands that the world’s strongest health systems (even predominantly public health systems) rest on a vigorous private sector — providing supply chain, diagnostics, therapeutics, digital health, and innovative technologies — and it grows more consequential as AI redraws what is possible.

At the same time, for investors who are still deploying, deal quality is high, valuations are rational, and the additionality of each cheque is real. Down cycles have a way of clarifying which revenue models actually work. The rounds closing today are closing on fundamentals, not momentum. The businesses that compound through a funding winter are the ones that will define the decade to follow.

Read on for 13 deals, 20 funding opportunities, 13 events, and 10 jobs relevant to healthcare innovators and investors in Africa.

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Deals

Africa Health Ventures announced a new investment into Dawa Mkononi to improve the medicine supply chain in Tanzania

  • 🧬 Reme-D in Egypt has raised $1.5 million in a round with Anara Capital, the Global Innovation Fund, and Africa Health Ventures to scale its affordable, temperature-resilient molecular diagnostics for a wide range of diseases. The funding will expand manufacturing capacity tenfold, broaden regional reach, and add diagnostics for non-communicable diseases and cancers.

  • 💊 Dawa Mkononi in Tanzania has closed an equity investment from Africa Health Ventures. Dawa Mkononi is a pharmaceutical supply chain platform leveraging technology and embedded financing to streamline medicine distribution for drug shops, pharmacies, clinics, and hospitals.

  • 🏥 EdenCare in Rwanda, expanding into Kenya, has secured €250,000 from Proparco to grow its digital health insurance and B2B SaaS claims platform for employers.

  • 💉 Valorigo in the Democratic Republic of Congo received a re-investment from Digital Africa to grow its dual-sided platform helping patients compare medication prices and pharmacies manage operations.

  • 🏨 Tibu Health in Kenya received funding from Proparco to expand its hub-and-spoke network of affordable primary care “Minute Clinics” embedded in pharmacies and supermarkets.

  • 💳 Fortics, a Nigerian tech startup, secured $142,000 in debt from Cascador. Fortics is a healthcare holding company that acquires and revitalizes underperforming hospitals and pharmacies.

  • 💉 Biovac in South Africa signed a $15 million loan agreement with the African Development Bank to build a new multi-vaccine manufacturing facility in Cape Town.

  • 🤖 IRRI Vision, an Egyptian healthtech startup building AI-powered diagnostic tools, has been acquired by Edafa Venture. The technology helps physicians deliver faster, more accurate diagnoses and improve treatment outcomes.

  • 3IF Ventures (the Inclusive Insurance Investment Fund) has raised $12 million at first close to back early-stage insurtech businesses closing Africa’s protection gap. 3IF funds pre-seed to Series B deals across digital health, climate resilience, agriculture, and SME protection.

  • SHONA Capital Uganda has secured $5 million from TLG Capital to provide rapid, flexible debt financing to SMEs in healthcare, food and agriculture, retail, and manufacturing.

  • EmergingTech Ventures Fund II, targeting Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire, has secured a cornerstone investment from Proparco toward a $60 million fund. It will back pre-Series A and Series A startups in healthtech, deeptech, and other sectors.

  • The FCMB-TLG Private Debt Fund in Nigeria has closed its Series II oversubscribed at ₦20.69 billion to provide debt to mid-sized companies. Capital will be deployed across healthcare, agriculture, education, and other sectors.

  • 🎉Exit Announcement: T2S Group Holding, a leading MedTech distributor and equipment maintenance group in Morocco, has listed on the Casablanca Stock Exchange via a MAD 1.1 billion (~$120 million) transaction led by Helios. The listing provides liquidity to existing investors while supporting continued expansion across Africa.

News

Google has transferred its Open Health Stack to the Linux Foundation
Source: Google’s ATLAS (Understanding the AI Economy), pg 53 of 100.

Opportunities

Nexa Climate and Health Innovation Funding 2026: Up to Transform ...
Due Aug 12: $250K to $2 million to tackle climate-related health threats

  • Due Aug 12: Nexa Funding Opportunity is a partnership between Grand Challenges Canada and the Science for Africa Foundation funding Transition to Scale climate and health innovations across Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean, with awards of approximately $250,000–$2,000,000 USD.

  • Due Aug 13: Milken-Motsepe Prize in Circular Economy is a $2 million competition, including a $1 million grand prize, for scalable, technology-driven enterprises advancing circular economy principles across African industries, with winners gaining networking access and opportunities to present to industry executives.

  • Due Aug 14: Africa Fundraising Incubator (AFI) is a capacity-building program from the New Africa Fund for African organizations registered in AU member states, offering fundraising training, a matched-funds “30-Day Challenge Month,” and 12 months of complimentary fiscal sponsorship.

  • Due Aug 15: The Annual Wharton Africa Business Forum offers participants the chance to win up to $30,000 in non-dilutive financing and network with top founders and investors from across Africa.

  • Due Aug 19: iF Social Impact Prize is a design-focused competition from iF Design Award that distributes EUR 100,000 to projects advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with winners receiving prize funds and global media exposure.

  • Due Aug 21: Coefficient Giving: Global Health and Wellbeing in an Era of Transformative AI is offering grants of $100,000 to $10 million for projects preparing global health systems for the broader effects of transformative AI.

  • Due Aug 25: AI-Enabled Consumer Engagement to Advance Family Planning is a Gates Foundation grant of up to $500,000 for organizations with existing women’s health programs to test whether AI-powered consumer engagement can improve contraceptive uptake and continuation in target sub-Saharan African countries.

  • Due Aug 28: Google for Startup Accelerator is accepting applicants from South Africa.

  • Due Aug 31: The Dawn Project Climate & Health Challenge is a creative competition open to participants of all ages to submit essays, poetry, art, or songs exploring the link between climate change and human health, with cash prizes for outstanding entries.

  • Due Aug 31: Social Shifters Global Innovation Challenge is a grant program for 100% youth-led, impact-driven startups led by founders aged 18-30 addressing a social or environmental issue aligned with a UN Sustainable Development Goal, offering funding, network access, and brand exposure.

  • Due Sept 8: Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation is a Royal Academy of Engineering program for African innovators, offering an eight-month training program, two fully-funded training weeks, mentoring, and prize money of up to £50,000.

  • Due Sept 8: Grand Challenge: Multiplex Platforms to Assess Indicators of Micronutrient Status, Inflammation and Infection is a Gates Foundation grant funding development of low-cost, low-volume multiplex assay platforms to measure micronutrient and infection/inflammation biomarkers in low- and middle-income countries.

  • Due Sept 14: Antler Nigeria is accepting applications for its 10-week program including $100,000 in funding.

  • Due Sept 15: GAFSP Ninth Call for Proposals is a grant program distributing approximately $163M to support country-led initiatives in eligible low-income countries that strengthen food security, build climate resilience, and improve livelihoods for smallholder farmers and rural communities.

  • Due Sept 16: Wellcome Snakebite Innovation Prize is a competition funding innovations to reduce snakebite mortality in low- and middle-income countries, awarding £75,000 to 10 finalists and £750,000 to 2 winners.

  • Due Oct 12: Antler Nairobi is accepting applications for its 10-week program including $100,000 in funding.

  • Ongoing: DIV Fund is a tiered grant program supporting innovative solutions in low- and middle-income countries, offering Stage 1 grants of up to $200,000 for pilots, up to $500,000 for Stage 2 testing, and up to $1.5M for Stage 3 scaling of validated interventions.

  • Ongoing: Assistive Technology for Disability (AT4D) Fund supports startups developing assistive technologies for people with disabilities in Africa. They provide funding of up to $100,000 with priority given to graduates of their accelerator.

  • Ongoing: Fetola and FNB Youth Start-up Accelerator (YSA) invites aspiring entrepreneurs in South Africa aged 18–35 to apply for a 12-month accelerator delivered by Fetola and FNB.

  • Ongoing: Indie EmpowerHer is a women’s financing initiative in Lagos providing female entrepreneurs with up to N5 million in business loans.

Events

Jobs

Lessons Learned from 5 Years Investing in Health

Five years of investing in healthcare businesses across emerging markets reveal that the strongest opportunities are not simply digitizing existing care, but expanding the market to reach entirely new patient populations. Investors for Health, including IFC, Impact Fund Denmark, Temasek, and Johnson & Johnson, published a recent report highlighting where capital can be most catalytic—from validating new delivery models and specialty platforms to building companies with credible paths to scale, profitability, and responsible exits.

📖 Read the full report here.

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1

We started tracking this data in 2023. To reach back to 2019, we drew from Africa: The Big Deal. This data only includes startups with headquarters in Africa or founders from Africa. It does not include private equity or private credit deals, such as the $15 million Biovac deal.

]]><![CDATA[Africa Health Ventures #27: Africa Responds to a New Ebola Epidemic]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-ebola-2026https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-ebola-2026Wed, 03 Jun 2026 11:43:58 GMTThe Ebola epidemic is again headline news around the world. Amid healthcare cuts and geopolitical tensions, it may be the worst in a decade. Bundibugyo Ebola has no approved vaccine and no licensed treatment. WHO has declared a public health emergency of international concern. Over 1,000 suspected cases have emerged in weeks. When the international community gathered to respond, countries initially pledged nearly $500 million — then quietly walked it back to $219 million.

Africa needs $319 million to contain this outbreak. African governments have collectively pledged about 10% of that. In a sign of growing continental solidarity, South Africa is committing $5 million to the Ebola response. The Gates Foundation has committed $15 million.

Some of these funds will be used to support and treat victims. Much more will be spent protecting the healthy. CEPI has committed $61.8 million to accelerate the development of new vaccines. The US is attempting to build a quarantine facility for Americans in Kenya — a country with zero known Ebola cases — sparking nationwide protests, a court injunction, and a raw debate about sovereignty.

Health workers in personal protective equipment (PPE) in Bunia, DRC, on May 31, 2026. Photo by: Gradel Muyisa Mumbere / Reuters

This is not the first outbreak of international concern in Africa, and it will not be the last. We already know what’s coming. The question is whether we’ll have built the infrastructure to meet it. This means moving beyond just a fire-brigade approach of emergency appeals and reneging pledges towards greater investment in African-led health infrastructure. Strengthening health information systems for pandemic surveillance through social enterprises like HealthyEntrepreneurs in Uganda or eFiche in Rwanda. Ensuring availability of affordable and effective diagnostics through companies like MDaaS and Reme-D. Avenues for distributing PPE and vaccines built with companies like Viebeg and Valorigo in the Congo. This infrastructure built early can be established at a tiny fraction of the cost of emergency response — and with far greater longevity — precisely because it is built in African organizations with African ownership.

Emergency pledges are transient. Enduring health systems supported by scalable health businesses will not only strengthen the response in this pandemic but in all the others that will follow.

Read on for 5 new deals, 23 funding opportunities, and 17 upcoming events relevant to healthcare innovators and investors in Africa.

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Deals

Rivia Clinics in Ghana raised $200,000 from Village Capital

  • 🧬 A Biolinx Africa, YTO Foundation, and Nextgen Molecular Lab partnership has secured $3.5 million to advance precision medicine across Africa, beginning in Kenya and Côte d’Ivoire. The investment will build sequencing infrastructure and support African-led genomic research to address the underrepresentation of African populations in global genomic studies.

  • 🦷 Mia Healthcare Technologies in South Africa has raised $920,000 to expand access to affordable dental care through its network of mobile and fixed dental practices offering locally-produced clear aligners. The funding will deepen its national footprint and expand manufacturing capabilities across Southern Africa.

  • 🏥 Rivia Clinics in Ghana has raised $200,000 to expand its membership-based healthcare platform connecting patients and employers to virtual and in-person clinic care. The funding comes via Village Capital’s Africa Ecosystem Catalysts Facility.

  • 🛡️ Bima, the Ghana-founded insurtech that grew from a mobile micro-insurance pilot into a healthcare platform serving millions across Africa and Asia, is set to be acquired as part of a proposed $119 million deal in which Nasdaq-listed Mobile-health Network Solutions (MNDR), backed by Singapore’s Hector Capital, plans to combine Bima with telemedicine firm M&M Helix to build an AI-powered digital health ecosystem for emerging markets.

  • 🌍 Digital Africa has launched a €50 million seed fund targeting early-stage African tech startups. The fund aims to support the next generation of African technology entrepreneurs.

  • 💼 Sabou Capital, a Nigeria-based impact investment firm, has received an anchor investment from the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund as part of a $200 million raise. The firm invests $300,000 to $2 million per company in agriculture, healthcare, logistics, fintech, and climate tech across Nigeria, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, and Senegal, with a focus on secondary cities overlooked by mainstream investors.

News

TechCabal, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, and Digital Health Nigeria released a report on the State of Healthtech in Nigeria in 2026. Funding for healthtechs in Nigeria collapsed by 67% to just $3 million in 2025.

Opportunities

DIV Fund is a tiered grant program supporting innovative solutions to pilot, test, and scale validated interventions

  • Due Jun 5: Y Combinator Summer 2026 Batch invites early-stage startups globally to apply for its accelerator programme.

  • Due Jun 7: D-Prize is a funding program for first-time entrepreneurs launching new organizations focused on distributing evidence-based poverty interventions in low- and middle-income countries, targeting early-stage ventures that have not yet raised outside funding.

  • Due Jun 9: Clinton Health Access Initiative – AI-Assisted Cervical Visualization Tools is providing up to $700,000 in milestone-based catalytic funding to scale AI-driven cervical cancer screening.

  • Due Jun 14: TIME’s Top HealthTech Companies of 2026 is accepting applications.

  • Due Jun 15: UNICEF Venture Fund invests in early-stage, open-source solutions that improve outcomes for children.

  • Due Jun 15: LINGUA Africa Open Call for Inclusive AI Language Projects is a joint initiative by Microsoft, the Gates Foundation, Masakhane, and Google.org offering grants of up to $250,000 plus compute credits to organizations developing data, tools, or applications that strengthen African language representation in AI.

  • Due Jun 15: Savant Build Programme is a 12-month accelerator for African deep-tech hardware startups focused on green economy and climate solutions, offering grant funding of €50,000–€80,000 for top performers alongside mentorship and investor networking.

  • Due Jun 15: Due Diligence Fund – Round 5 is a fund offering up to €250,000 per project to EU-based companies and nonprofits implementing human rights and environmental due diligence processes in global agricultural supply chains.

  • Due Jun 16: Apply for Grant – Niger Delta Digital Summit offers seed funding of a total ₦1,800,000 to digital or tech-led startups in the Niger Delta.

  • Due Jun 16: Cartier Women’s Initiative Regional Awards invites women-led impact entrepreneurs globally to apply for fellowship awards.

  • Due Jun 16: Niger Delta Digital Summit Business Competition is a seed funding competition awarding ₦1,800,000 in total prizes to tech-led startups between 6 months and 5 years old operating in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region.

  • Due Jun 16: Grand Challenges – Estimating Global Burden of Diarrheal Diseases is a Gates Foundation funding opportunity offering up to $1.5M per project over two years for research organizations developing country-specific estimates of diarrheal disease burden and mortality in children under five in low- and middle-income countries.

  • Due Jun 30: Africa Health ExCon Accelerator Program in partnership with Africa CDC supports healthtech startups with mentorship, training, and networks.

  • Due Jul 8: SheConnects Digital Accelerator – Round 2 is a program managed by CARE and the GSMA Foundation that seeks to scale solutions enabling women and girls across Sub-Saharan Africa to participate in the digital economy — applications opened May 20 but no closing date was listed.

  • Due Aug 31: The Dawn Project Climate & Health Challenge is a creative competition open to participants of all ages to submit essays, poetry, art, or songs exploring the link between climate change and human health, with cash prizes for outstanding entries.

  • Due Sep 15: GAFSP Ninth Call for Proposals is a grant program distributing approximately $163M to support country-led initiatives in eligible low-income countries that strengthen food security, build climate resilience, and improve livelihoods for smallholder farmers and rural communities.

  • Due Dec 31: West Africa Clean Cooking Fund is an initiative backed by a $1M commitment from The Worthington Companies Foundation that provides grants, equipment, and training to NGOs and impact organizations helping communities in West Africa transition from traditional biomass fuels to clean cooking solutions.

  • Rolling deadline: EBRD Star Venture is an EBRD programme operating across 30+ markets that connects high-potential startups with international advisors, mentors, and investors over a 24-month engagement.

  • Ongoing: DIV Fund is a tiered grant program supporting innovative solutions in low- and middle-income countries, offering Stage 1 grants of up to $200,000 for pilots, up to $500,000 for Stage 2 testing, and up to $1.5M for Stage 3 scaling of validated interventions.

  • Ongoing: Assistive Technology for Disability (AT4D) Fund supports startups developing assistive technologies for people with disabilities in Africa. They provide funding of up to $100,000 with priority given to graduates of their accelerator.

  • Ongoing: Fetola and FNB Youth Start-up Accelerator (YSA) invites aspiring entrepreneurs in South Africa aged 18–35 to apply for a 12-month accelerator delivered by Fetola and FNB.

  • Ongoing: Antler Nigeria and Antler Nairobi are accepting applications for its 10-week program including $100,000 in funding.

  • Ongoing: Indie EmpowerHer is a women’s financing initiative in Lagos providing female entrepreneurs with up to N5 million in business loans.

Events

Bente Krogmann of mTek (Acquired by Bolttech)

Bente Krogmann, CEO and Founder of mTek (Acquired by Bolttech)

ICYMI: Our most recent podcast featured Bente Krogmann, Founder and CEO of Mtek. Bente moved to Africa over a decade ago, when a cab ride through Rwanda sparked a question she couldn’t shake: what happens to people here when they get sick? That question became mTek, an insurance platform that embeds protection into the everyday transactions Africans are already making. Last year, mTek achieved a landmark exit through its acquisition by the global insurtech unicorn bolttech. In this episode, Bente pulls back the curtain on how she pulled it off — and why she’s just getting started.

🎙️Tune in wherever you get your podcasts.

Please share reactions, deals, news, or events with us on LinkedIn. You can also:

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]]><![CDATA[Bente Krogmann of mTek (Acquired by Bolttech)]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/mtekhttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/mtekTue, 12 May 2026 08:56:33 GMTWhen Bente Krogmann moved to Africa over a decade ago, a cab ride through Rwanda sparked a question she couldn’t shake: what happens to people here when they get sick? That question became mTek, an insurance platform that embeds protection into the everyday transactions Africans are already making — and last year, it achieved a landmark exit through its acquisition by the global insurtech unicorn bolttech. In this episode, Bente pulls back the curtain on how she pulled it off — and why she’s just getting started.

About mTek

mTek is a leading Kenya-based insurtech reshaping East Africa’s insurance ecosystem through digital innovation. Established in 2019, mTek provides a fully digital, end-to-end distribution platform that seamlessly integrates general and life insurance products with both B2C and B2B2C functionality. The platform empowers more than 350,000 customers in Kenya alone to compare quotes from over 45 insurers and purchase coverage either upfront or through flexible installment plans.

About bolttech

bolttech is a global insurtech with a mission to build the world’s leading, technology-enabled ecosystem for protection and insurance. bolttech serves customers in 39 markets across Asia, Europe, North America, and Africa. With a full suite of digital and data-driven capabilities, bolttech powers connections between insurers, distributors, and customers to make it easier and more efficient to buy and sell insurance and protection products.

Bente Krogmann, CEO and Founder of mTek (Acquired by Bolttech)

In This Episode

  • (00m37s) Why healthcare financing in Africa needs a new approach

    We begin with an exploration of the challenges of health financing and the unique opportunity of expanding mass-market health insurance uptake.

  • (04m23s) Meet Bente Krogmann and the rise of mTek

    Bente shares her journey from Germany to East Africa, how she built and exited a car wash company before mTek, and how her experiences in Rwanda inspired her to build a company focused on expanding access to protection and insurance.

  • (07m20s) Why mTek pivoted from direct sales to embedded insurance

    mTek shifted from direct-to-consumer insurance toward embedded distribution through pharmacies, travel platforms, retailers, and other trusted partners.

  • (15m31s) Inside bolttech’s acquisition of mTek
    Bente unpacks how the relationship with bolttech began, what global investors see in Africa’s future, and the realities of navigating an international startup acquisition.

