On the opening day, i3 announced 3 new transformative deals between leading African healthtech startups and global manufacturers, collaborations that will advance cervical cancer prevention, pharmacy-based access, and malaria care.

MSD and MYDAWA unveiled a collaboration aimed at supporting MYDAWA in enhancing their concierge channel services to strengthen efforts related to cervical cancer elimination.

Through this initiative, MYDAWA will expand access to health-related services, such as at-home and in-clinic options, supported by online booking tools and educational counselling. MSD’s contribution focuses on business and technical expertise, which demonstrates how a collaboration between regional and global innovators can develop new healthcare solutions to people through novel, patient-centered models that help reduce barriers to accessing healthcare.

This initiative is centered on improving access to information and services. It does not involve the supply, promotion or distribution of any vaccines or medicinal products that are not registered.

“We’re excited to support MYDAWA in improving access to healthcare, powered by purpose and technology. Together, we’re meeting communities where they are, forging new paths for patient access and creating health markets. This is how we break down barriers across Africa, through collaborations that enable sustainable and scalable solutions,” said Dr. Priya Agrawal, Vice President, International Health Equity and Partnerships, MSD.

A Memorandum of Understanding between Nigeria’s National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP), the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC) under the Federal Ministry of Health, and Sproxil to combat malaria by improving access to diagnostics and treatments.

The partnership leverages Sproxil’s test-to-treat model and AI-powered malaria surveillance to provide real-time data from pharmacies and patent medicine vendors, enabling collaboration with pharmaceutical manufacturers and giving NMEP insights to track distribution, monitor disease patterns, and ensure accountability.

This initiative supports Nigeria’s targets of reducing malaria prevalence to below 10% and malaria-related deaths to under 50 per 1,000 live births.

Commenting on the partnership with PVAC and NMEP, Dr. Ashifi Gogo, CEO and Founder of Sproxil said:

“We are honored to partner with Nigeria’s National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) and the Presidential Initiative For Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC) in deploying AI-enhanced surveillance infrastructure that transforms every consumer product verification into timely epidemiological intelligence. This partnership demonstrates that African-led solutions, when properly supported, can drive continental health transformation while ensuring affordable anti-malarials reach the children and families who need them most.”

• Boehringer Ingelheim’s Social Engagement Fund celebrated recent investments in 3 companies driving the future of pharmacy across Africa: Dawa Mkononi (a member of the latest i3 cohort), Kasha, and Reach52.

“We are delighted to invest in three additional startups that deliver a strong impact to communities across Africa,” says Dr. Ilka Wicke, Head of Sustainability Social. “These partnerships reflect our belief that sustainable healthcare solutions are best built through collaboration – with local innovators who understand the needs on the ground and with global partners who can help scale their vision. Together, we’re making meaningful progress toward our goal of improving the lives of 50 million people by 2030. We’re thrilled to celebrate progress with our partners who share this vision across the i3 program.”

Since July, i3 has been working closely with leading innovators focused on the future of pharmacy care in Africa – Chefaa, Dawa Mkononi, Meditect, mPharma, MYDAWA, Sproxil and Zuri Health–  completing more than 110 bespoke introductions to customers and investors, generating 15 partnerships with a potential value exceeding $20 million.

At an unprecedented pace of more than one advancing partnership per week, i3 continues to deliver best-in-class growth advisory support to African healthtech innovators.

This year’s A2M brought together 15 leading African healthtech startups, whose innovations already power more than 66,000 healthcare providers across 12 African countries and are on track to reach over 167,000 providers by 2028, demonstrating a powerful channel for improving patient access and strengthening health systems.

A2M also convened 41 prominent investors, global and regional pharmaceutical manufacturers, donors, development finance institutions, and multilateral agencies, including Grand Challenges Canada, IFC, World Bank, Pfizer, Causal Foundry, Proqurable, Federal Ministry of Health, PVAC, and i3’s sponsors, who are all working to accelerate scalable innovations, create jobs, and expand healthcare impact across the continent.

“Leading healthtech startups are an increasingly powerful force across Africa, reshaping the continent’s healthcare landscape. Through Access to Markets, these innovators are linked with strategic, high-impact partners across industry, government, donors, and global health agencies, enabling them to better scale their solutions. This approach is rapidly delivering tangible results, as evidenced by the more than 100 meetings being held at this year’s event and the 3 deals announced today,” said Oladunni Lawal, Investing in Innovation Lead.