  • (24m42s) Selling Africa to global investors and corporates

    A candid discussion about market timing, cultural fit, scaling African startups inside global corporations, and why founders often need to become advocates for Africa on the international stage.

  • (33m52s) Lessons for founders on resilience, fundraising, and global markets

    Bente reflects on the emotional highs and lows of entrepreneurship, investor alignment, preparing for exits, and why founders should treat entrepreneurship as “a game you want to win.”

If you enjoyed this conversation about healthcare financing, check out our related interviews: Ikpeme Neto of WellaHealth and Femi Kuti of Reliance Health.

Key Quotes

“If you want to be the most global insurtech in the world, you have to have a play on Africa.”

“You need to see [entrepreneurship] as a game you want to win.”

“It’s not about becoming an insurance company. It’s about using technology to increase protection.”

Topics Discussed

  • How embedded insurance could unlock access and protection in Africa

  • How Bente navigated bolttech’s acquisition of mTek

  • Why global investors and corporates are bullish on Africa

  • Scaling insurtech businesses in African markets

  • Founder leadership, resilience, and emotional stability

  • Africa as a global growth opportunity

Connect with Africa Health Ventures

Africa Health Ventures invests in healthcare innovations that will dramatically improve access and quality of healthcare in Africa and around the world.

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]]><![CDATA[Africa Health Ventures #26: AI Stumbles on the Path to Health Funding for All]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-shahttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-shaWed, 06 May 2026 08:36:28 GMTKenya’s Social Health Authority (SHA) launched in late 2024 with an ambitious mandate: universal healthcare access for all Kenyans. It would even enable innovative private healthcare businesses to be reimbursed for serving the country’s lowest-income populations. We were among those who cheered on the market-creating potential of such a program.

On Monday, the Guardian published a scathing exposé revealing that SHA’s algorithm systematically overburdened the poor while undercharging the rich. Combined with mounting concerns raised over recent months, SHA payments have ground to a near halt — leaving millions of low-income Kenyans in limbo, facing unpaid health bills and barriers to care they were promised. Critics claim “this is an experiment that has failed.”

A patient gets weighed at a Kibera health centre. SHA aimed to expand services to people who have historically gone uncounted. Photo: Brian Otieno/Global Fund

It is tempting, in the face of such a setback, to abandon the promise of universal health coverage altogether, or to write off AI as a tool for health systems reform. But first we must ask: what is the alternative?

The system SHA replaced largely excluded the informal sector, where most Africans work. It resulted in high out-of-pocket costs. The pathways to preventative care were extremely limited. That alternative is simply not good enough.

The status quo remains unacceptable. Populations and patient volumes are exploding. The leapfrog opportunity across Africa — despite the real challenges that accompany new initiatives — remains. So we press forward. Instead of giving up, we ask: what can we learn from these critical early efforts?

  • On data: AI learns from the data it is trained on. This algorithm drew very few data points from Kenya’s poverty pockets, then amplified that exclusion and distortion at scale. Future efforts need to ensure representative data that serves the whole market.

  • On health equity: Machine learning cannot substitute for a sustained commitment to health equity at all levels of decision-making and governance.

  • On course correction: Mission-critical systems must be rigorously tested and validated before rollout. Even post-deployment, structured, stigma-free mechanisms are needed to flag and respond to early warning signs. Systems must be smart enough to learn and adapt to real-world complexity.

  • On AI: AI is a tool to execute human intention. While it dramatically expands human capabilities, it is not a substitute for judgment, iteration, inclusivity, and governance.

These are not reasons to retreat. These are lessons learned on which we can rebuild more durable, more intelligent, and more equitable health systems.

Read on for 10 new deals, 39 opportunities, and 18 upcoming events relevant for healthcare innovators and investors in Africa.

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Deals

Africa Health Ventures portfolio company AI Diagnostics closed $5 million in funding as part of its oversubscribed pre-Series A round

For the first time in this newsletter’s history, every startup fundraise announced in April featured an Africa Health Ventures portfolio company. On the one hand, this reflects meaningful progress for our ventures and their growing ecosystem of supporters. On the other, across 54 countries and 20% of the world’s population, a handful of deals only scratches the surface of the opportunity. There is much more work for us to do. Here are the companies which announced raises in April:

News

Flaws in Kenya’s AI-driven health reforms are driving up costs for the poorest Photograph: Sopa/LightRocket/Getty

Opportunities

To celebrate its 10th anniversary, MIT Solve is running 10 concurrent prizes including the Philips Foundation Social Impact Award. Apply by May 21.

  • Due May 7: Establishing Infrastructure Hubs to Power Evidence Synthesis: Wellcome is funding up to £1.9 million per research award to establish five AI-enabled evidence synthesis hubs led by researchers in low- and middle-income countries.

  • Due May 8: Women in Tech Accelerator is a 12-week program run by Standard Chartered Foundation, Village Capital, and the Enterprise Development Centre offering women entrepreneurs in Nigeria $10,000 equity-free grants alongside mentorship, training, and access to investor networks.

  • Due May 10: Orange Social Venture Prize is a competition open to early-stage startups in 17 countries across Africa and the Middle East that use technology to address social or environmental challenges, with prizes ranging from €10,000 to €25,000 plus a dedicated €20,000 Women’s Prize.

  • Due May 10: WE Empower UN SDG Challenge recognises women entrepreneurs advancing the Sustainable Development Goals.

  • Due May 11: The Futurize Incubator Program supports early-stage founders building technology-driven ventures with structured incubation, mentorship, and access to networks to help refine ideas and prepare for scaling.

  • Due May 13: Africa Health ExCon Accelerator Program in partnership with Africa CDC supports healthtech startups with mentorship, training, and networks. No due date is specified but the bootcamp launches May 13.

  • Due May 15: BRICS Women’s Business Alliance Women Startup Contest is an international competition for women-led startups across BRICS nations (including South Africa).

  • Due May 15: THRIVE Global Impact Challenge is a worldwide competition for early-stage agrifood startups, offering finalists the chance to pitch on stage in Silicon Valley for up to $1M in investment, with a focus on themes including regenerative agriculture, AI and automation, and climate resilience.

  • Due May 15: GSMA Innovation Fund for Climate Resilience and Adaptation 2026 supports startups using digital solutions to strengthen climate resilience.

  • Due May 17: a16z Speedrun is an accelerator program from Andreessen Horowitz that invests up to $1M in new startups, offering founders capital, over $5M in tool credits, operator support, and networks.

  • Due May 17: UNICEF Venture Fund – Climate Ventures Cohort is an equity-free funding initiative offering up to $100,000 to early-stage startups in UNICEF programme countries developing open-source technology solutions at the intersection of climate and child health.

  • Due May 20: iF Social Impact Prize is an annual award from iF Design that distributes €100,000 to support projects aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, open to established design-related organizations working toward at least one of 15 specified SDGs.

  • Due May 20: Halcyon Climate Fellowship provides climate-focused entrepreneurs with equity-free funding, mentorship, and residency.

  • Due May 21: MIT Solve 10 for 10 Challenge supports innovative solutions across a range of global challenges as part of MIT Solve’s anniversary initiative, including AI For Humanity, the Philips Foundation Social Impact Award, and The Collegium Prize for Innovation.

  • Due May 25: Global Good Fund Fellowship supports social entrepreneurs with leadership development and coaching.

  • Due May 27: .ORG Global Impact Awards is a global awards program by Public Interest Registry that recognizes individuals and organizations creating positive social impact.

  • Due May 28: FII Innovators Pitch is a program organized by the Future Investment Initiative Institute and MIT Solve that seeks AI-driven innovations addressing healthcare, climate change, robotics, and education.

  • Due May 28: Africa Business Heroes offers African entrepreneurs grant funding, training, and exposure.

  • Due May 30: Commonwealth Scholarships Commission Commonwealth Startup Fellowship 2026 provides entrepreneurs with funding, mentorship, and business support.

  • Due May 31: Turn.io Health AI Accelerator supports organisations building AI-powered health solutions using chat-based platforms, offering technical support, mentorship, and access to infrastructure.

  • Due May 31: Echoing Green Fellowship supports early-stage social entrepreneurs with seed funding and leadership development.

  • Due May 31: DayOne Accelerator Program for HealthTech Startups supports early-stage healthtech startups with mentorship, training, and access to investors.

  • Due Jun 1: Thrive Seed Grant funding up to $5,000 for initiatives advancing alternatives to industrial animal agriculture, plant-rich food systems, or plant-based food access and awareness.

  • Due Jun 5: Y Combinator Summer 2026 Batch invites early-stage startups globally to apply for its accelerator programme.

  • Due Jun 7: D-Prize is a funding program for first-time entrepreneurs launching new organizations focused on distributing evidence-based poverty interventions in low- and middle-income countries, targeting early-stage ventures that have not yet raised outside funding.

  • Due Jun 9: Clinton Health Access Initiative has released a request for proposals to scale AI-driven cervical cancer screening.

  • Due Jun 14: TIME’s Top HealthTech Companies of 2026 is accepting applications.

  • Due Jun 15: UNICEF Venture Fund invests in early-stage, open-source solutions that improve outcomes for children.

  • Due Jun 16: Apply for Grant – Niger Delta Digital Summit offers seed funding of a total ₦1,800,000 to digital or tech-led startups in the Niger Delta.

  • Due Jun 16: Cartier Women’s Initiative Regional Awards invites women-led impact entrepreneurs globally to apply for fellowship awards.

  • Due Jun 16: Niger Delta Digital Summit Business Competition is a seed funding competition awarding ₦1,800,000 in total prizes to tech-led startups between 6 months and 5 years old operating in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region.

  • Ongoing: DIV Fund is a tiered grant program supporting innovative solutions in low- and middle-income countries, offering Stage 1 grants of up to $200,000 for pilots, up to $500,000 for Stage 2 testing, and up to $1.5M for Stage 3 scaling of validated interventions.

  • Ongoing: Assistive Technology for Disability (AT4D) Fund supports startups developing assistive technologies for people with disabilities in Africa. They provide funding of up to $100,000 with priority given to graduates of their accelerator.

  • Ongoing: Fetola and FNB Youth Start-up Accelerator (YSA) invites aspiring entrepreneurs in South Africa aged 18–35 to apply for a 12-month accelerator delivered by Fetola and FNB.

  • Ongoing: Antler Nigeria and Nairobi are accepting applications for its 10-week program including $100,000 in funding.

  • Ongoing: Stanford GSB Impact Fund makes impact investments into early-stage for-profit ventures with strong social or environmental impact.

  • Ongoing: Indie EmpowerHer is a women’s financing initiative in Lagos providing female entrepreneurs with up to N5 million in business loans.

Events

Africa Health Venture & MotherFood

Dr. Lorraine Muluka, Co-Founder of Malaica, an Africa Health Ventures portfolio company. In its work to make pregnancy safe and joyful, Malaica demonstrates the essential link between nutrition and health for mothers and babies.

Africa Health Ventures recently announced our partnership with MotherFood to strengthen health systems through social entrepreneurship across Africa. MotherFood supports local entrepreneurs to prevent maternal and child malnutrition, which aligns closely with our mission to empower entrepreneurs enabling better health in emerging markets. Together we are backing high-impact, scalable healthcare businesses that enhance quality of care and improve access and affordability for families across Africa.

📢 Read the full press release here.

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]]><![CDATA[Africa Health Ventures #25: What the Iran War Means for Healthcare in Africa]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-war-in-iranhttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-war-in-iranWed, 08 Apr 2026 08:51:09 GMTWhile the future of the Iran War remains uncertain, the past month has made one thing clear: the conflict in the Middle East affects healthcare markets around the world. High-income countries have buffers, and large markets like India and China have their own manufacturing capabilities. But the healthcare systems most at risk are in the countries least responsible for the conflict.

Africa imports over 70% of its medicines. Much of this flows through major transit hubs in Dubai and the Middle East. What this conflict has laid bare is not just fragility, but dependency. In an era of escalating geopolitical tension, reliance on external supply chains is no longer just an efficiency question—it is a resilience risk.

Chart: CFR/Allison Krugman, Source: TGH Research, Think Global Health

So how are African healthcare leaders responding?

The confluence of these factors reinforces the importance of investing in the resilience of African healthcare markets through domestic manufacturing, smart distribution, AI-enabled diagnostics, and patient education.

For those committed to supporting these markets, the opportunity—and responsibility—is clear. There is meaningful work ahead. Let’s get to it.

Read on for 11 new deals, 42 opportunities, and 21 upcoming events relevant for healthcare innovators and investors in Africa.

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Deals

Reme-D’s Founder, Dr. Salma Tammam, was named a Cartier 2026 Fellow

  • 🧪 Africa Health Ventures’ portfolio company Reme-D raised $500,000 from the Global Innovation Fund. The Egyptian biotech startup develops heat-stable molecular diagnostic kits domestically within Africa, improving diagnostic security for the continent. Their formulation eliminates the need for cold-chain storage and enables disease testing for hundreds of medical conditions.

  • 🧬 BioVana raised funding from Africa Health Ventures. The Africa-based biotech platform builds trusted biobanking and health data infrastructure to enable global pharma, biotech, and research companies to access comprehensive high-quality genomic, blood, and other clinical datasets.

  • 🧪 Revna Biosciences received growth capital from Mirepa Capital, following earlier backing from Aruwa Capital. The Ghana-based company provides genomic research and advanced molecular diagnostics services for diseases such as cancer, malaria, and diabetes.

  • 📊 Eyone raised $1.7 million from Oyass Capital, a fund backed by Senegal’s sovereign wealth fund FONSIS. The Senegalese healthtech startup builds a medical interoperability platform that enables hospitals and clinicians to access real-time patient records through a unified digital system.

  • 🛡️ Turaco raised $1.3 million in a funding round from undisclosed investors. The Kenya-based insurtech company provides embedded micro-health and life insurance products for low-income consumers, distributing affordable coverage through partnerships with fintechs, telcos, and other businesses to protect users from financial shocks.

  • 🩺 ZanaAfrica secured €100,000 in non-dilutive funding from develoPPP Ventures. The Kenyan startup provides affordable menstrual and maternal care products under the Nia brand.

  • 🏥 Goodlife Health and Beauty received an undisclosed private debt investment from BK Capital via its BKC Africa Private Debt Fund. The Rwanda-based company operates a rapidly expanding pharmacy chain.

  • 💊 Orchidia Pharmaceutical Industries received investment from a consortium led by SPE Capital, with participation from EBRD, Proparco, and BIO. The Egypt-based company manufactures ophthalmic pharmaceuticals.

  • 🤖 Nora in South Africa was acquired by Healthbridge. The AI medical scribe converts doctor–patient conversations into structured clinical notes in real time.

  • 💶 Speedinvest raised €40 million from EIB Global as an anchor commitment into its Africa-focused fund. The fund will back early-stage African startups across sectors like healthtech and strengthen links between African and European innovation ecosystems.

  • 💶 Saviu II raised €6.5 million from the African Development Bank Group. The venture capital fund invests in early-stage technology startups across Francophone West and Central Africa and previously invested in healthtech companies Lapaire and Waspito.

  • 🌍 Novastar Ventures raised $147 million from a diverse group of global investors, including development finance institutions and Japanese corporates. The Africa-focused venture capital firm will deploy the fund into early- and growth-stage startups building climate and impact-driven solutions across sectors that include health.

News

The US Department of State issued its Annual Program Statement (APS) for Advancing Global Health. Hopefully some of these funds will go to African innovators but details of eligibility and timelines for exact bids remains murky.

Opportunities

Innovations in Cost-Disruptive Tools for Diagnosis and Screening:
Due Apr 28: Grand Challenges Canada Innovations in Diagnosis

Events

Delivering Health Products to the Last Mile

Our most recent podcast featured Joanna Bichsel, Founder and CEO of Kasha. Kasha was launched in Rwanda in 2016 with a mission to ensure women everywhere have access to health and personal care products. Today Kasha is the leading digital commerce and last-mile delivery platform in 9 countries across Africa, focused not just on health products but also a wide array of household goods. Joanna retells how the journey to scale has required her to shape partnerships with African governments and global life sciences companies alike to ensure women can access essential health products.

🎙️Tune in wherever you get your podcasts.

Please share reactions, deals, news, or events with us on LinkedIn. You can also:

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]]><![CDATA[Joanna Bichsel of Kasha]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/joanna-bichsel-kashahttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/joanna-bichsel-kashaWed, 11 Mar 2026 07:45:14 GMTWhat does it really take to deliver health and household products to the last mile at scale?

Joanna Bichsel is the Founder and CEO of Kasha, the leading digital commerce and last-mile delivery platform in Africa focused on health products and household goods. In this episode, Joanna shares how Kasha was born and scaled across nine countries to deliver over 110 million products. We unpack the tactics that have allowed her to scale her impact, including the varied and sometimes unlikely partnerships she’s needed to balance. Tune in to hear how this technology startup partnered with the government of Rwanda to create access to emergency contraceptives for young women, and how Kasha is working with global life sciences companies like Roche to help more women access breast cancer treatment.

This episode features insights from Jörg-Michael Rupp, who oversees Roche’s work in over 100 countries. Roche is an industry leader and global pioneer in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics focused on advancing science to improve people’s lives around the world. This episode was recorded live at Africa Tech Festival 2025 in Cape Town, one of the continent’s largest gatherings of industry leaders, startups, and investors.

Joanna Bichsel, CEO and Founder of Kasha

In This Episode

  • (00m54s) Meet Joanna and Kasha. Joanna Bichsel is the founder and CEO of Kasha, a fast-growing health access platform transforming how medicines and essential goods reach people across Africa.

  • (06m56s) Origin Story. Joanna shares the unexpected path that led her from Microsoft Corporation and the Gates Foundation to launching a startup in Rwanda.

  • (12m11s) Early Fundraising is a Struggle. Joanna recounts the brutal early months of trying to raise capital as a first-time female founder in Africa—and the mindset she needed to keep moving forward even when quitting would have been so much easier.

  • (17m03s) Partnering with the Government of Rwanda to Create Access to Emergency Contraception. Scaling healthcare requires more than technology—it demands collaboration with governments and policymakers. Joanna explains how Kasha, as a tech startup, is well-suited to managing real-time data and on-the-ground insights. This is the value they were uniquely positioned to provide the Government of Rwanda in order to inform national policy to expand access to emergency contraception for young women.

  • (21m53s) Partnering with the Global Pharmaceutical Company Roche. Joanna unpacks Kasha’s partnership with Roche and how collaboration with industry-leading pharmaceutical companies can dramatically improve access to life-saving medicines. Together, Kasha and Roche have developed innovative financing and distribution models to make breast cancer treatments more affordable for patients.

  • (28m54s) The Problem with Impact Investors. Joanna shares her candid and controversial perspective on impact investing in Africa. She challenges investors not only to build scalable businesses but also to take a long hard look at the double burden forced upon social enterprises by unrealistic impact metrics.

  • (34m45s) Perspectives from Jörg-Michael Rupp. Jörg-Michael Rupp, who oversees Roche’s work in over 100 countries, elaborates on why solving healthcare access requires collaboration across industries. No single organization can solve healthcare challenges alone, but together we can dramatically expand patient access to treatment.

  • (36m57s) Stronger together. Breast cancer advocate Dr. Carol Benn highlights the real-world complexity of tackling women’s health challenges. She explains why meaningful progress depends on honest collaboration between governments, clinicians, innovators, and the private sector—even and especially when the roadmap ahead is unclear.

If you enjoyed this conversation about healthcare access at the last mile, check out our related interviews: The Medicine Supply Chain in Africa and The Future of Pharmacy with Remedial Health.

Key Quotes

“Success in business in Africa is staying alive and continuing to go on.” — Joanna Bichsel

“If we put the patient in the center of the solution and collaborate, we can solve these challenges together.” — Jörg-Michael Rupp

“Impact doesn’t come from ignoring the market. It comes from understanding it.” — Rowena Luk

Topics Discussed

  • Women’s health innovation in Africa

  • Last-mile healthcare distribution

  • Healthcare supply chains

  • Startup fundraising in emerging markets

  • Public-private partnerships in healthcare

  • Impact investing in Africa

  • Access to affordable cancer treatment

Connect with Africa Health Ventures

Africa Health Ventures invests in healthcare innovations that will dramatically improve access and quality of healthcare in Africa and around the world.

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]]><![CDATA[Africa Health Ventures #24: Where Geopolitics Hits AI for Health]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-24-geopoliticshttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-24-geopoliticsFri, 06 Mar 2026 09:33:35 GMTLast week, Zimbabwe walked away from $367 million in health funding from the United States. That’s a big move for a country with national health spending of only $800 million. And Zimbabwe’s not alone; Zambia is also pushing back on $1.5 billion in US health aid. What are the hot topics? Sovereign health data. Access to medicines. Equitable sharing of innovations.

This highlights a growing engagement by African governments with the opportunities and risks of AI for health. Following last month’s $50 million partnership with OpenAI, Rwanda has moved quickly to sign a memorandum of understanding with Anthropic to deploy AI across health and public services. Kenya has committed to driving sovereign AI adoption alongside partners India and Italy. Governments recognize Africa has the opportunity to leapfrog ahead in applying AI for health and digital public infrastructure; and at the same time need to carefully manage the accompanying risks in access to compute, AI sovereignty, and a new kind of digital divide.

For innovators and changemakers in healthcare, this means we need to act quickly and decisively to seize the opportunity of this moment. More than this, leading healthcare entrepreneurs are already working with regulators to clarify new regulatory pathways, align with national digital infrastructure, and strengthen data sovereignty. The founders who win in this era won’t just build better health products — they’ll build better health systems.

Read on for 10 new deals, 34 opportunities, and 17 upcoming events relevant for healthcare innovators and investors in Africa.

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Deals

  • 💊 Axmed has raised $6 million in grant funding from the Gates Foundation. The Kenya-based healthtech operates a B2B procurement and logistics platform that aggregates demand and coordinates supply chains to make medicines more affordable across low- and middle-income countries.

  • 🏥 Mobihealth International has raised an equity investment of ₦1 billion (~700K USD) to accelerate its telehealth expansion across Nigeria. The company operates a platform enabling remote medical consultations and technology-enabled care delivery.

  • 💉 Eyone Medical has raised $1.7 million from Oyass Capital, Senegal’s sovereign-backed investment fund. The Dakar-based digital health startup digitizes, centralizes, and shares patient medical records across a network of clinics, hospitals, and pharmacies in West Africa.

  • 🩺 Ultrateb secured pre-seed investment from Africa Health Ventures. The Egyptian B2B e-commerce platform streamlines the procurement of medical supplies and consumables for healthcare providers across Africa.

  • 🌸 Fertitude has secured a pre-seed investment from US-based venture firm Nubia Capital. The Nigerian femtech platform uses AI to help women track fertility and cycle health, connecting them with specialists across all life stages.

  • 🤖 The GSMA Innovation Fund for Impactful AI has announced grants of up to £250,000 into Morocco’s DeepEcho and Kenya’s Cherehani Labs. DeepEcho uses AI to automate fetal ultrasound analysis, enabling clinicians in low-resource settings to perform accurate measurements and remote diagnoses. Cherehani Labs operates solar-powered containerized diagnostic labs that detect zoonotic diseases in livestock, providing African farmers with health certificates to access financing and protect their livelihoods.

  • 🏥 Alameda Healthcare has raised $190 million from Development Partners International (DPI) — the largest healthcare investment of its kind in Egypt to date. The Egyptian private hospital group operates JCI-accredited facilities providing specialist care, with expansion planned across the Gulf and broader Africa.

  • 🔬 Medhold has been acquired by Sanlam Private Equity, with Standard Bank acting as sole mandated lead arranger on the undisclosed transaction. The South African company supplies medical devices and surgical equipment to healthcare providers across Africa.

  • 🌍 EG Capital has secured a $10M anchor commitment from Global Africa Growth Corporation (GAGC). The private credit fund targets scalable businesses in food security, health resilience, and education across Eastern Africa and the SADC region.

  • 💊 Parkville Pharmaceuticals has seen investor Admaius Capital complete a full exit from its position. The Egyptian company develops medicated-cosmetic products at the intersection of pharmaceuticals and consumer health.

News

  • Anthropic and the Government of Rwanda have signed a three-year Memorandum of Understanding — Anthropic’s first formal multi-sector government partnership on the African continent — covering AI deployment across health and education, including support for eliminating cervical cancer and reducing malaria and maternal mortality.

  • India, Italy, and Kenya have announced a trilateral partnership to scale sovereign AI solutions across Africa, with a focus on voice-enabled tools for low-connectivity environments, local languages, and data ownership — targeting 100 AI Diffusion Pathways by 2030.

  • Wellcome, the Gates Foundation, and the Novo Nordisk Foundation have jointly launched the Evidence for AI in Health (EVAH) initiative, committing US$60 million over three years to rigorously evaluate AI tools — from disease prediction models to LLM-based clinical support — in low- and middle-income countries across Sub-Saharan Africa and South and South-East Asia.

  • Africa’s CDC director has voiced “huge concerns” over data and pathogen-sharing terms in bilateral health deals with the Trump administration, as Zimbabwe withdrew from a $367 million agreement it called “asymmetrical” and Zambia pushes back on a $1 billion-plus arrangement — even as DR Congo signed a $1.2 billion deal.

  • Intron Voice AI announced a major new product launch for African language speech recognition incorporating 24 African languages. The latest models outperform leading global models like Gemini-3 and Meta’s OmniASR on benchmarks spanning healthcare, finance, legal, and call center conversations.

  • Rwanda and Zipline have signed an expansion agreement — backed by a $150 million US Department of State award — making Rwanda the first African country with nationwide autonomous drone delivery coverage.

  • Turn.io’s 2025 Chat for Health & AI Accelerator — supported by the Johnson & Johnson Foundation, Mulago Foundation, and OpenAI — has concluded its 24-week program, graduating ten organizations building AI-powered conversational health services on WhatsApp. Standout cohort members include Nigeria’s Helium Health, Uganda’s OneDay Health, and South Africa’s hearX Foundation, whose solutions are now positioned to reach over 35 million people across Africa and beyond.

  • Interswitch eClat in Nigeria has partnered with Abia State to deploy its eClinic platform across public hospitals in Nigeria, digitising patient records and transitioning the state’s hospital network from paper-based to electronic health management systems.

  • Ekiti State in Nigeria, working with the ACIOE Foundation and Nigeria Health Watch, has launched a digital maternal health initiative enabling pregnant women in remote communities to access antenatal care and consultations via phone and WhatsApp-based telemedicine.

  • TechCabal featured the rise of deeptech in Africa, including biotech and AI, with insights from Africa Health Ventures.

Opportunities

The Gates Foundation and Novo Nordisk Foundation have committed $60 million over three years to generate Evidence for AI in Health (EVAH). Applications due April 1.

  • Due Mar 10: UNICEF Venture Fund – Equity-Free Funding for Blockchain Solutions invites early-stage startups in emerging markets developing open-source, blockchain-based technologies to apply for up to $100,000 in equity-free funding.

  • Due Mar 10: Evon Labs HealthTech Incubator 2026 is a 10-week hybrid program offering up to $30,000 in equity-free seed funding open to Nigerian researchers, doctors, and engineers at the idea-to-prototype stage.

  • Due Mar 14: Startup World Cup Lagos Regional 2026 is a pitch competition offering Lagos-based startups a chance to compete for a $1,000,000 investment prize and a ticket to the global finals in Silicon Valley.

  • Due Mar 15: WAM Foundation invites non-profit organizations and researchers to submit proposals for Programs and Research to Alleviate Human Suffering, offering from $50,000 to $1.5 million.

  • Due Mar 16: Wellcome Genomics in Context Awards funds interdisciplinary research that combines genomics with social science, humanities, ethics, or public engagement.

  • Due Mar 16: EEP Africa 2026 Call for Proposals supports early-stage, locally-driven clean energy projects with EUR 200,000–500,000 in grants and repayable grants across 17 Sub-Saharan African countries in areas like residential electricity access, mini grids, clean cooking, and energy efficiency.

  • Due Mar 18: Google for Startups Accelerator: Africa is a 3-month hybrid accelerator for growth-stage AI/ML African technology startups offering equity-free support including technical workshops and access to Google's products and expertise.

  • Due Mar 20: INSPIRE – Improving National Supply Chains for Maternal and Newborn Health seeks proposals to strengthen national supply chains for maternal and newborn health products in low-income countries.

  • Due Mar 30: Moonshots for Development Open Innovation Challenge — a global initiative offering up to $1 million plus access to $360,000 in non-equity funding support to growth-stage ventures.

  • Due Mar 31: Grand Challenges Canada: Being is a global youth mental health initiative offering $300,000–$1,500,000 CAD per grant to scale proven approaches across 12 priority countries including Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, and India, with priority given to youth-led organizations.

  • Due Mar 31: Morgan Stanley Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures is a 5-month accelerator providing equity investment for American startups and grants for American nonprofits focused on environment, health, economic empowerment, or education.

  • Due Mar 31: Startup World Cup Regional Competition at RegTech Africa Conference invites Nigerian startups to apply to showcase their solutions and compete for a chance to advance toward a US $1 million global prize.

  • Due Apr 1: Evidence for AI in Health (EVAH) Request for Proposals invites organizations and research teams to apply for funding of $1–3 million to evaluate AI-enabled clinical decision support tools used by frontline health workers in primary and community healthcare settings in low- and middle-income countries.

  • Due Apr 1: Common Fund for Commodities 28th Call for Proposals invites SMEs, cooperatives and organisations in CFC member countries to apply for funding to strengthen smallholder livelihoods, resilient ecosystems and inclusive value chains.

  • Due Apr 9: Accelerating Cervical Cancer Elimination Through Secondary Prevention invites innovations that expand access to screening, diagnosis, and treatment of precancerous cervical lesions in low-income countries.

  • Due Apr 13: Bayer Foundation Women Entrepreneurs Award invites women entrepreneurs leading high-impact startups in health and food security to apply for the 2026 award, which provides €25,000 in funding.

  • Due Apr 15: Innovate for Impact Challenge — an AgTech pitch competition seeking early-stage startups addressing global food security and sustainability, with $50,000 for 1st place, open to validated-concept to pre-Series A startups globally.

  • Due Apr 22: CARB-X is accelerating antimicrobial resistance solutions including direct-acting therapeutics for Gram-negative infections, novel chemistry, non-vaccine preventatives for neonatal sepsis, and rapid diagnostic tools, with priority for low- and middle-income countries.

  • Due Apr 25: Katapult Africa Accelerator Program is a 90-day intensive accelerator providing $150,000–$500,000 in direct investment per startup, open to African-based startups focused on food systems, agriculture, and climate resilience.

  • Due Apr 27: Miller Center for Global Impact is a fully funded 6-month virtual program out of California offering executive mentoring for social enterprise leaders seeking to scale their organizations with a focus on women’s economic empowerment, climate resilience, and poverty alleviation.

  • Due Apr 30: The Nigeria Prize for Science and Innovation is a global competition for scientists and innovators offering $100,000 for breakthrough AI, ICT, and digital technology solutions applicable to Nigeria’s healthcare, energy, agriculture, and other sectors.

  • Due Apr 30: Joint Innovation Facility (Africa-Europe Digital Innovation Bridge) is an Africa-Europe funding mechanism offering EUR 100,000 to EUR 200,000 in grants for consortia led by African organizations scaling digitally enabled, commercially viable innovations with climate-positive impacts across 14 African priority countries (Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and others) in partnership with European entities.

  • Due May 7: Establishing Infrastructure Hubs to Power Evidence Synthesis — Wellcome is funding £1.5–£1.9 million per award to establish five AI-enabled evidence synthesis hubs led by researchers in low- and middle-income countries, addressing policy challenges in food systems, humanitarian assistance, economic growth, peace, and social protection.

  • Due May 31: Build Your AgriCanvas – Agribusiness e-Academy Competition — a free learning pathway for young agripreneurs offering €2,000 in funding, a tablet/laptop, or mentoring support, open to ages 18+ in OACPS member states developing climate-smart business models in cocoa, maize, cashew, or livestock production.

  • Due Jun 1: Thrive Seed Grant funding up to $5,000 for initiatives advancing alternatives to industrial animal agriculture, plant-rich food systems, or plant-based food access and awareness, open to non-profit organizations and projects outside the US, with Africa-based applicants especially encouraged.

  • Due Jun 16: Apply for Grant – Niger Delta Digital Summit offers seed funding of a total ₦1,800,000 to digital or tech-led startups in the Niger Delta.

  • Due Jun 16: Cartier Women’s Initiative Regional Awards invites women-led impact entrepreneurs globally to apply for fellowship awards.

  • Ongoing: Fetola and FNB Youth Start-up Accelerator (YSA) invites aspiring entrepreneurs in South Africa aged 18–35 to apply for a 12-month accelerator delivered by Fetola and FNB.

  • Ongoing: Renew Venture Lab is accepting applications for its program which includes $50,000 – $300,000 in funding.

  • Ongoing: Antler Nigeria and Nairobi are accepting applications for its 10-week program including $100,000 in funding.

  • Ongoing: EridanSeed SME Scale 2026 invites growth-ready Nigerian SMEs to apply for a structured scale programme.

  • Ongoing: Stanford GSB Impact Fund makes impact investments into early-stage for-profit ventures with strong social or environmental impact.

  • Ongoing: Student Venture Capital Grant (S-VCG) offers Nigerian tertiary students up to ₦50 million in equity-free funding for STEM-based ventures.

  • Ongoing: Indie EmpowerHer is a women’s financing initiative in Lagos providing female entrepreneurs with up to N5 million in business loans.

Events

How The Fight Against Breast Cancer is Changing in Africa

ICYMI, our most recent podcast highlights changemakers and innovators on the front lines of the fight against breast cancer in Africa. We speak with Maturin Tchoumi, Head of Roche, Africa; Thom Renwick, Head of Roche South Africa; Dr. Kathryn Malherbe of Medsol AI; and Dr. Carol Benn, an industry-leading South African breast cancer advocate. Together we walk through how much has changed in the past 10 years of this work, and what’s left to do in the decade ahead.

🎙️Tune in wherever you get your podcasts.

That’s a wrap for this month. Please share reactions, deals, news, or events with us on LinkedIn. You can also:

👍Follow us on LinkedIn

🪙Nominate a startup for seed funding

🎙️Subscribe to our podcast on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts

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]]><![CDATA[How The Fight Against Breast Cancer is Changing in Africa]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/how-the-fight-against-breast-cancerhttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/how-the-fight-against-breast-cancerWed, 11 Feb 2026 10:29:23 GMTOnly half of the women diagnosed with breast cancer in Africa today survive. Why? This episode uncovers how women are dismissed or diagnosed too late—and follows the clinicians and innovators determined to do better. This is a story of fear and misinformation; but this is also a story of resilience and the changemakers refusing to accept the status quo.

In today’s episode, we’ll hear from Dr. Carol Benn, an industry-leading surgeon and advocate setting the standard for breast cancer care in South Africa; Dr. Kathryn Malherbe, the founder of Medsol AI using AI to detect breast cancer earlier; Thom Renwick, Head of Roche South Africa; and Maturin Tchoumi, Head of Roche, Africa.

From left to right: Dr. Carol Benn, Dr. Kathryn Malherbe of Medsol AI, Maturin Tchoumi of Roche Africa, and Thom Renwick of Roche South Africa

In This Episode

  • (3m33s) Dr. Carol Benn is challenging the old guard of breast cancer care. A trauma surgeon turned breast cancer pioneer, Dr. Benn recounts how she pushed back against outdated medical norms in South Africa — empowering women to stand up for their own bodies.

  • (8m23s) Fear holds us back. Why do so many women delay screening? From mistrust of healthcare systems to myths about age and pain, Dr. Benn explains how fear — not ignorance — often stands between women and early detection.

  • (10m38s) 65% of people with breast cancer have no symptoms. Many women diagnosed do everything “right.” Dr. Benn dismantles how the demographics of breast cancer are changing.

  • (11m24s) Thom Renwick of Roche South Africa unpacks the hidden economic toll of breast cancer. Beyond the human tragedy, late-stage breast cancer is draining African economies — with billions lost in productivity and families destabilized when women in their prime are forced out of the workforce.

  • (13m59s) Maturin Tchoumi, Head of Roche in Africa, believes technology is a force multiplier. From mobile banking to mobile health, Maturin argues that digital innovation can unlock massive efficiency gains in healthcare.

  • (15m25s) Dr. Kathryn Malherbe of Medsol AI became frustrated after seeing too many young women arrive too late for treatment. A mammographer turned entrepreneur, she built an AI-powered ultrasound tool that’s over 90% accurate and dramatically more affordable — bringing screening closer to the communities that need it most

  • (23m58s) “You have to believe in what you’re doing.” Facing regulatory hurdles, funding gaps, and institutional resistance, Dr. Malherbe reflects on the conviction required to build in African healthcare — and why unwavering belief is sometimes a founder’s greatest asset.

Show Notes

  • Medsol AI, founded by Dr. Kathryn Malherbe, is building AI-powered ultrasound diagnostics to expand breast cancer screening at the primary care level. Early studies show the solution is over 90% accurate and dramatically more affordable.

  • The Socioeconomic Burden of HER2+ Breast Cancer in Africa: A report by the WifOR Institute examining seven African countries estimated $10.3 billion in productivity losses over five years due to late diagnosis and under-treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer.

  • The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer is an excellent recounting of the modern history of cancer, including breast cancer. Among other topics, it lays bare the devastating effects of radical mastectomy on breast cancer patients, and how rapidly science and technology to tackle cancers have evolved in the past few decades.

  • The Africa Breast Cancer Council is a pan-African coalition chaired by Dr. Carol Benn, working to improve breast cancer awareness, policy alignment, and standards of care across the continent.

  • Netcare Milpark Breast Care Centre of Excellence is one of only three breast care centres outside the United States accredited under the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers (NAPBC), setting a global benchmark for multidisciplinary breast care.

  • Africa Tech Festival – Healthcare Track: This episode was recorded live at Africa Tech Festival in Cape Town, where a dedicated healthcare innovation track highlighted the intersection of digital transformation and public health.

Connect with Africa Health Ventures

Africa Health Ventures invests in healthcare innovations that will dramatically improve access and quality of healthcare in Africa and around the world.

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]]><![CDATA[Africa Health Ventures #23: Big Tech is in the Room]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-23-big-techhttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-23-big-techWed, 04 Feb 2026 11:22:39 GMTIf you are one of the hundreds of startups in Kenya and Nigeria building AI chatbots, your world was also rocked when OpenAI announced ChatGPT Health on Jan 7. This was followed by OpenAI for Healthcare on Jan 8; Claude for Healthcare on Jan 11; and, intriguingly, OpenAI’s “$100 million” acqui-hire of 4-person Torch on Jan 12. Big Tech is in the room and it knows the value of healthcare.

The question many founders are asking: does it even make sense to step up when there are already so many giants in the room? Let’s face it: hundreds of startups and would-be startups will be wiped out by these new offerings. Pure-play AI chatbots, personalized care portals, and intranet search will be commodities.

And yet, there is more work to do. Ironically, the things that make it difficult to build in healthcare are the same things that make it so compelling. These struggles are what create necessary and defensible value. Regulatory approval. Government partnerships. Economies of scale on physical assets. Enterprise engagement and workflow optimization. The infinite mysteries and the messy biology of our own bodies. Relationships. Trust.

So yes, Big Tech is here and some innovations are dead already. The opportunity that remains is not in chat interfaces or content aggregation. It’s in doing the hard, unsexy work that turns technology into real outcomes. Founders who can navigate regulation, embed into workflows, earn institutional trust, and build with governments and enterprises won’t be displaced—They’ll be indispensable. The room is crowded, but there’s still plenty of space for the hands-on work that actually moves health systems forward.

Read on for 18 new deals, 24 opportunities, and 14 upcoming events relevant for healthcare innovators and investors in Africa.

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Deals

  • Nawah Scientific raised $23 million in a Series A to expand its cloud-lab footprint across MENA and Africa. The Egyptian life-sciences startup enables remote access to advanced laboratory testing for researchers and enterprises.

  • GOAL 3 has been awarded a €1 million Eurostars grant alongside partner Picterus to develop JaundiceCARE, a new neonatal jaundice screening and management solution.

  • Rology has closed a growth funding round with participation from the Philips Foundation, Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures, Sanofi Global Health Unit’s Impact Fund, and MIT Solve Innovation Future. The Egyptian AI‑assisted teleradiology platform connects hospitals with remote radiologists.