The event program also includes senior government participation, notably keynote speaker Dr. Abdu Mukhtar, National Coordinator of the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Chain, and Dr. Leke Ojewale, Senior Technical Adviser to the Minister of Health for Nigeria.

Through initiatives like A2M, i3 is helping build a sustainable, digitally enabled future for African healthcare–one where locally led innovation, supported by global and regional partnerships, drives lasting impact at scale. i3 is supported by dedicated sponsors – the Gates Foundation, MSD, Cencora, Endless Health, HELP Logistics, Sanofi, and Boehringer Ingelheim.

Since its Managing Partners made their first investment in Africa in 2013, 4DX has raised three institutionally backed funds, and the firm has approximately $200 million in assets under management.

In 2024, International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, became a 4DX investor with a $10.5M capital commitment, demonstrating the firm’s ability to partner with best-in-class global institutions across multiple investor segments, including endowments, private equity firms, family offices and foundations.

The firm has built a reputation for backing bold, visionary entrepreneurs and supporting them with a high-touch, value-added approach to company building.

With investments spanning a range of industries, including FinTech, E-commerce, Embedded Finance, Creative Industries, Marketplaces, Climate and Edtech, 4DX focuses on companies that are shaping Africa’s digital future.

The portfolio includes category-defining companies such as Flutterwave, Andela, Autochek, Breadfast, MaxAB, Wasoko, mPharma, Thndr and Yoco.

Its portfolio companies operate in 22 African countries, with regional offices in Accra, Cairo and Nairobi, and an active presence in South Africa and Francophone Africa.

Alemayehou and Sekyi-Otu will support 4DX’s leadership team and portfolio founders, strengthening the firm’s global network and providing strategic counsel and mentorship.

Mimi Alemayehou brings deep experience from both the private and public sectors. She has held global executive roles at Mastercard, as well as managing director of the Black Rhino Group and Chair of Blackstone Africa Infrastructure LP.

A recognized leader in development finance, she served as Executive Vice President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. government’s development finance agency.

She also served as the U.S. representative on the Board of the African Development Bank and on the President’s Advisory Council on Africa Diaspora Engagement in the United States.  She held multiple Board positions, including at Twitter, U.S. African Development Foundation and FinDev Canada.

Kurankye Sekyi-Otu is an experienced leader in the alternative investment industry. He is the Founder & CEO of Capoeira Partners, a strategic advisory firm working with founder-led asset management firms, and previously served as Chief Strategy Officer at Polar Asset Management Partners, one of Canada’s largest hedge funds.

He also held senior roles at Mackenzie Investments and CIBC Capital Markets, with extensive experience in capital formation, business development, and institutional partnerships.

“The appointment of Mimi and Kurankye comes at a pivotal time for 4DX and our portfolio,” said Walter Baddoo, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of 4DX Ventures. “As more African technology companies scale globally, we’re excited to bring on world-class advisors with truly global perspectives and deep operational and investment expertise. Both Mimi and Kurankye are known for their roll-up-your-sleeves approach and will be instrumental in supporting our founders, deepening our global  institutional relationships, and contributing to our long-term strategy.”

Speaking of her new role, Mimi Alemayehou said:

“I’m thrilled to join 4DX and support the impactful work Walter, Peter, and the team are driving across the continent. This role is an exciting new chapter in my dedication to championing growth and development across Africa and emerging markets. 4DX has played a catalytic role in the African tech ecosystem, and I’m energised to bring my experience in development finance, technology and policy to help scale innovation, build strategic partnerships and deepen engagement with key stakeholders across sectors.”

Kurankye Sekyi-Otu added,

“4DX has built an impressive track record of investing in founders who create category-defining companies, tackle local challenges, and uplift their communities. Our immediate focus is to deliver deep operational insight that drives meaningful execution as 4DX scales and deepens its partnerships with world-class global institutions. I’m committed to activating a global network of operators, partners, and domain experts to support the firm’s continued growth and strategic evolution.”

4DX’s unique value creation model is institutionalized through 4DX Labs, its value creation arm designed to help portfolio companies succeed by providing hands-on support across product, marketing, data science, engineering, sales, business development, corporate development and fundraising.

This model has supported multiple strategic transactions, including Swarm Technologies’ acquisition by SpaceX, Tactyc’s acquisition by Carta, and the landmark merger of MaxAB and Wasoko — the largest tech merger in Africa to date.

As the firm looks ahead, 4DX is also exploring growth-stage investments and promising new categories such as the creative economy, where its regional expertise and network provide a strong competitive edge. Alemayehou and Sekyi-Otu will play a key role in advising 4DX and extending the firm’s influence in global capital markets.

It goes without saying that technology has greatly improved accessibility, affordability and the effectiveness of medical services across the globe. This has been made possible by individuals and groups coming together to decentralise products and services across countries and continents. 

Healthtech companies have brought medical services to our doorsteps, solving the issue of distance and ridiculously expensive services. Definitely not limited to these, but the top 10 health startups we are watching this year include CribMD, DrugStoc, mPharma, Chekkit, Field Intelligence, 54gene, LifeBank, BYON8, Ilara Health and Healthtracka.

1. CribMD

Inspired by the need to bring on-demand medical services closer to individuals, Ifeanyi Ossai, Ngiri Michael, and Lorna Mae Johnson founded CribMD. The telemedicine startup provides a pay-as-you-go subscription model to service patients who can also request home services.

With a goal to ensure quality, affordable, and accessible healthcare services, CribMD offers Basic, Pro, and Family plans costing $7.87, $13.11, and $49.84 monthly. 

The startup, which has raised total funding of $2,600,000, was among the five startups enlisted in the Austin-based VC fund and accelerator, 2021 Winter Batch cohort on Sputnik ATX, from which it received $100,000 in investment.

2. DrugStoc

A startup with over 1,500% monthly revenue growth, Chibuzo Opara and Adham Yehia founded DrugStoc to fight the spread of fake and illicit substandard drugs across Nigeria.

The eHealth startup serves as a bridge between drug companies and medical institutions, in Nigeria and has linked over 400 manufacturers to 3,200 doctors, hospitals and pharmacies, ensuring quality pharmaceutical products are delivered across the country.

With its $4,400,000 Series A funding raised in November 2021, the startup set on an expansion plan into 16 Nigerian states and subsequently into other African markets beyond Nigeria.

3. mPharma 

Also on a mission to increase access to quality medications, Ghanaian-based mPharma is providing innovative financing and inventory management solutions to hospitals, pharmacies and patients.

Serving the millions of underserved communities who lack access to affordable medicines, mPharma operates in six African countries, and affirms to have partnered with 155 hospitals, 850 pharmacies and drugstores and has attended to over 2,000,000 patients.

The digital health startup provides analytical data to drug companies as well as health ministries and is building an infrastructure and a drug monitoring system that connects patients, hospitals and pharmacies to cloud-based software. Via its platform, doctors get real-time information about exact locations and availability of medication interest, enabling patients get more reliable access to medicines.

4. Chekkit

Incorporated in Nigeria and the USA, Chekkit is a blockchain technology company that protects users against counterfeited goods and drugs. The company, founded in 2018 by Dare Odumade, Tosin Adelowo and Samuel Ukhueleigbe, asserts to have pharmaceutical products, protected over 200,000 consumers, and expanded its partnership with the Afghan government to verify and track over 200 million products.

Its products include ChekkitApp which enables users to verify the originality of products before purchase, report fake products and win rewards. Chekkit’s second product is Consumer Intelligence, a blockchain-secured anti-counterfeit, consumer engagement and data collection tool for consumer goods and pharmaceutical companies.

The third product is Chekkit USSD which enables users to verify original products by dialling a code that works on all networks and phones.

5. Field Intelligence 

Field Intelligence is focused on bringing simplicity, affordability and effectiveness to the pharmaceutical supply chain. The startup was founded in 2015 to provide services to both large health companies and drug stores, helping them provide better services and thrive well in the sector.

The company’s partners include Unicef, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, McKinsey & Company, Pharmacists Council of Nigeria, Clinton Health Access Initiative, Nigerian Supply Chain Integration Project, among others.

Field Intelligence has over 30,000 locations under management, also manages 2,000+ medical products, more than $1.1 billion product value managed annually and has served 75,000,000+ patients so far.

6. 54gene

Located in Nigeria and the USA, 54gene is a healthtech company that builds on innovation. Bridging the gap in the global genomics market, the startup develops diverse datasets to unlock scientific discoveries to improve diagnostic and treatment outcomes within Africa and the global community.