  • Sora raised an additional $2.5 million in seed funding. The Japan-headquartered startup uses drones and AI to map disease environments and support targeted malaria control and other public health interventions across Africa.

  • FitXpert secured a seven-figure strategic investment from Foras Investment. The Egyptian SaaS startup provides a unified fitness and nutrition management system for trainers, clinics and wellness centres.

  • Immobazyme raised $1.5 million from the University Technology Fund (UTF II), alongside Fireball Capital and Stellenbosch University Enterprises. The South African biotech uses precision fermentation to develop and scale biologics for therapeutic, research, and industrial use.

  • Mamy Eyewear received an investment from Ikemori Venture Support to grow its footprint across East Africa. The Kenyan optical retailer offers affordable, tech-driven eyecare solutions including AI-powered eye exams.

  • mPharma secured a strategic investment from Growth Investment Partners (GIP) backed by British International Investment to accelerate its healthcare expansion in West Africa. The Ghana-based healthtech optimises pharmaceutical supply chains and operates a franchise pharmacy model.

  • Namola was acquired by Community Wolf to consolidate South Africa’s safety-tech ecosystem. Namola is a South African emergency-response app that lets users quickly request medical, security, or roadside assistance.

  • CarePoint secured financing from JICA to support regional expansion, including entry into Egypt. The company operates tech-enabled clinics that blend physical care delivery with digital health tools.

  • Africa’s Business Heroes 2025 awarded NuvoteQ $150,000 for its clinical research tools to support the design, execution, and management of clinical trials.

  • Enza Capital exited its stake in Quro Medical to Netcare Group, South Africa’s largest private hospital group. Quro Medical extends healthcare services from facilities to the home, combining in-home clinical care with telemedicine and digital monitoring.

  • Alta Semper Fund II secured $38 million from EIB Global to scale pharmaceutical manufacturing, healthcare services, and life sciences companies to strengthen local drug production and healthcare access across Africa.

  • Adenia Partners has acquired a majority stake in Egypt’s Parkville Pharmaceuticals, which manufactures therapeutic, cosmeceutical, and nutraceutical products.

  • Salt Capital & South Suez Capital have completed the acquisition of Welwitschia Hospital, ERAD Radiology, and Spescare Namibia in a strategic healthcare deal strengthening Namibia’s hospital and diagnostic network.

  • Carrefour Medical has secured €18 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to boost local manufacturing and distribution of medical equipment and consumables in Senegal.

  • AdiWale Growth Fund made an undisclosed investment into a Guinea-based healthcare provider to boost clinical capacity and expand services.

  • The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation disclosed $76 million allocated across 2025 towards ethical AI in low-resource countries. This included grants to Jacaranda Health, Audere, Maisha Meds, Nexleaf Analytics, and Open Function.

News

  • The Gates Foundation and OpenAI committed $50 million to the Horizon1000 initiative, aiming to deploy AI‑powered tools to 1,000 primary healthcare clinics across Africa—starting with Rwanda—to assist health workers, improve clinical decision‑making, and strengthen care delivery by 2028.

  • The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) approved $30 million in financing to expand Rwanda’s Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Engineering and e‑Health.

  • GAVI the Vaccine Alliance announced a new collaboration with partners including 500 Global, The Coca-Cola Foundation, Tony’s Chocolonely, UBS Optimus Foundation, Bayer Foundation, Zipline and the Elton John AIDS Foundation to accelerate vaccine innovation and expand access to immunisation and primary healthcare. This effort builds on an early pledge of CAD 40 million from Grand Challenges Canada through GAVI’s Innovation Scale-Up Facility.

  • Biomine won the healthtech category of the 2025 South African Startup Awards for its work in gut microbiome health diagnostics.

  • Tech in Africa published an overview of regulatory frameworks relevant for healthtech founders in Africa navigating regulatory approval and compliance.

  • Case Study: Salient Advisory recently published two side-by-side case studies on digitizing the last mile of healthcare delivery. They evaluate the pros and cons of an open-source, donor-funded healthtech platform (RHOS) alongside a proprietary, market-driven healthtech offering (ElephantOS).

Opportunities

Up to $25 million to improve access to maternal and newborn health products. Private companies and consortia are eligible to apply.

Events

The State of HealthTech in Africa

In case you missed it, last week we released our annual review of healthcare startups, funding, and investors in Africa in 2025. Despite a tumultuous year, healthcare sector funding surged by over 200% in 2025, the largest growth seen in any sector on the continent. Read the full report here.

What were your milestones in 2025 and hopes for 2026? Let us know on LinkedIn. You can also:

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]]><![CDATA[The State of Healthcare Investments in Africa in 2025]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/healthcare-investments-africa-2025https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/healthcare-investments-africa-2025Tue, 27 Jan 2026 10:22:37 GMT2025 was a tumultuous year. Despite this — or we would argue because of it — startup funding is back. Total healthcare investments surged to over $220 million in 2025, an increase of over 200% on the previous year. This is the largest growth seen across any sector in Africa: a sign that the industry is ready to get to work. While we’re not quite back at the highs of 2019-2020, the direction of travel is clear: capital has returned.

The Big Four (South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, and Egypt) have long dominated African healthcare investment and in 2025 that mostly held — with one notable shift. South Africa led by a wide margin, buoyed by a few outsized rounds, while Egypt and Kenya bounced back from last year’s low. Most surprising is Nigeria’s absence from the top tier with its significant drop in healthcare funding.

The newcomer to fourth place? Senegal. Alongside its victory at the recent Africa Cup of Nations. Senegal, you’re on a roll.

Finally, while public exits remain rare, other exits are increasing every year. We tracked nine exits in 2025, the vast majority through acquisitions by domestic or international corporates. All were undisclosed in value. There were no IPOs. Liquidity may still be quiet, but strategic buyers are clearly paying attention.

Let’s dive in. We are going to take a closer look at where that capital went, who wrote the checks, and what kinds of healthcare businesses investors are now backing.

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Deals, Deals, Deals

We tracked 77 deals in 2025 resulting in over $220 million invested in healthcare startups in Africa.

What Were the Biggest Deals in 2025?

2025's biggest deals included:

  • 👂In April, hearX announced a blockbuster $100 million in new funding from Patient Square Capital, the standout deal of the year. At the same time, it merged with the global hearing aid industry leader Eargo to form LXE Hearing. The combined company expands access to affordable, over‑the‑counter hearing solutions globally by integrating digital audiology tech with direct‑to‑consumer hearing aids. Hear the inside story of this South African company in our interview with its founder, Nic Klopper.

  • 🧠In June, Moustapha Cissé’s KERA Health Platforms in Senegal raised $10 million from the IFC to grow its AI‑powered health platform. The startup provides digital primary care, diagnostics, and preventive tools, leveraging AI to improve access to quality health services.

  • 🔬In December, Nawah Scientific closed a $23 million Series A round led by Life Ventures Holding with participation from Den Ventures, Empire M, and AfricInvest. The Egypt‑based deeptech lab company enables remote access to advanced testing services and will use the funding to expand its cloud lab footprint in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.

  • 💨In August, Hewatele secured a $10.5 million investment from AfricInvest’s Transform Health Fund to build a large‑scale liquid oxygen facility in Kenya. The funding will strengthen reliable medical oxygen supply for hospitals and clinics across East Africa.

Afrigen Biologics, myDawa, and Docline also closed significant funding in 2025.

Which Countries Secured the Most Funding?

South Africa dominated total capital raised by a massive margin, driven by the $100 million HearX/LXE Hearing deal. If we exclude HearX/LXE Hearing, South Africa and Egypt are neck and neck in terms of both deal count and total dollars invested.

Kenya, the leading country last year, took a step back, driven by the slowdown and disappearance of public health funding.

And then there’s Senegal, the rising star of 2025. Coming in fourth by deal size, it represents a significant and growing interest by investors in Francophone Africa. This trend extends beyond healthcare. Across all sectors, Francophone Africa captured 68% of equity funding outside of the Big Four.

Notable by its absence, Nigeria dropped dramatically, falling to a fraction of its 2024 healthcare investment levels. In this sector at least, Nigeria can no longer call itself one of the Big Four. Even when we look across all sectors, Nigeria saw a contraction in investments in 2025 - unlike every other country in the Big Four.

Not Much Has Changed for Female Founders

Not much has changed from the doldrums of last year. Female founders continue to be wildly underrepresented. Funding to female-led startups in 2025 is no better in healthcare than it is in other sectors even though healthcare is an industry where the majority of the workforce are women AND where women make the majority of spending decisions. 1 in 4 deals went to female or gender-diverse teams. That fraction looks even more abysmal when you divvy it up by deal size.

Which Products And Innovations Are Getting Traction?

Supply chain innovations remain the single most active category. Here we see a strong contingent working on pharmacy innovations alongside other startups which work to ensure medicine quality, distribute non-pharmaceutical healthcare supplies, and create demand for products, .

Virtual/hybrid care continues to see significant activity, driven by new interest in AI capabilities for patient education, diagnostics, triage, and follow-up, as well as provider decision support.

The long path to market and high startup costs limit the number of founders working in medical devices, biotech, and deeptech.

What Types of Healthcare Are Getting Funded?

Investments continue to cluster around primary care and multi-specialty platforms in order to target a high TAM (Total Addressable Market) with diverse revenue options. Even in the long tail, we see an emphasis on “specialist” markets that are still massive and growing, such as women’s health, child health, and primary care. Notable specialist innovations are seen in emergency response, eye care, and hearing.

The Debt Gap

Despite overall investment growth in equity and grants, debt capital has not followed at the same pace. While other sectors saw a dramatic increase in debt funding in 2025, healthcare is missing out on this structural shift. Debt comprises only 4% of funding to healthcare startups, despite strong equity interest in verticals that typically require significant working capital, such as supply chain and pharmacy innovation.

Who Are The Most Active Investors?

This year marked a rise in specialist healthcare investors, including corporates and foundations. Strategic capital — especially from players who understand healthcare revenue, regulation, and timelines — is becoming more prominent.

The most active healthcare investors in Africa in 2025 are:

  • 🏥 Investing in Innovation (i3) is a multi-donor initiative supporting market-based health innovations in low- and middle-income countries, with a strong focus on scaling proven healthcare solutions across Africa through catalytic grant funding and investor engagement. In 2025 they invested $200K in 7 African healthcare startups.

  • 🌏 Alibaba Foundation, through the Africa’s Business Heroes competition, supports African entrepreneurs — including health-focused founders — by providing non-dilutive funding, global exposure, and access to a broad international network.

  • 🇩🇪 DEG Impulse, a subsidiary of the German development finance institution, has made several healthcare investments, notably through its develoPPP program, blending public and private capital. They also provide technical assistance and co-financing to accelerate scale.

  • 💼 Nubia Capital is an Africa-focused investment firm backing growth-stage companies across healthcare and other essential sectors, with an emphasis on businesses that deliver critical services and infrastructure at scale.

Other notable investors include AAIC, a Japanese VC firm connecting African healthtech startups with Asian markets, and Boehringer Ingelheim Social Engagement, funded by the global pharmaceutical company.

Where Do Investors Come From?

Africa-based investors continue to demonstrate the most active participation in funding, with a long tail of multiple small funds active in healthcare. We also saw renewed interest from Asia in 2025 from both private and commercial investors, as well as an increase in activity from the Middle East, primarily investing in North Africa.

However, the largest deals on the continent were led by international investors from North America, Asia, and the Middle East.

Exits

In 2025, nine healthcare or health-enabling companies returned capital to their investors (“exits”). The vast majority were through acquisitions by large domestic or international corporates. All were undisclosed amounts.

  • RapidDeploy was acquired by Motorola Solutions in a strategic acquisition. The company provides cloud-based emergency response and 911 command software that helps public safety agencies manage incidents in real time.

  • Saviu Ventures exited Lapaire to Creadev through a private equity transaction. Lapaire is an African eyewear company from Kenya delivering high-quality glasses through a vertically integrated, omnichannel model.

  • mTek was acquired by bolttech in an insurtech-focused exit. The Kenyan startup offers digital insurance distribution and management platforms for insurers, agents, and consumers across East Africa.

  • Quro Medical was acquired by Netcare Group in South Africa through a strategic stake investment. The company delivers hospital-at-home care using remote patient monitoring and AI-enabled clinical decision support to extend acute care beyond hospital walls.

Methodology

This report looks at equity, debt, and grant funding going to healthcare startups in Africa. We include only companies whose primary markets are in Africa, and whose founders are based in Africa or are of African descent. This analysis includes deals of $100K or more. We exclude private equity deals and financing for large established businesses such as hospitals and pharmaceutical companies. Examples of significant deals not included in this analysis are:

Note that a significant fraction of deals are unreported in Africa, where founders frequently do not make public announcements of funds raised. As such, please take this analysis with a grain of salt. It is not a complete picture.

Dive Deeper

If you would like to learn more, check out:

What did we miss? Hit reply to share deals, investors, or other observations relevant to the full picture of healthcare funding in Africa in 2025. You can also:

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]]><![CDATA[Africa Health Ventures #22: A Breakout Month]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-breakout-monthhttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-breakout-monthThu, 04 Dec 2025 11:31:24 GMTIt’s been a breakout month for healthcare social enterprises across Africa. Where to begin? Highlights include:

  • Zipline secured $150M in revenue-based financing from the U.S. State Department—an early signal of how U.S. foreign assistance may support scalable healthtech models.

  • Action for Women’s Health awarded over $1 million each to 80 organizations advancing women’s health globally, including Lwala Community Alliance in Kenya, Tiko in South Africa, and StrongMinds in Uganda.

  • In South Africa, Parent Sense won the $1 million Grand Prize in a highly competitive process against 500 competitors across all industries.

  • Kenya’s mTek closed a successful exit to Singapore’s unicorn Bolttech—demonstrating how healthcare innovations can generate real financial returns. mTek helps individuals access insurance products, including health insurance.

Remembering how this year began with such a rocky start, we are thankful to close off the year on a high note. While each in itself is a small signal in an industry experiencing tectonic shifts, these founders demonstrate how the sector is adapting and regaining momentum.

If you found some value in this newsletter this year. please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Every dollar helps keep this newsletter going. If you’re already a paid subscriber: thank you!

Read on to learn about 9 new deals, 21 opportunities, and 11 upcoming events relevant for healthcare innovators and investors in Africa.

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Deals

Washington backs Zipline’s African expansion with $150 million
Zipline secured $150M in new funding from the U.S. State Department to deliver essential medical supplies across Africa

  • 🚁 Zipline secured $150 million in backing from the U.S. government to expand its drone delivery operations across Africa. The company uses autonomous aircraft to deliver blood, vaccines, medicines, and other essential supplies to hard-to-reach health facilities with unmatched speed and reliability.

  • 🌸 Action for Women’s Health has been busy deploying grants of $1 million and $5 million to support scalable solutions improving women’s health and well-being globally. Managed by Lever for Change and funded by Melinda Gates, this month they announced 80 awardees including Lwala Community Alliance in Kenya, Tiko in South Africa, StrongMinds in Uganda. Learn more about the awardees here.

  • 👶 Parent Sense was announced as the winner of South Africa’s biggest 2025 startup pitch competition, The Big Pitch, securing a potential $1 million investment led by The SA Future Trust. The digital parenting app founded by Meg Faure uses AI-driven, expert-backed guidance to support parents from pregnancy through the preschool years with personalised routines, tips, and tracking tools.

  • 🛡️EXIT Announcement: mTek has been acquired by Bolttech in a strategic deal to expand the insurtech group’s footprint in Africa. The Kenya-based digital insurance platform enables users to purchase, manage, and renew insurance policies entirely through a mobile app.

  • 🚑 Zuri Health received new investment from DRK Foundation. The Kenya-founded startup provides mobile- and SMS-enabled access to teleconsultations, diagnostics, care coordination, and other essential health services. Zuri Health also runs large-scale mobile outreach clinics.

  • 📊 Clarrio AI secured funding from Launch Africa Ventures to accelerate its work in chronic care data management. The startup provides AI-driven analytics that help healthcare providers track, predict, and improve outcomes for patients with long-term conditions.

  • 🏅 HERA Digital Health received the $250,000 Kenneth C. Frazier Award for Maternal Health Equity prize. Hera provides a WhatsApp-based AI chatbot that improves access to maternal care in humanitarian settings.

  • 🩻 Rology is on a roll. In addition to winning the $100,000 grand prize of the Meta AMET AI Accelerator, they announced a major new investments round with participation from Sanofi, Philips Foundation, Johnson & Johnson, and MIT Solve. The Egypt-based company uses AI-powered teleradiology to connect hospitals with remote radiologists, speeding up medical image interpretation and diagnosis.

  • 💊 Dawa Mkononi announced funding from Sanofi’s Global Health Unit, the Stanford GSB Impact Fund, and Warioba Ventures. The Tanzania-based startup runs a tech-enabled pharmaceutical supply chain platform that delivers affordable, quality-assured medicines to health facilities across the country.

  • 💼 Ventures Platform secured a first close of $64 million from IFC, Standard Bank South Africa, BII, and other investors. The pan-African VC firm backs early-stage startups building innovative solutions across fintech, healthtech, climate, and enterprise software. Past portfolio companies include Remedial Health, the fastest growing healthtech company in Africa in 2025. This close is notable because it includes for the first time the Nigerian federal government directly investing in a venture capital fund.

News

$100 million has been awarded to the Broad Institute and Redeemer’s University in Nigeria to combat pandemics

Opportunities

The Global Food System Challenge supports food systems innovation with funding from $25,000 to $250,000

  • Due Dec 5: Meaningful Entrepreneurship Residency 2026 is a one-month, full-time program in Copenhagen for early-stage founders building purpose-driven ventures.

  • Due Dec 8: Ashden Awards 2026 recognise climate and energy innovators worldwide driving just energy transitions. Winners receive up to £25,000 and tailored support to expand their solutions.

  • Due Dec 11: Financial Innovation for Climate Adaptation and Resilience Solutions offers up to CHF 500,000 per awardee (CHF 2M total) for financial mechanisms that support climate adaptation and resilience in ODA-eligible developing countries.

  • Due Dec 14: D-Prize awards grants of up to $20,000 to entrepreneurs launching new organizations that distribute proven poverty solutions in low- and middle-income countries.

  • Due Dec 15: Seeding The Future Global Food System Challenge offers Seed ($25,000), Growth ($100,000), and Grand Prizes ($250,000) for innovations that improve food system sustainability, nutrition, and resilience.

  • Due Dec 15: Venture Meda Accelerator’s third cohort will support Ethiopian founders with entrepreneurial training, mentorship, and access to a global peer community. The program focuses on building validated, scalable ventures across sectors.

  • Due Dec 16: Africa Impact Grants (AIF) provides grant funding to African social enterprises and nonprofits working in health, education, environment, and livelihoods. Award sizes vary by round and project scope.

  • Due Dec 16: Accelerating Development of Innovative, Exceptionally Low-Cost Maternal and Child Nutrient Products, one of the Gates Foundation Grand Challenges, invites proposals for new or improved nutrient products for pregnant women, infants, and young children in low-resource settings. Funding ranges from $100,000 to $500,000.

  • Due Dec 17, 2025: Global Citizen Prize: Cisco Youth Leadership Award honours individuals aged 18–30 who use technology and innovation to fight extreme poverty and advance the UN Global Goals. The winner receives a $250,000 grant (paid to their organization) and global recognition at the award ceremony.

  • Due Dec 19: Engineering Nigeria’s Future – NAEng Innovation Competition invites Nigerian engineers and startups to propose bold solutions for infrastructure, manufacturing, and sustainability challenges.

  • Due Dec 31: Orange Corners Innovation Fund (OCIF) GROW Programme offers South African youth-led businesses hybrid funding between R200,000 and R1 million (50% grant + 50% interest-free loan) plus training and mentorship to scale impactful ventures.

  • Due Dec 31: develoPPP Ventures offers €100,000 for startups in Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, and Tanzania with proven business models contributing to the SDGs.

  • Due Jan 6: I&P Acceleration WE4A offers financing and support to women-led small and medium enterprises in green and transition sectors across Cameroon, Senegal, Togo, and Uganda.

  • Due Jan 10: TEFConnect / Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programmes supports entrepreneurs across Africa via its digital hub, offering training, mentorship, and seed capital — especially welcoming businesses leveraging AI or green solutions.

  • Due Jan 11: MIT Climate & Energy Prize (CEP) is open for student-led climate-tech & energy startup teams worldwide: competitors vie for a grand prize of US$100,000 (plus other awards), along with mentoring and investor exposure.

  • Due Jan 12: Global Distributors Collective (GDC) Investment Catalyst Facility (ICF) 2025 helps clean-energy distributors in Sub-Saharan Africa become investment-ready and secure debt finance (€50,000–€500,000), via technical support and investor matchmaking.

  • Due Mar 16: Genomics in Context Awards — run by Wellcome Trust — offers up to £500,000 (for 12–24 months) for transdisciplinary teams combining genomics with humanities, social sciences or bioethics.

  • Ongoing: DRK Foundation provides up to $300,000 in funding over three years for early-stage social enterprises addressing critical social or environmental challenges. Support includes unrestricted capital, capacity-building (worth up to $500,000), and board-level mentorship. Applications are accepted year-round.

  • Ongoing: IYBA WE4A offers women-led climate-focused businesses in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique technical support and concessional loans of up to €100,000 (or loan guarantees up to €50,000). The program supports ventures in sectors such as sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, and the circular economy.

  • Ongoing: SECO Startup Fund provides senior secured loans of up to $1.2 million to post-revenue startups in emerging-market countries linked to Switzerland, with 2–5 year repayment terms.

  • Ongoing: Student Venture Capital Grant (S-VCG) offers Nigerian tertiary students (300 level and above) up to ₦50 million in equity-free funding for STEM-based ventures that have progressed beyond proof of concept.

Events

See you in 2026!

This is the last of our monthly newsletters for 2025. Stay tuned in 2026 for our annual State of HealthTech in Africa report. We will also be releasing a new series of podcasts and revamping our website to celebrate 10 investments so far out of our venture capital fund. Until then, happy holidays everyone!

Snapshot from Egypt: visiting Africa Health Ventures portfolio companies Reme-D and MotherBeing and spending time with Chefaa

What were your milestones in 2025 and hopes for 2026? Share with us on our LinkedIn page. You can also:

👍Follow us on LinkedIn

🪙Nominate a startup for seed funding

🤝🏻Invest with us

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]]><![CDATA[Africa Health Ventures: 3 Trends to Watch]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-21-trendshttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-21-trendsWed, 05 Nov 2025 08:30:22 GMTSpeaking to a packed hall of 2,500+ delegates at the recent Africa HealthTech Summit, the energy is palpable. The momentum is real. Healthcare markets in Africa are changing, and stakeholders across public, private, and civil society are rethinking their role in this change.

Let’s look at the evolving relationship between public and private sectors. With support from the HealthTech Hub Africa, Ministries of Health are now working to streamline direct procurement of digital innovations from entrepreneurs who are ready to scale.

Let’s look at the shortage of health workers in Africa. We know we need 11 million more health workers by 2030. Yet at the same time, 1 in 3 of Africa’s youth are unemployed. What if we could harness that human power to fill the gap? Innovators and donors can take a page from this excellent piece from Rubayat Khan as well as the Mastercard Foundation’s healthcare strategy.

Let’s look at how the disease burden is changing. A recent Lancet report showed that deaths globally from infectious diseases such as TB, HIV, and malaria have plunged between 35% and 60%. Conversely, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like diabetes and breast cancer are on the rise, especially in low-income countries. This shift is affecting high-income and low-income countries alike.

Each of these trends could unlock an even larger market for healthcare entrepreneurs, and at the same time create new pathways for economic and social impact across the continent.

Read on to learn about 6 new deals, 22 opportunities, and 10 upcoming events relevant for healthcare innovators and investors in Africa.

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Deals

NuvoteQ’s Adriaan Kruger having a great time at Africa Business Heroes in Dakar

  • 🛡️Sehatech raised $1.1 million in a seed round led by A15, Beltone Venture Capital, and CI Venture Capital. The Egypt-based healthtech startup automates health insurance operations, enabling insurers and healthcare providers to manage claims, approvals, and policy data more efficiently.

  • 💉 Ades raised $620,000 in seed funding from investors including Janngo Capital. The Côte d’Ivoire-based healthtech startup offers digital tools to help clinics and pharmacies manage patient data, inventory, and supply chains more efficiently.

  • 🏆Africa’s Business Heroes announced its Top 10 finalists. Each will take home at least $100,000. These included:

    • NuvoteQ in South Africa provides software for clinical trials and pharmaceutical research.

    • Waspito is a Cameroonian e-health startup that lets patients connect instantly with certified doctors via video calls, request at-home lab tests and get medications delivered.

    • Le Lionceau is a Senegalese social enterprise that specializes in the production of nutritious baby food products using locally sourced ingredients.

  • 📞 Docline secured new undisclosed funding to scale its B2B virtual care services. The Morocco-based platform enables hospitals, insurers, and employers to offer telemedicine and remote monitoring solutions across North and West Africa.

  • 💰 Accion has closed its $62 million Accion Venture Lab Fund II to back early-stage inclusive fintech startups globally. The fund will invest in companies expanding access to financial services for underserved individuals and small businesses across emerging markets.

News

  • At the World Health Summit in Berlin, the WHO and the European Union announced an agreement to expand adoption of WHO’s Global Digital Health Certification Network (GDHCN). The GDHCN is a global system that enables countries to securely and reliably verify nationally approved digital health credentials across borders.

  • Nigeria’s Ministry of Health has signed an MoU with the National Identity Management Commission to integrate digital identity data with the national health system.

  • NextBillion published ten key takeaways from the Africa HealthTech Summit.

  • Amref Health Africa in Kenya and Jiji Health have signed a MoU to integrate Jiji Health’s digital platforms with Amref’s health systems expertise to digitize care delivery, expand access to accredited professional learning, and strengthen blood logistics.

  • The Africa Digital Health Network published its list of Top 20 Startups to Watch

  • Opinion: this Condia piece highlights the need for alternative funding models, stronger public–private partnerships, and health system integration to build long-term impact in digital health startups.

Opportunities

Logo: GenAI for Good Challenge
GenAI for Good Challenge offers up to $25,000

  • Due Nov 5: Investec ESEY Awards 2025 recognise young South African entrepreneurs building scalable, high-impact ventures. Apart from £10,000 cash prize, winners travel to Davos during the World Economic Forum for global visibility.

  • Due Nov 7: Anzisha offers emerging African entrepreneurs a structured mentorship program as well as $10,000 to $40,000 in cash prizes.

  • Due Nov 7: BRAIN Accelerator by Open Startup supports seed-stage DeepTech startups across Africa in climate and health sectors through a one-year hybrid program.

  • Due Nov 9: 216 Capital Venture Accelerator, run with Plug and Play, offers €50,000 in funding and a six-month program for pre-seed tech startups in Tunisia. Past participants include Chekkit, a Nigerian startup tackling counterfeit medicines.

  • Due Nov 10: 100x Impact Accelerator provides £150,000 in catalytic capital to social ventures with demonstrated impact to scale solutions addressing global challenges in sectors such as health, climate, and education.

  • Due Nov 10: Box Impact Fund offers six $25,000 grants to nonprofits driving digital transformation in child welfare, crisis response, or environmental protection.

  • Due Nov 10: Break In by Daedalus Labs is a month-long program in San Francisco (Dec 2–22) for global AI founders.

  • Due Nov 11: Wellcome’s Mental Health Award offers up to £8 million for research teams testing scalable psychological or social interventions for anxiety, depression, and psychosis in young people.

  • Due Nov 12: Aurora Tech Award is a global prize for women founders of tech startups, offering $100,000 in total awards — $50,000, $30,000, and $20,000 for the top three winners.

  • Due Nov 18: GET.invest Finance Access Advisory provides in-kind advisory services to support renewable energy and clean cooking businesses in emerging markets.

  • Due Nov 19: Agentic AI Pioneers Prize invites UK-registered organizations to compete for a share of a £1 million fund supporting Agentic AI solutions in advanced health and life sciences. Winners receive cash prizes of up to £250,000.

  • Due Nov 19: Techstars’s Flagship Healthcare Accelerator, powered by Johns Hopkins University and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, supports startups developing AI-driven healthcare solutions that enhance patient care, access, and affordability.

  • Due Nov 20: Wellcome Career Development Awards support mid-career researchers worldwide with up to £250,000 per year for up to eight years to lead innovative research in health and life sciences.

  • Due Nov 26: Policy Engagement, Knowledge Development, and Innovation for a Strengthened Humanitarian Sector invites nonprofit organizations to apply for multi-year grants (2026–2029) supporting humanitarian innovation.

  • Due Nov 26: WHO Long-Term Agreement for Health Informatics Standards and Architecture Services invites qualified firms to provide support in developing, implementing, and maintaining digital health architecture and standards.

  • Due Nov 30: Harvard LEAD Fellowship for Promoting Women in Global Health offers a one-year hybrid program for mid-career women from low- and middle-income countries.

  • Due Nov 30: Micro-projects: Call for Applications 2026 by the German Missions in South Africa, Lesotho, and Eswatini offers grants of up to €25,000 for community-based projects from NGOs and NPOs supporting access to healthcare, poverty alleviation, and women’s rights.

  • Due Dec 1: GenAI for Good Challenge by IEEE Humanitarian Technologies and ITU offers up to $25,000 for teams developing generative AI solutions in health, agriculture, or climate resilience.

  • Due Dec 1: Kuya Capital provides early-stage African startups with $20,000–$150,000 in funding through a mix of grants and investments.

  • Due Dec 14: D-Prize awards grants of up to $20,000 to entrepreneurs launching new organizations that distribute proven poverty solutions in low- and middle-income countries.

  • Due Dec 15: Seeding The Future Global Food System Challenge awards up to $250,000 for innovations transforming food systems toward sustainability, nutrition, and equity.

  • Ongoing: DRK Foundation provides up to $300,000 in funding over three years for early-stage social enterprises addressing critical social or environmental challenges. Support includes unrestricted capital, capacity-building (worth up to $500,000), and board-level mentorship. Applications are accepted year-round.

  • Ongoing: IYBA WE4A offers women-led climate-focused businesses in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique technical support and concessional loans of up to €100,000 (or loan guarantees up to €50,000). The program supports ventures in sectors such as sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, and the circular economy.

  • Ongoing: SECO Startup Fund provides senior secured loans of up to $1.2 million to post-revenue startups in emerging-market countries linked to Switzerland, with 2–5 year repayment terms.

Events

Africa Tech Festival will feature a dedicated healthcare track for the first time.
Africa Health Ventures’ Managing Partner, Rowena Luk, spoke at the opening plenary of the Africa HealthTech Summit in Kigali

That’s a wrap for this month. Please share reactions, deals, news, or events with us on our LinkedIn page. You can also:

👍Follow us on LinkedIn

🪙Nominate a startup for seed funding

🤝🏻Invest with us

🎙️Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

We’ll be back next month. Thanks for reading.

This newsletter is public. Please share it with others who might find it useful.

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]]><![CDATA[Africa Health Ventures #20: Top of the World]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-20https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-20Tue, 07 Oct 2025 09:30:48 GMTTIME has recognized 4 African companies in its rundown of top healthtech companies in the world.

4 African companies among TIME’s World’s Top HealthTech Companies of 2025

Alongside global industry giants such as Siemens, IQVIA, Premier, Oura, Neko, and Calm, today we celebrate:

  • 💊 Remedial Health (YC W22) (Nigeria) is using tech and financing to improve how medicines are supplied to pharmacies and hospitals across Nigeria. Hear the founding story in our 2022 interview with Remedial’s founder Samuel Okwuada.

  • 🩺 Reliance Health (Nigeria) operates a technology-driven healthcare company that offers employers and individuals in Nigeria access to insurance-backed health plans, telemedicine, and access to partner clinics. Hear the founding story in our 2022 interview with Reliance’s founder Femi Kuti.

  • 🤰 Deepecho (Morocco) uses AI to mimic what a trained sonographer does, enabling radiologists and minimally trained clinicians to analyze ultrasound video for prenatal diagnosis and fetal metrics.

  • 📅 RecoMed (South Africa) is a digital platform and marketplace connecting patients with healthcare providers through online bookings, reviews, consultations, and sales.

Read on to learn about 9 deals, news, 15 opportunities, and a boatload of upcoming events relevant for healthcare innovators and investors in Africa.

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Deals

  • Morgan Stanley Inclusive & Sustainable Ventures will invest $250,000 in each company in its 2025 cohort. This includes:

    • 💬 Zuri Health in Kenya offers patients affordable access to doctors, pharmacies, and diagnostics through a mobile and SMS-based platform.

    • 🤝 Caring Africa in Nigeria connects families with trained caregivers while strengthening the country’s care economy and workforce.

    • 📦 Pelebox in South Africa uses smart lockers to make it easier for patients to collect chronic medications near their homes.

  • 👩🏽‍⚕️ E Squared closed an undisclosed investment into women-led healthtech Alignd in South Africa. The investment supports expansion of Alignd’s value-based care model beyond palliative care to maternity and kidney disease.

  • 📡 Signalytic has secured an investment from Impact Ventures by J&J Foundation. The company’s solar-powered S+ Platform enables clinics to digitize despite variable power and internet connectivity.

  • 💊 Duaya has acquired EXMGO in a six-figure deal, rebranding as Duaya Go under new leadership. The Egyptian healthtech company runs a digital pharmacy and teleconsultation platform that lets users order medications, manage prescriptions, and access online medical advice.

  • develoPPP Ventures announced €100,000 grants in several startups across Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda as part of its 8th cohort. These included:

    • 💻 TanzMED delivers a multilingual, AI-powered digital health platform combining telemedicine, ePharmacy, and mental health tools in Tanzania.

    • 🍞 TenX Nutrition tackles malnutrition in Kenya by producing fortified mandazis from local ingredients.

    • ⚕️ eFiche digitizes primary healthcare in East Africa with a cloud-based EMR and AI decision support.

    • 👩🏽 Kosmotive in Rwanda makes affordable, reusable menstrual pads and provides health education to empower women and reduce waste.

  • Meta’s Llama Impact Grant program has selected 5 companies to receive a grant of $20,000 each including 2 African healthtechs:

    • 💊 Radease (Nigeria) simplifies access to safe medicines by empowering Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendors (PPMVs) with WhatsApp-based AI tools.

    • 👩‍🏫 TeenApp (Uganda) delivers accurate, youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health education and services.

  • 💉 TLG Capital has extended a US $2 million senior secured debt facility to an anonymous Ugandan healthcare distributor to support pharmaceutical distribution in East Africa.

  • 💸 Accion Ventures has closed a $61.6 million second fund to back early-stage fintechs promoting financial inclusion.

News

GOAL 3 was named a winner of the MIT Solve Global Challenge

  • Mastercard released a whitepaper projecting Africa’s AI market to reach $16.5 billion by 2030, highlighting opportunities in sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, education, and finance.

  • Ethiopia’s Ministry of Health and Ethio Telecom are working together to digitize the national medicine supply chain to improve drug availability and logistics.

  • Founders Pledge launched the Global Health & Development Catalytic Impact Fund to move from short-term crisis response to long-term systems change.

  • Analysis: while many African healthtech startups face funding and operational challenges, sustainable models are emerging. Examples include Zipline’s drone delivery networks, insurance-tech hybrids like Reliance Health and Turaco, and government-linked platforms such as Babyl in Rwanda, all of which combine stable revenue structures with strong partnerships.

  • Analysis: South African healthtechs face restrictive rules such as mandatory in-person first consultations and strict data regulations. Reforms are needed in telemedicine policy, clearer data protection frameworks, and updated medical-device classifications to enable startups to better serve patients.

Opportunities

The F. M. Kirby Prize awards $150,000 of unrestricted funding.

  • Due Oct 8: ALX Founder Academy is a 4-week online program for aspiring entrepreneurs across Africa. Participants commit 15–20 hours per week to masterclasses, mentorship, and building prototypes, with potential access to funding through ALX Ventures.

  • Due Oct 8: OpenAI’s People-First AI Fund invites U.S.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofits to apply for grants from a $50 million fund supporting AI-driven initiatives that expand access to health, education, community-led research, and more

  • Due Oct 12: Jasiri Growth Accelerator supports startups in Rwanda and Kenya with US$75,000 in funding (mix of direct and service support), mentorship, and venture-building assistance.

  • Due Oct 15: Nucleate Activator invites graduate students and postdocs in life sciences and business to apply for its biotech venture creation program. Teams receive mentorship, resources, and connections to launch biotech startups addressing unmet needs in healthcare and sustainability.

  • Due Oct 16: F. M. Kirby Prize for Scaling Impact awards US$150,000 in unrestricted funding to one social enterprise demonstrating strong impact and a clear plan to scale over the next 3–5 years. Open globally to nonprofits, for-profits, and hybrids with at least three years of evidence and a US presence. 2021’s winner was Healthy Learners from Zambia

  • Due Oct 17: EthiopiAI Programme invites NGOs and UK-based nonprofits to propose AI solutions for health, education, humanitarian response, economic development, and climate action in Ethiopia. The programme offers funding of over £1 million, alongside technical assistance and policy engagement support.

  • Due Oct 20: Antler, Lagos is an 8-week in-person program that offers $100K for 10% in companies that pass the Antler Investment Committee.

  • Due Oct 22: 4YFN Awards 2026 is a global startup competition offering a €20,000 cash prize, event passes, and exhibition opportunities at MWC Barcelona. Open to digital startups across sectors including health tech and climate tech.

  • Due Nov 2: Social Impact Incentives for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Enterprises invites WASH-focused enterprises in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East to apply for outcome-based funding. Through the SIINC model, selected enterprises receive time-bound payments tied to independently verified impact, helping them scale sustainably and align growth with social outcomes.

  • Due Nov 10: 100x Impact Accelerator provides £150,000 in catalytic capital to social ventures with demonstrated impact to scale solutions addressing global challenges in sectors such as health, climate, and education.

  • Ongoing: DRK Foundation provides up to US$300,000 in funding over three years for early-stage social enterprises addressing critical social or environmental challenges. Support includes unrestricted capital, capacity-building (worth up to US$500,000), and board-level mentorship. Applications are accepted year-round.

  • Ongoing: IYBA WE4A offers women-led climate-focused businesses in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, and Mozambique technical support and concessional loans of up to €100,000 (or loan guarantees up to €50,000). The program supports ventures in sectors such as sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, and the circular economy.

  • Ongoing: Africa Ecosystem Catalyst Facility 2025 is a US$4M fund managed by Village Capital to support early-stage startups in Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania advancing economic mobility and climate resilience. Eligible ventures must be locally led, post-MVP with early revenue, and raising US$75K–500K

  • Ongoing: SECO Startup Fund provides senior secured loans of up to $1.2 million to post-revenue startups in emerging-market countries linked to Switzerland, with 2–5 year repayment terms.

  • Ongoing: The Women in Africa Deal Accelerator from BCG (Boston Consulting Group) is supporting women-led founders in sectors such as healthcare.

Events

The 4th edition of the Africa HealthTech Summit takes place Oct 13-15 in Kigali
Africa Health Ventures’ Managing Partner, Rowena Luk, at AfyaFest with Amref Health Africa, Mastercard Foundation, and the African Health Collaborative

That’s a wrap for this month! Please share reactions, deals, news, or events with us on our LinkedIn page. You can also:

👍Follow us on LinkedIn

🪙Nominate a startup for seed funding

🤝🏻Invest with us

🎙️Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

We’ll be back next month. Thanks for reading.

This newsletter is public. Please share it with others who might find it useful.

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]]><![CDATA[Africa Health Ventures #19: How Markets Begin]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-19-how-marketshttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-19-how-marketsWed, 03 Sep 2025 13:17:15 GMTOn a sunny day in Nairobi last week, regulators, entrepreneurs, and investors gathered together to take stock of how healthcare markets in Africa are doing. The evidence is clear: change is in the air. There are a dozen signals demonstrating that the forces that create markets are rapidly at work on this continent.

Let’s look at how the pan-African medicines market is opening up. In Feb 2025, AUDA-NEPAD and Africa CDC ushered in a landmark agreement between the major medicine regulators on the continent to streamline how medicines get to market across Africa. This is a key step towards creating a unified medicines market for entrepreneurs to serve the whole continent.