The healthtech startup, with $44,700,000 total funding raised so far, was launched in 2019. In partnership with US-based biotech company, Illumina, 54gene launched its genetics sequencing and microarray lab in Lagos, in September 2020 and currently has a biobank capacity for 300,000 samples, but targets increasing this in the long term.

7. LifeBank

LifeBank leverages technology and a multi-modal distribution platform to deliver medical supplies to hospitals across Africa, with current operations in Nigeria and Kenya.

Interestingly, LifeBank uses Google Maps Platform to show the routes between blood banks, doctors, and drivers across locations; this has helped reduce delivery time from 24 hours to 45 minutes.

Backed by EchoVC Pan-Africa Fund, CcHub Growth Capital and several other investors, the startup continues to strengthen its focus in the optimisation of its blood supplies given the size, fragmentation and severity of the need. It has over 41 authenticated blood banks on its online platform and is trusted by over 500 hospitals, saving 10,401 lives so far.

8. BYON8 

Kenya’s BYON8 provides free symptom checkups to patients and seamless access to doctors 24/7. The company has partnered with non-profit organisations, ventures, universities and health industry leaders to guarantee great service provision for users.

The company was built on a goal to make high-quality healthcare more accessible, affordable and equal by digitizing healthcare on an individual level. 

One of its products, BYON8 PRO, allows users to interact with a network of quality healthcare professionals with the highest of standards. 

9. Ilara Health

Kenyan healthtech, Ilara Health leverages tech-powered diagnostic devices to save lives by making the service accessible and affordable to over 500,000,000 people who struggle to gain access to even basic medical services such as blood tests.

The company has partnered with over 800 clinics, has five medical labs, administered 100,000+ tests to over 100,000 patients.

In 2020, Ilara Health received a $1,100,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to develop effective antenatal care (ANC) interventions and tech-based solutions for pregnant women unable to access essential services during the COVID-19 pandemic. In December of the same year, the company raised $3,750,000 in Series A funding to further strengthen its goal.

10. Healthtracka

Healthtracka is a fast-growing e-health platform offering home services including health tests with understandable diagnostic test results presented to patients digitally and without time wastage.

The Techstars Toronto-backed startup has laboratory partners who it affirms to be the best private pathology laboratories at the forefront of diagnostic testing in Nigeria, with ISO and MLSCN certifications. 

Included in its home services, the startup provides customers with a wide range of testing options and clinical services, empowering users to take an active role in their health in order to have a longer life span.

Which of the top 10 health startups we are you standing up for?

Leveraging the fund, which includes $30,000,000 in equity and $5,000,000 in debt from CitiBank, mPharma seeks to employ more engineers to build its data infrastructure and support expansion plans in its current and new markets. The company is also investing in other skilled talent such as doctors and nurses, professionals relevant to its work.

Investors who participated in the round include JAM Fund; a venture capital firm founded by Tinder co-founder Justin Mateen, Unbound; a growth investment firm by Shravin Mittal the managing director Bharti Global limited (Bharti family investment arm) and the first investment in Africa for Lux Capital; a New-York City based VC firm investing in science and tech ventures. Other investors were Northstar, Social Capital, Novastar and TO Ventures.

mPharma also targets growing its Mutti community pharmacies across eight markets in Africa, reaching a height where it becomes the go-to healthcare service provider for patients.

The startup’s Mutti pharmacies are essentially mini-hospitals offering a wide-range of services including medical consultation, diagnostic and telehealth services, all on mission to increase accessibility and affordability of quality medication.

Founded in 2013 by Rockson, Daniel Shoukimas and James Finucane, mPharma was built to manage prescription drug inventory for pharmacies and their suppliers, retail pharmacy operations and provide market intelligence to hospitals, pharmacies and patients.

In October last year, the startup added telehealth services to its portfolio, tapping into the telemedicine wave that took off after the Covid pandemic.

Patients in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda and Ethiopia, where mPharma has a presence, now have access to the virtual services. mPharma is also present in Gabon where it has a contract with the government to build a drug supply chain infrastructure.

In recent times, the company has embarked on diversification, partnerships and expansion strategies to ensure its continuous growth. A few months ago it acquired a 55% stake in Uganda’s Vine Pharmacy, which was previously held by the Abraaj Group. mPharma also entered Ethiopia in March last year by signing a franchise agreement with Belayab Pharmaceuticals through its subsidiary, Haltons Limited.