To increase revenue channels for social enterprises: in May 2024 South Africa signed its National Health Insurance (NHI) bill. A few months later, Kenya rolled out its Social Health Authority (SHA). Both mechanisms create new pathways for social entrepreneurs to tap into public financing (and for citizens to receive innovative, quality care from new providers). This is tangible revenue we are now seeing materialize for some of Africa Health Ventures’ portfolio companies.

At the country level, places like Ghana and Nigeria are leading the way. Since 2021 they have ensured healthtech companies have a clear regulatory framework in which to sell and distribute medicines online. These examples make it easier for new countries to come online, such as Zambia and WeCure Pharmacy.

None of this happens in a single month, but taken together, the direction is clear. From the continental regulatory framework, to trends in healthcare financing, to country-level rollout, change is in the air. For founders and investors, these milestones open up new pathways for social enterprises to scale solutions across Africa’s large and growing healthcare markets.

Read on to learn about 7 new deals, 30 opportunities, and a dozen events relevant for healthcare founders and investors in Africa.

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Deals

DeepEcho from Morocco secured investment from AAIC alongside FDA 510(k) approval for its fetal ultrasound AI

  • 🤰 DeepEcho secured an investment from AAIC. The Morocco-based company has developed an AI-powered fetal ultrasound analysis platform, which in June 2025 received FDA 510(k) clearance, achieving over 95% clinical accuracy and enabling real-time automated recognition of key fetal anatomical views.

  • 🏪 TIBU Health has received an undisclosed investment from Impacc to scale its network of “Minute Clinics” across Kenya and East Africa. The Kenyan startup partners with pharmacies to offer in-store basic health consultations.

  • develoPPP Ventures from DEG Impulse, an initiative of the German government, has awarded €100,000 in non-dilutive funding to two Rwandan healthcare startups as part of its 8th cohort:

    • 🩸Kosmotive produces affordable, reusable menstrual pads and delivers menstrual health education, empowering women and girls in Rwanda.

    • 📝eFiche digitizes primary healthcare in underserved regions through a cloud-based EMR platform.

  • ⚙️ Dislog Dispositifs Médicaux (DDM) has received a $59 million capital injection from Mediterrania Capital Partners and CDG Invest Growth. The Moroccan medical‑device manufacturer designs, produces, and distributes equipment across therapeutic areas.

  • 💨 HewaTele has received a US$10.5 million investment from AfricInvest’s Transform Health Fund to build a state-of-the-art liquid oxygen production facility in Kenya.

  • 💉 TLG Capital has provided a $2 million senior secured debt facility to a Ugandan healthcare distributor. This funding will expand the distributor’s ability to deliver pharmaceuticals across Uganda.

  • 💊 ICYMI: in July, Boehringer Ingelheim’s Social Engagement Fund announced 3 new investments: Kasha Global, a Kenyan eCommerce company providing last-mile health and personal-care products through a hybrid online-offline platform targeting low-income communities; Dawa Mkononi, a Tanzanian supply-chain innovator that uses data-driven logistics to ensure timely delivery of essential medicines to rural pharmacies; Reach52, a Kenyan healthtech leveraging mobile campaigns, community health worker networks, and data collection to expand access to affordable care and essential medicines in underserved areas.

News

Kenya is planning a $250 million vaccine manufacturing facility

  • The Ministry of Health in Kenya is planning a $250 million vaccine manufacturing facility at Konza Technopolis, aiming to become Africa’s regional vaccine hub. They are in discussions with several strategic partners including Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) and the International Vaccine Institute (IVI).

  • Paratus Group, a network and telecom company, has launched Connect2Care, offering health and community centers in Southern Africa priority access to 2TB of satellite-based Starlink internet to ensure stable, low-latency connectivity even in remote areas.

  • The MORE HEALTH for Africa Program from Boehringer Ingelheim and Villgro Africa has announced the 8 participants in its 2025 Program. These include: LifeBank from Nigeria, Medikea from Tanzania, Valorigo from DRC, Luvelo from Eswatini, Livia Health from Kenya, Kaaro from Uganda, BioCertica from South Africa, and Axon from Egypt.

  • Cascador announced its 2025 cohort of 11 entrepreneurs including 3 healthcare entrepreneurs:

    • Dare Odumade (Chekkit Technologies) uses Web3 and AI-powered B2B2C supply chain traceability infrastructure.

    • Aisha Bubah (The Sunshine Series) promotes mental healthcare through culturally-rooted and community-driven care.

    • Femi-Oyewole Toluwalope (Fortics) operates tech-enabled hospitals, pharmacies, and health insurance.

  • WellaHealth now supports Nigeria’s largest digital pharmacy network via its app WellaPartner, which connects 2,790 pharmacies and facilitates operations like digital payments, claims processing, and patient record management for about 2,000 active partners each week.

  • Pharmarun has grown from a WhatsApp-based “side hustle” into a network of over 1,000 pharmacies, moving medicine orders seamlessly across the country.

  • Egypt deployed the Middle East’s first locally built AI breast cancer screening tool, now live at Baheya Hospital.

  • EHA Impact Ventures published a set of case studies featuring innovative financing models for healthcare in Africa. These include Development Impact Bonds in Kenya and impact-linked loans in Nigeria. These structures tie funding to measurable outcomes—such as adolescent reproductive health access and low-cost care delivery—to improve accountability, flexibility, and patient reach in underserved communities.

Opportunities

Website SLider.png
Tech FoundHER offers up to 100K in equity-free grants for sectors such as healthtech, medtech, and biotech

  • Due Sept 4: AI4D’s Innovation Scaling Challenge offers up to $100,000 per project for ethically scaling AI solutions already deployed in Africa, alongside technical support and networking opportunities.

  • Due Sept 5: Bridge for Billions - Centre for Digital Health Innovation (CDHI) is offering an incubation program for African healthtechs running from October 2025 through February 2026.

  • Due Sept 7: Ebbe Nielsen Challenge is calling for innovative tools that leverage biodiversity data to advance open science. Winners will share a prize pool of up to €20,000.

  • Due Sept 8: Tholoana Enterprise Programme 2025 supports high-potential South African entrepreneurs with a 24-month program offering mentorship, peer learning, and business development support.

  • Due Sept 8: UNOPS/SEforAll’s Powering Healthcare (PHC) Innovation Fund – Round 2 invites proposals to drive innovation in healthcare facility electrification across multiple developing countries; grants of up to $80,000 are available per project.

  • Due Sept 10: Google for Startups Accelerator: Africa is a 3-month equity-free accelerator for Seed to Series A startups using AI to solve systemic challenges. Benefits include mentorship, technical training, global exposure, and up to $350,000 in Google Cloud credits.

  • Due Sept 10: Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator invites social enterprises focused on women’s economic empowerment and climate resilience to apply for a 6-month virtual program. Early applications due Sept 10, final deadline Nov 1.

  • Due Sept 11: Leo Foundation is accepting applications for research grants that support dermatology research projects worldwide, with typical grants ranging from DKK 2–4 million (~$300-600K) for 1–3 year projects.

  • Due Sept 14: START Fellowship empowers young founders (18‑25, enrolled at a partner university in Africa or Latin America) with an MVP and co-founder to participate in a 3‑month accelerator in Switzerland.

  • Due Sept 15: Clinton Health Access Initiative & Unitaid Expression of Interest: AI‑assisted AVE for Cervical Cancer Screening invites innovators to help commercialize and deploy an AI-based Automated Visual Evaluation tool in low- and middle-income countries to aid cervical cancer screening.

  • Due Sept 17: IDRC & FCDO Call for Concept Notes: Socio-economic Impacts of AI in Africa offers up to CAD 1 million per project for African organizations studying AI’s effects on labour, productivity, inequality, and marginalized groups.

  • Due Sept 17: African Collaborative offers $50,000–$125,000 in multi-year, unrestricted grants to African-led organizations in sectors like health, education, climate, and digital futures.

  • Due Sept 17: Afrifoodlinks – Circular Food MSME Grant offers grants and technical support to circular food enterprises in cities like Kisumu, Cape Town, and Mbale.

  • Due Sept 17: Innovest Ignite Accelerator is an 8‑week fully remote accelerator for pre‑seed and seed-stage African-founded startups, offering coaching, mentorship, resources, and a live Demo-Day pitch opportunity.

  • Due Sept 23: Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation by the Royal Academy of Engineering awards commercialisation support and up to £50,000 in prize funding to engineers in sub‑Saharan Africa.

  • Due Sept 30: Naspers & Prosus Tech FoundHER Africa Challenge invites women-led tech and tech-enabled startups across Africa to apply for up to $100,000 in equity-free grants, plus mentorship, investor visibility, and the chance to pitch at the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in November.

  • Due Sept 30: develoPPP offers project funding between €100,000 and €2 million, covering up to 50% of total project costs, for established companies supporting sustainable development in emerging economies.

  • Due Sept 30: FoodSafety4Africa supports single applicants across Africa—start-ups, SMEs, research institutions, multidisciplinary organisations—with up to €60,000 per project to pilot or enhance food safety solutions.

  • Due Sept 30: L’Oréal Sustainable Innovation Accelerator invites startups and SMEs with deployment-ready climate, packaging, water, or nature-based innovations to apply for a 12-month accelerator. Startups providing hygiene or nutrition products may benefit from strategic connections to the L’Oréal Groupe.

  • Due Sept 30: WHO (UNOPS via UNGM) ESPEN Portal Technical Assistance invites proposals to support the development and maintenance of the ESPEN Portal (Expanded Special Project for the Elimination of Neglected Tropical Diseases).

  • Due Sept: Antler, Kenya is an 8-week in-person program that offers $100K for 10% in companies that pass the Antler Investment Committee.

  • Due Oct 8: OpenAI’s People-First AI Fund invites U.S.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofits to apply for grants from a $50 million fund supporting AI-driven initiatives that expand access to health, education, community-led research, and more

  • Due Oct 20: Antler, Lagos is an 8-week in-person program that offers $100K for 10% in companies that pass the Antler Investment Committee.

  • Due Oct 31: Eureka Network Disaster Resilience Call funds international R&D consortia in areas like resilient construction, AI early warning, health, and waste management, with projects up to 36 months and budgets typically €500k–5m.

  • Ongoing: The MTIC Acceleration Program in Uganda is a dynamic initiative by Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives (MTIC), funded by JICA in collaboration with AAIC, and implemented by Hindsight Ventures.

  • Ongoing: SECO Startup Fund provides senior secured loans of up to $1.2 million to post-revenue startups in emerging-market countries linked to Switzerland, with 2–5 year repayment terms.

  • Ongoing: The Women in Africa Deal Accelerator from BCG (Boston Consulting Group) is supporting women-led founders in sectors such as healthcare.

  • Ongoing: Founders Pledge accepts proposals year-round and typically awards between $50,000 and $300,000, with rare grants up to $5 million. Focus areas include global health, catastrophic risk, climate, and animal welfare.

  • Ongoing: the Global Distributors Collective (GDC) maintains a comprehensive directory of funders for last mile distributors (including those working in health, hygiene, and sanitation).

  • Ongoing: Nominations for the Africa Tech Festival Awards are open. Categories include Innovation for Impact, Startup of the Year, Female Innovator of the Year, and more.

Events

Snapshots from AfyaFest, TAMC, and WHX

Africa Health Ventures’ Managing Partner, Rowena Luk, speaking at the Transforming African MedTech Conference in Nairobi

Africa Health Ventures was recently featured at multiple industry events including AfyaFest, TAMC, and WHX with support from the Mastercard Foundation, Amref Health Africa, the Africa Health Collaborative, Villgro Africa, and the Lemelson Foundation. Keep an eye out to meet us at upcoming events including the Africa HealthTech Summit, World Health Summit, GIIN, and AESIS.

That’s a wrap for this month! Please share reactions, deals, news, or events with us on our LinkedIn page. You can also:

👍Follow us on LinkedIn

🪙Nominate a startup for seed funding

🤝🏻Invest with us

🎙️Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

We’ll be back next month. Thanks for reading.

This newsletter is public. Please share it with others who might find it useful.

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]]><![CDATA[Africa Health Ventures #18: Goodlife Delivers Landmark Healthcare Exit]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-18-goodlifehttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-18-goodlifeWed, 06 Aug 2025 11:35:05 GMTLeapfrog Investments has announced a landmark deal, resulting in one of the largest payouts for healthcare investors in Africa. They sold their stake in Goodlife Pharmacy—East Africa’s largest retail pharmacy chain—to the multinational company CFAO.

What can founders and investors learn from this success?

  • Dual-market strategies work. Companies can serve both low-income and high-income markets profitably. Half of Goodlife Pharmacy’s clients come from low- and middle-income populations.

  • Brick and mortar healthcare businesses can return investments, especially when they deliver essential healthcare products such as medicines. Alongside this reality, Goodlife has intentionally managed capital expenditures and kept assets light by renting land, building prefab stores, and managing inventory efficiently.

  • Economies of scale exist. Goodlife keeps medicines affordable by procuring in bulk, removing intermediary distributors, and offering generic brands.

  • Technology plays an essential role in enabling economies of scale and driving demand. Goodlife runs an e-commerce site with WhatsApp sales channels, POS inventory management, and the myGoodlifeClub loyalty program.

  • Partnerships expand value-added services. Goodlife welcomes partnerships to provide laboratory and teleconsultations with companies such as Tibu Health and HealthX.

  • International strategics drive exits by acquisition. In this case, the acquirer, CFAO Healthcare, is part of a French multinational company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Japanese trading company, Toyota Tsusho Corporation.

  • Exits don’t happen overnight. The relationship with CFAO was developed with a minority purchase of Goodlife Pharmacy in 2022, followed by consistent execution and strong growth to date.

To learn more about Leapfrog Investments, tune into our interview with the LeapFrog partner who led this deal, Dr. Biju Mohandas.

That’s just the tip of the iceberg this month. Read on to learn about how one of the most active venture studios on the continent lost its $106 million grant; how Kera Health in Senegal secured $10 million from IFC; and Bill Gates’ $7.5 million commitment to Bosun Tijani for an AI hub in Nigeria. We also cover 12 deals, 12 new opportunities, and 12 events relevant for healthcare founders in Africa.

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Deals

Goodlife Pharmacy - LeapFrog Investments
Goodlife Pharmacy operates 120+ pharmacies serving over 2 million people in East Africa

  • 🔄 LeapFrog Investments has completed a full exit from Goodlife Pharmacy, selling its remaining stake to CFAO Healthcare. The deal transfers control of East Africa’s largest retail pharmacy platform to a pan-African pharmaceutical distributor.

  • 🌟 Kera Health Platforms in Senegal secured $10 million equity investment from the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The AI health-tech startup, founded by former Google, AXA, and MTN executives, provides digital primary care, diagnostics, and preventive health tools across West Africa.

  • 💊 CureRoot in South Africa has secured pre-seed funding from Africa Health Ventures, OneBio, Kaleo Ventures, and Alpha Gaps. CureRoot leverages the biodiversity of Africa and modern AI tools to discover new pharmaceutical drugs from African medicinal plants.

  • 💉 Eyone Medical raised $3 million from Oyass Capital, a government-backed SME fund in Senegal. The company’s AI-powered Shared Patient Record system is deployed across over 60 healthcare institutions in Francophone West Africa.

  • 👓 Optique received undisclosed funding from Knife Capital’s KNF II fund. Optique is a digitally-enabled optometry franchise with 19 branches in South Africa.

  • 🧬 Altera Biosciences has closed a $1.6M pre-seed round led by OneBio and E Squared. Altera is developing gene‑edited “universal donor” cells that bypass immune rejection, with potential to disrupt transplantation and regenerative medicine on the continent.

  • ❄️ Keep IT Cool (KIC) received an undisclosed investment from the Global Innovation Fund. The Kenya-based startup provides smart cold chain and solar-powered distribution tech to reduce food spoilage and boost incomes for fishing and farming communities.

  • 🏥 Alameda Healthcare Group has secured a $190 million minority investment from Development Partners International and co-investors. This is the largest ever healthcare investment of its kind in Egypt, supporting Alameda’s expansion and tech upgrades across Egypt and in the Middle East.

  • 👩🏻‍⚕️ Medlane Holdings, a day hospital network in Botswana has received a 76% stake acquisition from Africa Lighthouse Capital. The deal enables expansion of specialist services like corneal transplants and occupational health programs, aiming to localise complex care and reduce medical tourism outflows.

  • 💉 Deltamune (Pty) Ltd has been acquired by Vaxxinova International in a strategic exit by Phatisa Food Fund 2. Deltamune is a leading South Africa-based vaccine manufacturer.

  • 🌱 Alterra Africa Accelerator Fund I has received a USD 15 million commitment from the Swiss Development Finance Institution (SIFEM) managed by Alterra Capital Partners. The fund provides flexible, founder‑friendly financing and operational support to early‑stage African startups in sectors including healthcare.

  • ICYMI: Be Girl received 500K equity investment from Grand Challenges Canada. Be Girl is a social enterprise from Mozambique that sells high-quality, reusable menstrual products in Africa.

  • ICYMI: Meditect in Côte d'Ivoire received a 500K+ grant from Grand Challenges Canada. Meditect is a healthtech startup that digitizes pharmacies in West Africa.

News

In June, Bill Gates traveled to Nigeria to meet with Dr. Bosun Tijani, co-Founder of Nigeria's Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB)

  • Bill Gates announced a $7.5 million commitment to the Nigerian Artificial Intelligence (AI) Scaling Hub aimed at expanding the use of AI in critical sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, and education.

  • In a major blow to Africa’s startup ecosystem, 54 Collective (formerly Founders Factory Africa) has shut down its venture studio operations. This follows the news that the Mastercard Foundation has suspended its $106 million grant to the organization over alleged misuse of funds. 54 Collective was one of the most active investors in Africa last year, not only in healthcare but across all sectors.

  • The Nigerian voice AI startup Intron demonstrated that its Sahara voice AI outperforms OpenAI, Google, AWS, and Azure in recognizing over 300 African accents. Their models deliver more than 92% accuracy on diverse accents and are already deployed across hospitals, court systems, financial services, and government agencies across Africa.

  • Google has selected 15 African startups for its Generative AI accelerator program to support innovations. The cohort includes Myltura from Nigeria and YeneHealth from Ethiopia.

  • Google has open-sourced its MedGemma models for medical AI, which combine text and image analysis to support healthcare application development.

  • Google will invest $37 million across Africa to boost AI research, support agriculture-related tools for food security, and expand access in local languages..

  • A Nigerian court has blocked the sale of 54gene’s assets, following legal action by founder Dr. Abasi Ene‑Obong, who accuses major investors of orchestrating the company’s collapse through disputed governance decisions.

  • Nice Deer, an Egyptian health InsurTech company, received regulatory approval to launch the country’s first fully digital factoring platform for medical insurance claims. The platform uses AI to turn delayed payments into real-time cash flow for healthcare providers, tackling liquidity issues in Egypt’s health insurance market.

  • Telecom Egypt signed an MoU with India’s KareXpert to develop a national digital healthcare platform hosted on Egypt’s cloud infrastructure.

  • 💡 Opinion: JHPIEGO and Villgro Africa collaborated on an op-ed proposing a shift in how African governments approach universal health coverage by introducing a model called “Access-as-a-Service.” Instead of investing heavily in physical infrastructure, the model suggests governments subscribe to digitally delivered primary healthcare services—like telemedicine, AI support, and mobile apps—to increase access and flexibility while reducing cost and fragmentation.

Opportunities

SECO provides loans of up to $1.2M to post-revenue startups in emerging markets

  • Due Aug 11: DealRoom Nigeria Investor Readiness Accelerator helps Nigerian women-led startups secure funding through pitch prep, mentorship, and investor access.

  • Due Aug 15: Unitaid invites sub-Saharan African implementers to propose scalable, community‑focused delivery models for twice-yearly lenacapavir injections as PrEP for HIV prevention. Total funding available of up to $25 million.

  • Due Aug 22: Entrepreneurship Exchange Program brings together students from Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and the U.S. in virtual, team-based entrepreneurship training to develop civic-minded business concepts over eight weeks.

  • Due Aug 22: MEST AI Startup Program is a fully funded, 7‑ to 12‑month immersive program for West African AI startup founders, including technical coaching, MVP development, incubation, and pitch opportunities.

  • Due Aug 31: Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program at McGill University invites young African leaders under 35 to apply for fully funded master’s degrees in select fields.

  • Due Sept 7: Ebbe Nielsen Challenge is calling for innovative tools that leverage biodiversity data to advance open science. Winners will share a prize pool of up to €20,000.

  • Due Sept 14: START Fellowship empowers young founders (18‑25, enrolled at a partner university in Africa or Latin America) with an MVP and co-founder to participate in a 3‑month accelerator in Switzerland.

  • Due Sept 15: Joint Innovation Facility (JIF) is offering €100,000–€250,000 in grants to African-led consortia deploying climate-smart and digital innovations (e.g., AI, IoT) across Africa and Europe. Eligible partnerships must include at least one African and one European partner.

  • Due Sept 17: Innovest Ignite Accelerator is an 8‑week fully remote accelerator for pre‑seed and seed-stage African-founded startups, offering coaching, mentorship, resources, and a live Demo-Day pitch opportunity.

  • Due Sept 23: Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation by the Royal Academy of Engineering awards commercialisation support and up to £50,000 in prize funding to engineers in sub‑Saharan Africa.

  • Due Sept 30: L’Oréal Sustainable Innovation Accelerator invites startups and SMEs with deployment-ready climate, packaging, water, or nature-based innovations to apply for a 12-month accelerator. Startups providing hygiene or nutrition products may benefit from strategic connections to the L’Oréal Groupe.

  • Due Oct 20: Antler, Lagos is an 8-week in-person program that offers $100K for 10% in companies that pass the Antler Investment Committee.

  • Ongoing: SECO Startup Fund provides senior secured loans of up to USD 1.2 million to post-revenue startups in emerging-market countries linked to Switzerland, with 2–5 year repayment terms

  • Ongoing: Founders Pledge accepts proposals year-round and typically awards between $50,000 and $300,000, with rare grants up to $5 million. Focus areas include global health, catastrophic risk, climate, and animal welfare.

  • Ongoing: Dovetail Impact Foundation invites nonprofits working in countries like Madagascar, Mozambique, DRC, Niger, and Ethiopia to submit expressions of interest for scalable poverty-alleviation projects across sectors such as health.

  • Ongoing: the Global Distributors Collective (GDC) maintains a comprehensive directory of funders for last mile distributors (including those working in health, hygiene, and sanitation).

  • Ongoing: Nominations for the Africa Tech Festival Awards are open. Categories include Innovation for Impact, Startup of the Year, Female Innovator of the Year, and more.

Events

HearX: How a South African Startup took the Global Stage

Earlier this year we reported on the $100M investment into HearX, a hearing health company founded in South Africa. To unpack the deal, our founder Rowena Luk spoke with HearX’s CEO Nic Klopper and CSO Seline van der Wat in the latest edition of the Africa Health Ventures Podcast.

🎙️Catch the full interview wherever you get your podcasts.

That’s a wrap for this month. Please share reactions, deals, news, or events with us on our LinkedIn page. You can also:

👍Follow us on LinkedIn

🪙Nominate a startup for seed funding

🤝🏻Invest with us

🎙️Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

We’ll be back next month. Thanks for reading!

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]]><![CDATA[HearX: How a South African Startup took the Global Stage]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/hearxhttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/hearxThu, 05 Jun 2025 08:11:51 GMTFrom a university in South Africa to the shelves of Walgreens in the United States, the South African tech company HearX has risen to be a global industry leader in hearing health and announced a $100M capital raise earlier this year. In this episode, Rowena Luk sits down with CEO Nic Klopper and CSO Seline van der Wat to unpack how HearX (now LXE Hearing) is shaking up a 100-year-old industry to lower costs and improve access to care around the world. Tune in for a story of grit, timing, and bold bets that paid off.

In This Episode

  • (2m48s) How HearX evolved from a research project at the University of Pretoria to a high-growth startup

  • (4m34s) Crisis of faith: can we do more than just send children into a broken healthcare system?

  • (8m13s) Landing the partnership with Bose, the global industry leader in consumer audio

  • (11m20s) Breakthrough: expanding our reach from South Africa to the world

  • (16m08s) “We went up against the industry giants, larger bank accounts, big law firms… and we won.”

  • (19m32s) The year we almost didn’t make it

  • (22m47s) Rapid-fire questions and advice for founders

Connect with Africa Health Ventures

Africa Health Ventures invests in healthcare innovations that will dramatically improve access and quality of healthcare in Africa and around the world.

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Show Notes

  • Nic Klopper is CEO at LXE Hearing (previously HearX & Lexie Hearing). His experience ranges from being an avid start-up investor to founding 7 successful businesses and exiting 3 of them to date. As the co-founder and CEO of HearX Group and Lexie Hearing, Nic has been the driving force behind a transformative shift in the hearing health industry. He has guided the company from early-stage healthtech startup to a multimillion-dollar enterprise with products now available in 38 countries.

  • Seline van der Wat is the Chief Strategy Officer at LXE Hearing (previously hearX & Lexie Hearing). Under her leadership, the company was recognized as one of TIME Magazine’s Most Influential Companies in the World list in 2023, for hearX’s groundbreaking work in hearing health accessibility. Seline has transformed companies into first-to-market and best-in-market giants through her strategic and organizational development expertise.

  • Vula Mobile, founded by Dr. William Mapham, was an early collaborator with HearX. In 2018 with support from the Google Impact Challenge, Vula Mobile and HearX partnered to screen children in Gauteng for vision and hearing. This led to the epiphany at HearX that they needed to do more than just screen for hearing loss; they needed to play a direct role in increasing access to hearing aids.

  • Seline’s shoutout goes to Ilara Health and its CEO Emilian Poppa for Ilara’s work to improve financing and access to diagnostics at scale for clinics across Kenya.

  • Seline’s second shoutout goes to Jonathan Berkowitz at MotionsAds, which provides additional income to drivers in the gig economy (like Uber Eats) through advertising.

]]><![CDATA[Africa Health Ventures #17: Health Financing Beyond Aid]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-17https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-17Tue, 03 Jun 2025 13:48:54 GMTThe World Health Assembly concluded last week in Geneva. Top of the agenda was a new resolution by member states highlighting the global health financing emergency. As the US, UK, and Germany pull back from aid funding, the role of domestic financing, efficient innovation, and the private sector will play a critical role in making healthcare accessible to all.

What kind of solutions are healthcare ventures in Africa bringing to the table? Read on to learn about 12 deals, 19 opportunities, and 16 events relevant to healthcare founders in Africa.

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Deals

Axmed CEO Emmanuel Akpakwu speaking at the 78th World Health Assembly roundtable

  • 🚨 The South African emergency response startup AURA has raised a €13.5 million Series B ($14.5 million) to expand its emergency response platform into the U.S. and develop a global dispatch network. The South African-founded company connects users with the nearest vetted emergency responders—security, medical, or roadside—via a single API, and currently supports over 1.2 million users across South Africa, the UK, and Kenya.

  • 🤝 Axmed has received a $5 million grant from the Gates Foundation to enhance access to maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) medicines across Sub-Saharan Africa. The Swiss healthtech company operates a digital procurement platform that enables pooled purchasing and AI-driven forecasting, aiming to unlock up to $10 million in MNCH procurement by matching government spending dollar-for-dollar.

  • 🚁 SORA Technology has raised a $4.8 million late seed round to expand its AI-powered drone operations across Africa. The Japan-based startup utilizes drones and AI to combat infectious diseases like malaria, delivering medical supplies and forecasting outbreaks in six countries, including Ghana, Kenya, and the DRC.

  • 🛡️ Inclusivity Solutions has raised a $4 million Series A2 round led by 27four Investment Managers’ Nebula Fund, with participation from Goodwell Investments. The pan-African insurtech provides digital and embedded microinsurance products to underserved consumers, aiming to expand into five new African countries and strengthen its platform and team.

  • 💊 iSupply has secured $3 million Sharia-compliant revenue-based financing from Bokra, a MENA-focused digital investment platform. The Egypt-based healthtech startup operates a B2B pharmaceutical distribution platform connecting over 10,000 pharmacies with more than 200 distributors.

  • 🌱Platos Health in Nigeria has raised $1.4 million to scale their new health device Platos Body Monitor. This medical grade device monitors metabolic health giving users access to the data needed to improve their health.

  • 💨Impulse Biomedical in South Africa has received an undisclosed amount of funding from E Squared Investments and ANZA Capital to scale its affordable emergency medicahl devices. The Cape Town-based medtech startup develops innovations like the Easy Squeezy asthma inhaler and the ZiBiPen, a reloadable epinephrine auto-injector.

  • 💊 MyDawa has raised $9.6 million in funding led by Alta Semper, Creadev, Denmark’s Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU), Japan’s AAIC Investment, and Ohara Pharmaceutical Co. The Nairobi-based healthtech startup operates a hybrid “brick-and-click” model combining e-pharmacy services with physical distribution networks.

  • 📡 Tespire in Nigeria has secured investment from Alternative Bank to scale its health research project, Asibiti. The startup, founded in 2022, developed the Asibiti Box—a device with built-in internet and management tools—to support digital transformation in public hospitals, with plans to expand into private healthcare facilities.

  • 💶 DEG has invested €13 million in Amethis Fund III, a private equity fund investing in mid-sized companies across North and Sub-Saharan Africa in sectors such as healthcare.

  • 🏧 EG Capital has received signed commitments for over $10 million. EG Capital is a private equity investment firm with a mission to drive sustainable development in high-growth SMEs.

  • 🌍International Finance Corporation (IFC) has announced its investment into AfricInvest’s Small Cap Fund. The fund provides tailored financing for African SMEs in emerging economies in multiple sectors, including healthcare.

News

The journal Nature highlights the work of Jacaranda Health and Lelapa AI

  • The leading international science journal, Nature, published a piece on how researchers from the Global South are developing their own generative AI language models. Highlights include the work of Jacaranda Health and Lelapa AI.

  • Lots of changes are underway at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Massive layoffs have created major bottlenecks in approving medical innovations. At the same time, the FDA also announced the success of a pilot in using generative AI. It intends to continue using such tools to support scientific reviewers by summarizing adverse events, reviewing protocols, and flagging inspection priorities. To this end, the FDA is rebuilding its AI workforce, rehiring key specialists to strengthen its AI and IT strategy. However, the use of AI within the regulatory process itself has raised significant controversy, especially given all the unknowns and biases associated with this technology.

  • Another significant outcome from WHA in Geneva last week: member states adopted the WHO Pandemic Agreement, a landmark accord aimed at strengthening global preparedness and response to future pandemics. The agreement emphasizes equitable access to vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics.

  • The Ministry of Health in Rwanda seeks to roll out e-Ubuzima, a locally developed digital medical record system, across all 520 public health facilities by December 2025. If successful, this will allow Rwanda to fully phase out paper-based medical records. The system, currently active in 15 districts, enables real-time access to patient data, appointment scheduling, and serves as a communication channel for health updates. Rwanda has also launched the Health Intelligence Center (HIC), a national platform designed to collect, process, and analyze real-time health data to support evidence-based decision-making and improve public health outcomes.

  • Temi Marcella of the Evercare Health Fund published a piece on the investment opportunity of healthcare in emerging markets. She dives into the opportunity presented by technology-driven solutions, platform-based healthcare delivery, and innovative financing mechanisms to enhance accessibility and efficiency in healthcare delivery, citing the examples of Helium Health, Reliance Health, and M-TIBA.

  • For the first time, the Global Fund has procured HIV treatment manufactured in Africa. The antiretroviral therapy, known as TLD (tenofovir, lamivudine, and dolutegravir), was produced by a Kenyan pharmaceutical company and delivered to Mozambique, with the supplied volume sufficient to treat over 72,000 people annually. This initiative aims to bolster regional manufacturing capacity in Africa, addressing the significant gap between the high demand for quality-assured health products and their available supply.

  • Remedial Health, a Nigerian startup streamlining pharmaceutical distribution, ranked third overall and first in healthtech on the Financial Times' 2025 list of Africa’s Fastest-Growing Companies.

  • Seven companies were recognized by among Africa’s fastest-growing healthcare businesses in 2024, reflecting a mix of digital innovation, infrastructure investment, and specialized care. The list includes players like Lapaire Glasses, Africa Healthcare Network, and Akdital highlighting growth in eye care, dialysis, and hospital services across the continent.

Opportunities

Due June 30

  • Due June 8: Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) Prize Competition 2025 offers up to $1.5 million in grant funding to 10 outstanding African entrepreneurs (1st prize is $300K). The competition supports founders across all sectors with training, investor access, and continental exposure. Past winners include Eyone and WellaHealth.

  • Due June 8: D-Prize Challenge is offering up to $20,000 in startup funding to entrepreneurs who can scale proven poverty solutions in areas like health, education, agriculture, and energy. The focus is on distribution—getting existing interventions to the people who need them most.

  • Due June 9: TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200 invites early-stage startups to compete for a $100,000 equity-free prize and global exposure. Selected teams will pitch onstage in San Francisco and gain access to expert coaching, investor meetings, and media coverage.

  • Due June 13: K-Startup 2025 invites non-Korean startups to apply for a government-backed accelerator program offering up to $633,000 in equity-free funding. The program provides access to top tech companies from Korea.

  • Due June 15: EY SDG Accelerator for Women Entrepreneurs invites women-led AI ventures in Africa, Latin America, and South/Southeast Asia to apply for a 6-month program supporting solutions aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

  • Due June 15: TiE Women invites women-led startups to compete for equity-free cash prizes of 50K USD, mentorship, and global investor exposure.

  • Due June 15: Pitch2Win 5 by TechCircle offers early-stage, tech-enabled Nigerian startups the chance to win a $10,000 equity-free prize and pitch to over 30 investors at a live event in Lagos on July 30.

  • Due June 16: Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First (MENA & Turkey) invites Seed to Series A startups building AI-driven solutions to apply for a 10-week, equity-free program. Participants receive up to $350,000 in Google Cloud credits, mentorship from Google experts, and access to technical workshops and networking opportunities.

  • Due June 24: Cartier Women’s Initiative as part of their regional and thematic awards are recognizing talented impact entrepreneurs who are leveraging business as a force for good.

  • Due June 27: Meta Llama Impact Accelerator SSA invites startups based in Nigeria, Kenya, Senegal, or South Africa to apply for a 6-week accelerator program focused on building impactful Generative AI solutions using Meta's open-source Llama models. Selected ventures will receive up to $25,000 in equity-free funding, technical training, and mentorship from AI experts.

  • Due June 30: Kenneth C. Frazier Award for Maternal Health Equity offers a one-time grant of up to $250,000 to a nonprofit organization advancing equitable, respectful, and high-quality maternal health care. Eligible organizations must be nonprofit, led by individuals representative of the communities they serve, and demonstrate measurable impact in maternal health equity.

  • Due June 30: Kindness in Community Fund 2025 by Born This Way Foundation offers grants of up to $150,000 to youth-led or youth-informed organizations providing free, accessible mental health support. The fund prioritizes nominations from individuals aged 15–24 and supports nonprofits in 21 countries, including South Africa, Brazil, and the United States.

  • Due June 30: DeveloPPP Ventures is offering the opportunity for startups in South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya to scale with funding of €100,000.

  • Due July 28: Stanford Biodesign Innovation Fellowship 2026–27 is a 10-month, full-time program offering hands-on training in health technology innovation. Open to professionals with advanced degrees or substantial experience in fields like engineering, medicine, business, or design, the fellowship provides a monthly stipend, health benefits, and mentorship from industry experts.

  • Due July 30: The Big Pitch 2025 – Cape Town Qualifier invites early-stage South African startups to compete for a chance at a $1 million investment.

  • Due September 7: 2025 Ebbe Nielsen Challenge is calling for innovative tools that leverage biodiversity data to advance open science. Winners will share a prize pool of up to €20,000.

  • Ongoing: PennPromise Ventures wants to hear from pre-seed and seed-stage startups addressing core challenges in key economic sectors.

  • Ongoing: The Transform Health Fund is calling healthcare companies in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to apply for potential investment to support the building of Africa’s healthcare ecosystem. They focus on companies working in healthcare supply chains, care delivery, and digital innovation.

  • Ongoing: Antler, Nigeria is an 8-week in-person program that offers $100K for 10% in companies that pass the Antler Investment Committee.

Events

A Conversation Between Global Health and Venture Capital

Our founder, Rowena Luk, was recently featured on the Global Perspectives on Digital Health podcast, in conversation with Dr Shubs Upadhyay — a primary care physician, global health professional, and former Director at Ada Health. The discussion ranges from the cataclysmic shifts in the healthcare industry unfolding right now, the opportunity to meet the moment in Africa, and the long-term perspective that impact investing can bring to global health. If you have ever wondered what a conversation between global health and venture capital might sound like, this one’s for you.

🎙️Catch the full interview wherever you get your podcasts.

That’s a wrap for this month. Please share reactions, deals, news, or events with us on our LinkedIn page. You can also:

👍Follow us on LinkedIn

🪙Nominate a startup for seed funding

🤝🏻Invest with us

🎙️Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

We’ll be back next month. Thanks for reading!

This newsletter is public. Please share it with others who might find it useful.

Share

]]><![CDATA[Africa Health Ventures #16: From South Africa to the World]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-16-from-southhttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-16-from-southTue, 06 May 2025 14:54:15 GMTIn 2015, researchers at the University of Pretoria in South Africa founded a company called HearX to make hearing aids more accessible to low-income communities. A few weeks ago, HearX announced $100 million in new funding alongside a merger with the global hearing aid industry leader, Eargo. The kicker? The new consolidated entity, LXE Hearing, will continue to be led by Nic Klopper, the South African that brought HearX to the world.

This is a resounding success for healthtech innovators in Africa. It demonstrates world-class innovations that capture global markets can and have been built here in South Africa. This is a particularly notable success today, at a time when the healthcare industry is changing significantly, foreign investors are pulling back from Africa, and misconceptions still cloud the picture of Africa’s ability to deliver world-class medical device innovations.

hearX® - Award-winning Digital Hearing Health Technology
South African HearX builds software that can provide free hearing tests over commercial phone instead of expensive medical equipment.

So what was the secret to HearX’s success? Alongside deep technical expertise and operational capacity, HearX’s edge arises in part from its South African roots - not in spite of it. Because HearX was created to tackle affordability of hearing aids in South Africa, they pioneered accessible, low-cost software to conduct hearing tests using commercial phones instead of expensive medical equipment. Their products are built on lean innovations, such as hearing aids that retail at a fraction of the cost of competitors. As they grew to capture U.S. markets, they built powerful global partnerships with brands such as Bose and Walmart. In 2023, they were named to the TIME’s list of 100 Most Influential Companies.

Healthcare entrepreneurs, take heart. Yes, it’s been a tough year. But the world is starting to see what we are capable of.

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Deals

Here’s our rundown of funding that went to healthcare ventures in Africa this past month.

7 healthcare innovators each received a $225K grant from Investing in Innovation

  • 🧏‍♀️HearX, a South African hearing aid company, has merged with Eargo, alongside a $100 million capital infusion from Patient Square Capital, to capture the global hearing aid market.

  • 👩‍🏫Healthy Learners was awarded $2 million by the Skoll Foundation to scale their work of training teachers as school health workers to increase healthcare access to children.

  • 👩‍🔬 Mydawa, a leading pharmacy and telehealth provider has received over $9 million from IFU, Alta Semper, AAIC, Creadev, and Ohara Pharmaceutical. MyDawa is an online pharmacy and health platform offering verified medications, lab tests, and telehealth services directly to consumers.

  • 👩‍💻 The Investing in Innovation Africa (i3) Program has selected 7 scale-up innovators leading the way to improve medicines access across Africa. Each innovator will receive $225k in grant funding.

    • Sproxil uses mobile technology to reduce counterfeit drugs across the medicine supply chains.

    • Chefaa is an Egyptian startup offering an AI-powered platform for ordering, refilling, and delivering prescription medications directly to consumers.

    • mPharma is a Ghanaian healthtech company that manages prescription drug inventory and provides affordable access to medicines through a network of partner pharmacies across Africa.

    • Meditect is a West Africa-focused healthtech startup that uses blockchain technology to help pharmacies and patients verify the authenticity of medications and prevent counterfeiting.

    • Dawa Mkononi is a digital ordering platform that helps small pharmacies restock essential medicines efficiently.

    • Rxall provides AI-powered drug authentication tools and a B2B marketplace to ensure safe, high-quality medicines.

    • MyDawa as described above.

News

The Beginnings Fund is a new philanthropic initiative that will disburse $500 million over the next 5 years to scale quality care in health facilities in Africa.

  • The Beginnings Fund, backed by the Gates Foundation and a host of other funders, has been established to reduce infant and maternal mortality in Africa. A Nairobi based investments team plans to roll out $500 million over the next 5 years to save lives and improve healthcare for mothers and newborns.

  • The Global Initiative on AI for Health has published its strategic priorities in the journal Nature, including contributions from Africa Health Ventures portfolio founder Tobi Olatunji of Intron Health.

  • Impact Ventures by J&J Foundation celebrated 5 years of impact investing. In 2025 they invested in three new companies using tech to improve care delivery and health outcomes:

    • Turn.io, an AI-based chat platform enabling hundreds of healthcare organizations

    • reach52, an organization that works to improve access to care in rural communities across emerging markets

    • Mobio Interactive, which unlocks the benefits of tech-enabled mental health care for patients and health workers

  • AwaDoc and Clafiya have entered into a partnership to expand access to care in Nigeria. AwaDoc provides AI-driven healthcare guidance via WhatsApp while Clafiya is Clafiya a platform for primary healthcare services and health savings.

  • HelpMum Africa, a Nigerian healthtech startup, has launched Stratify AI—an AI tool to help detect pregnancy risks early. It is now being used by the Oyo and Osun state health ministries as part of HelpMum’s mission to reduce maternal and infant deaths with AI-powered care.

Opportunities

Apply by May 8: Unicef.org/Innovation/FemTechCall

  • Due May 8: UNICEF FemTech Accelerator Call offers up to $100,000 in grant funding to femtech startups improving the health, safety, and well-being of women and girls.

  • Due May 9: The Agency Fund is seeking ambitious, evidence-driven projects that expand human agency and improve lives at scale.

  • Due May 9: Google for Startups Accelerator is open to receiving applications from Africa-based Seed to Series A tech start-ups. Cohort 9 begins in June and will partake in a 3 month hybrid program.

  • Due May 9: UK South Africa Tech Hub is a sprint program exploring UK market access, fundraising, or expansion. It offers strategic UK connections for South African startups looking to expand to the UK.

  • Due May 11: OST Program 2025 is accepting applications from early-stage startups across Africa. Selected teams will receive $20K investment, mentorship, and investor linkages.

  • Due May 11: Westerwelle Startup Haus Tunis STRIDE II supports Tunisian startups to expand to East African markets

  • Due May 15: UNICEF Startup Lab Ghana is a six-month accelerator for impact-driven startups working to improve the lives of children and young people.

  • Due May 18: Orange Corners Nigeria Incubation Programme supports entrepreneurs aged 18–35 with training, business incubation, and access to funding up to €30,000. The program is open to Nigerian citizens with innovative business ideas or existing startups working in Ogun State.

  • Due May 23: Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) Prize Competition 2025 is offering grants of up to $300K to 10 outstanding African entrepreneurs.

  • Due May 31: Target Gender Equality Accelerator is a six-month program by the United Nations Global Compact, designed to help companies advance gender equality across their operations and supply chains.

  • Due June 8: D-Prize Challenge is offering up to $20,000 in startup funding to entrepreneurs who can scale proven poverty solutions in areas like health, education, agriculture, and energy. The focus is on distribution—getting existing interventions to the people who need them most.

  • Due June 9: TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200 invites early-stage startups to compete for a $100,000 equity-free prize and global exposure. Selected teams will pitch onstage in San Francisco and gain access to expert coaching, investor meetings, and media coverage.

  • Due June 15: EY SDG Accelerator for Women Entrepreneurs invites women-led AI ventures in Africa, Latin America, and South/Southeast Asia to apply for a 6-month program supporting solutions aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

  • Due June 24: Cartier Women’s Initiative as part of their regional and thematic awards are recognizing talented impact entrepreneurs who are leveraging business as a force for good.

  • Open July 14-July 30: The Big Pitch 2025 – Cape Town Qualifier invites early-stage South African startups to compete for a chance at a $1 million investment.

  • Due September 7: 2025 Ebbe Nielsen Challenge is calling for innovative tools that leverage biodiversity data to advance open science. Winners will share a prize pool of up to €20,000.

  • Ongoing: PennPromise Ventures wants to hear from pre-seed and seed-stage startups addressing core challenges in key economic sectors.

  • Ongoing: The Transform Health Fund is calling healthcare companies in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to apply for potential investment to support the building of Africa’s healthcare ecosystem. They focus on companies working in healthcare supply chains, care delivery, and digital innovation.

  • Ongoing: Antler, Nigeria is an 8-week in-person program that offers $100K for 10% in companies that pass the Antler Investment Committee.

Events

Behind the Scenes in Lagos

Africa Health Ventures joined the PEWIN/2X Gathering alongside the African Venture Capital Association (AVCA) annual meeting in Lagos

Healthcare startups in Africa today often get sidelined by all the attention paid to innovations in other sectors (such as finance and AI). To counteract this, Africa Health Ventures organized a Healthcare Mixer in Lagos last week to connect leading African healthcare founders to investors. Working with our partners Digital Health Nigeria and WellaHealth, we hosted an intimate gathering of 25 investors to meet leading healthcare companies such as Remedial Health, Drugstoc, Lifestores Pharmacy, eha Clinics, and more. The event was a resounding success not only in connecting founders to funders but also to foster meaningful dialogue on what’s working and what’s missing for healthcare in Africa.

That’s a wrap for this month. Please share reactions, deals, news, or events with us on our LinkedIn page. You can also:

👍 Follow us on LinkedIn

🪙 Nominate a startup for seed funding

🤝🏻 Invest with us

🎙️ Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

We’ll be back next month. Thanks for reading!

This newsletter is public. Please share it with others who might find it useful.

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]]><![CDATA[Africa Health Ventures #15: Heating Up]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-15https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/africa-health-ventures-15Thu, 03 Apr 2025 13:55:15 GMTThough the news has been grim these past few months, healthcare businesses in Africa have been busy. Healthcare is an essential market, so the work continues, with or without USAID. Read on to learn about 12 deals, 20 opportunities, and 14 events relevant to healthcare founders in Africa.

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Deals

A rundown of the major deals and funding that went to healthcare ventures and investors in Africa this past month.

Image preview
Turn.io Co-Founders Gustav Praekelt, Pippa Yeats, and Simon de Haan

  • 💬 Turn.io has secured a $3.15 million investment from leading impact investors, including The Agency Fund, Delta Fund, Dovetail Impact Foundation, Impact Ventures by Johnson & Johnson Foundation, Mulago Foundation, PagerDuty, and UBS Optimus Foundation. Founded by Gustav Praekelt, Pippa Yeats, and Simon de Haan, the South African company provides a chat-based platform that enables social impact organizations to scale access to trusted information, empathetic support, and vital services across the Global South.​

  • 🩺 Wayak has raised an undisclosed amount from Launch Africa Ventures to expand access to affordable, quality healthcare in Africa. The Egyptian healthtech startup offers discounted chronic medications with monthly delivery, 24/7 online doctor consultations, lab test discounts, and mobile-accessible health records.

  • 🚛 Viebeg has received an undisclosed investment from Save the Children Global Ventures to enhance access to pediatric medical equipment in Rwanda, Kenya, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The healthcare supply chain company utilizes AI-powered procurement solutions to provide certified medical supplies directly from manufacturers, improving healthcare delivery in underserved regions.​

  • 🏥 Grinta in Egypt has secured an undisclosed funding round from Beltone Venture Capital and Raed Ventures to support its strategic shift from a B2B pharmaceutical marketplace to a hybrid healthcare provider. The Egyptian health-tech startup has also acquired Citi Clinic, a primary healthcare chain serving over 150,000 patients, aiming to integrate online and offline healthcare services and expand into East Africa and Tanzania.​

  • 🤰 MotherBeing secured funding from us at Africa Health Ventures to support its mission to improve women’s health in the Middle East and North Africa. The Egyptian startup offers sexual and reproductive health education, teleconsultations, and curated wellness products tailored to women’s needs in the Arab world.

  • 🏆 Eyone received a $300,000 grant as the 2024 grand prize winner of the Africa Business Heroes (ABH) competition, funded by the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Philanthropy. The Senegal-based health tech company offers digital health record systems and hospital management tools to improve healthcare delivery across Francophone Africa.

  • ⚕️ Purelife Pharmacy was awarded a $100,000 grant as one of the 2024 Top 10 finalists in ABH. The Nigeria-based company operates a tech-enabled chain of community pharmacies focused on improving access to affordable and quality medication.

  • 💊 Chefaa secured a $100,000 grant as one of the 2024 Top 10 finalists in ABH. Based in Egypt, the company provides an e-pharmacy platform that helps patients—especially those with chronic illnesses—order, schedule, and refill medications online with doorstep delivery.

  • 📦 Sevi has secured an undisclosed investment from Renew Capital to enhance its "Stock Now, Pay Later" platform in Kenya. The fintech company leverages AI and machine learning to provide credit to retailers for stock purchases while ensuring suppliers receive upfront payments. Among other products, Sevi’s financing streamlines distributions of medicines through its service to Philmed, a major Kenyan pharmaceutical distributor.

  • 🏥 Summit Africa has acquired 55% shareholding in St Mary’s Hospital, located in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province. Summit Africa is an impact-driven alternative investment firm based in South Africa.

  • ​💰 LoftyInc Capital Management has a $43 million first close for its new LoftyInc Alpha Fund, attracting commitments from investors including FMO, Proparco, and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). This late-seed focused investment vehicle aims to drive growth for Africa’s most promising tech startups across key geographies, in various sectors including healthcare.​

  • 💰 Swedfund has committed €15 million to AfricInvest Small Cap Fund. This will support underserved SMEs across Africa in a range of sectors including healthcare.

News

  • Zipline is in expansion talks to deliver essential medicines to an additional five states in Nigeria. Zipline is a drone company first launched in Rwanda, now valued at $4.2B after its $330M Series F raise in 2023.

  • The HealthTech Hub Africa announced 21 healthcare startups accepted into its 2025 cohort. The 2025 cohort includes Africa Health Ventures portfolio company DOT Glasses as well as other notables such as Drugstore.ng, UltraTeb, Vittas, and Pana+Care.

  • In a single year, M-KOPA and Turaco partnered to insure over 1 million Kenyans by bundling hospital cash insurance with smartphone purchases. The coverage provides Ksh 1,000 per day (around 8 USD) for hospital stays.

  • Google for Startups South Africa celebrated the graduation of its first cohort, including CureRoot, Welo Health, and Zoie Health. CureRoot also won the AfricArena "Best AI / Deep Tech Start-Up" award at the recent Johannesburg Summit.

  • Safaricom M-PESA Ethiopia partnered with Ethiopia’s Health Ministry to roll out digital payments in the public healthcare system. The partnership will bring M-PESA’s digital payment tools into health facilities, powering cashless medical payments, streamlining insurance payments, and delivering salary to Health Extension Workers.

  • e& joined the UAE’s Fathers’ Endowment campaign, which funds healthcare services for underserved communities. e& was formerly known at Etisalat, a telecommunications company active in a dozen African countries.

  • Huawei launched AI-powered tools to support diagnosis and data management, already used in 5,600 healthcare facilities across 110+ countries.

Opportunities

The Transform Health Fund provides 2M-5M investments into growth stage healthcare companies in Africa

  • Due April 8: Wellcome Discovery Awards provide flexible funding for researchers tackling bold and innovative ideas in health-related sciences. The average award size is £3.5 million over 7 years.

  • Due April 8: TractionBoost Accelerator is a 2-month intensive program designed for early-stage startups focused on product testing and customer acquisition. Selected startups receive tailored funding between $2,000 and $5,000 USD, access to industry-leading mentors, and networking opportunities with potential investors.

  • Due April 10: European Microfinance Award 2025 – Building Resilience through Inclusive Insurance is offering a €100,000 prize to organizations enabling low-income and vulnerable people to manage risk through effective insurance solutions.

  • Due April 10: Inclusive Insurance Challenge Fund invites insurers, insurtechs, and intermediaries to develop innovative insurance products addressing the unmet needs of vulnerable populations. The first-place winner will receive a $40,000 prize.

  • Due April 11: Resilience Innovation through Scaling Entrepreneurship (RISE) Urban Challenge seeks innovative solutions addressing urban resilience challenges in informal contexts. Winners can receive up to $50,000 in funding, along with tailored mentorship and investor connections.

  • Due April 13: Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship Accelerator is seeking mission-driven social enterprises focused on women's economic empowerment or climate resilience. The program offers mentorship, resources, and potential investment readiness support to help scale your impact.

  • Due Apr 17: MIT Solve 2025 Global Health Challenge is seeking innovative solutions to improve health outcomes worldwide. Selected teams receive at least $10,000 in funding, with the potential for additional prize funding and support from the Solve community.

  • Due April 18: AfCFTA Digital Innovation Challenge invites African innovators aged 18–35 to develop digital solutions addressing cross-border trade barriers for MSMEs.

  • Due Apr 20: WFP Humanitarian Innovation Accelerator is offering up to $150,000 in equity-free funding for tech-driven solutions that support crisis-affected populations. It’s open to startups, NGOs, and organizations ready to scale, with a focus on solutions active in high-need regions like Somalia, Syria, and Ukraine.

  • Due Apr 20: The United Nations World Food Programme is seeking applications from established startups, NGOs, companies, and organisations ready to scale impactful solutions to crisis-affected populations.

  • Due April 23: The WHO has released a request for proposals for a contractor to implement the SMART Guidelines Digital Adaptation Kit for integrated community health.

  • Due Apr 24: The Trinity Challenge: Community Access to Antibiotics is looking for solutions that improve equitable access to antibiotics while combating antimicrobial resistance. Two grand prizes of £500,000 will be awarded.

  • Due April 24: The Grand Challenges Canada program has launched its "Play, Learn, Thrive" initiative offering seed grants of up to $250,000 CAD for innovations supporting early childhood development and education in emergencies.

  • Due April 30: Young Impact Associates in Agrifood Systems Fellowship is open to young professionals aged 18–35 from Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda. The year-long program focuses on impact measurement in agrifood systems, offering training and mentorship to drive transformational change.

  • Due April 30: Empowering Sustainable Entrepreneurship in Africa 2025 is a program by Village Capital and Norad supporting startups in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania. The emphasis is on startups promoting food security and climate adaptation.

  • Due May 31: Target Gender Equality Accelerator is a six-month program by the United Nations Global Compact, designed to help companies advance gender equality across their operations and supply chains. Participants will engage in workshops, peer learning, and receive expert guidance.

  • Due September 7: 2025 Ebbe Nielsen Challenge is calling for innovative tools that leverage biodiversity data to advance open science. Winners will share a prize pool of up to €20,000.

  • Ongoing: The Transform Health Fund is calling healthcare companies in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to apply for potential investment to support the building of Africa’s healthcare ecosystem. They focus on companies working in healthcare supply chains, care delivery, and digital innovation.

  • Ongoing: Africa Health Ventures makes equity investments into seed-stage health tech startups in Africa that will dramatically improve access and quality of healthcare on the continent and around the world. Apply on our website.

  • Ongoing: Antler, Nigeria is an 8-week in-person program that offers $100K for 10% in companies that pass the Antler Investment Committee.

  • Ongoing: KPMG Female Founders in Africa Competition: This competition seeks ambitious, high-growth ventures led by women, providing support, resources, and networking opportunities.

Events

Myths and Realities of Investing in Africa

In case you missed it, last month our podcast hosted a teardown of the myths and misconceptions of investing in Africa. We invited two leading venture capitalists in Africa to field tough questions from a room full of experienced international investors. Our guests included Bongani Sithole, CEO of 54 Collective and the most active investor in Africa, and Lelemba Phiri, Founding Partner of ATG Samata, a leading African gender lens investor.

🎙️Catch the full interview wherever you get your podcasts.

That’s a wrap for this month. Please share reactions, deals, news, or events with us on our LinkedIn page. You can also:

👍 Follow us on LinkedIn

🪙 Nominate a startup for seed funding

🤝🏻 Invest with us

🎙️ Subscribe to the podcast on Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

We’ll be back next month. Thanks for reading!

This newsletter is public. Please share it with others who might find it useful.

Share

]]><![CDATA[Myths and Realities of Investing in Africa]]>https://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/myths-realities-investing-africahttps://rowenaluk.substack.com/p/myths-realities-investing-africaMon, 10 Mar 2025 11:38:32 GMTToday we tackle head-on the myths and misconceptions of investing in Africa. We invite two of the leading venture capitalists in Africa to field tough questions from a room full of experienced international investors. Our guests are Bongani Sithole, CEO of 54 Collective and the most active investor in Africa, and Lelemba Phiri, Founding Partner of ATG Samata, a leading African gender lens investor.

This conversation was recorded live in November of 2024 at a Toniic gathering in Cape Town, South Africa. Toniic is a global community of individual, family office, and foundation asset owners seeking deeper impact with their investments and their lives.

In This Episode

  • (2m46s) What is the Africa opportunity?

  • (8m19s) Myth: “Africa is a single market.” What does it mean to invest across 54 countries?

  • (13m28s) Myth: “There are no exits in Africa.” How do investors make a profit from putting capital into African businesses?

  • (18m57s) Myth: “Political instability makes it impossible to invest in Africa.” What trade agreements, regulatory environment, and political context enable private investments to succeed in Africa?

  • (22m15s) Myth: “There is a shortage of talent in Africa.” Where can investors find world-class founders?

  • (28m43s) How can you get started investing in Africa?

  • (30m12s) Recap

Connect with Africa Health Ventures

Africa Health Ventures invests in healthcare innovations that will dramatically improve access and quality of healthcare in Africa and around the world.

👍 Share your reaction to this podcast on LinkedIn

📰 Sign up for our newsletter to stay informed about deals, events, and opportunities about healthcare ventures in Africa

🎙️ Subscribe to this podcast wherever you get your podcasts

🪙 Nominate an African startup for seed funding

🤝🏻 Invest with us

Show Notes

About Bongani Sithole and 54 Collective

As Chief Executive Officer of 54 Collective, Bongani Sithole is a tech-entrepreneur who over the last 18 years has built 3 technology businesses from the ground up. Before joining 54 Collective, Bongani’s last company — Black Beard — built tech businesses on behalf of corporates. As CEO, Bongani leads the early-stage investor as it seeks to invest in, collaborate, and support founders to go beyond borders and make a discernible impact through commercially-orientated innovations that can sustainably improve the lives of the continent’s people. 54 Collective is Africa’s most active, hands-on, early stage venture capital investor.

About Lelemba Phiri and ATG Samata

Lelemba is a Co-founder and Partner at ATG Samata, a gender-lens venture capital firm that is focused on investing in women-led businesses and gender diverse teams in key markets in Southern, East and West Africa. She is a seasoned development finance expert with 18+ years of experience working in both public and private sector, across 10 markets+. This includes having been a key part of scaling a Fintech start-up from one market to five before moving from entrepreneurship into venture capital. She is an expert in gender-lens investing, innovative finance, and entrepreneurship development with a key focus on advancing women.

About Christophe de Montille and Beyond Capital Ventures

Christophe de Montille is a Principal at Beyond Capital Ventures, a multi-asset firm investing in Seed to Series A companies across India and Africa in need-to-have sectors such as financial services, healthcare and climate. Prior to joining Beyond Capital, Christophe worked for a decade as a management consultant leading large tech transformations for corporate and federal clients. In addition to his work at Beyond Capital, Christophe led transaction advisory work for over 30 deals in the Global South and mobilizing over $54M in capital.

About Toniic

Toniic is a global community of private asset owners seeking to steward wealth and use influence to enable a thriving world. Its members — individuals, family offices and foundations from more than 25 countries — are active impact investors and philanthropists, for whom Toniic provides education, investment opportunities, impact support, events, and community. Toniic also seeks to build the field of deep impact investing, moving money and mindsets and leading by example.

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