Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, others earmark $7 million to support healthtech startups in Africa

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SEATTLE, WA - MAY 04: The exterior of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is seen on May 4, 2021 in Seattle, Washington. Bill Gates and Melinda Gates announced their divorce yesterday, raising questions about the future of their foundation. (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)

A consortium of global and continental organizations, with funding from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have launched a pan-African initiative to support healthtech start-ups in Africa in their access to markets and commercialization efforts.

The foundation is committing a total of US$7 million in that direction.

This came after healthcare consulting firm Salient Advisory launched a market intelligence report highlighting promising African healthtech start-ups in supply chain.

Salient’s report, titled ‘Innovations in Digitising Distribution of Health Products’, highlights more than 80 healthtech innovators in Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, and Nigeria.
Tech-enabled approaches to digitizing medicine distribution to underserved pharmacies, drug shops, clinics and hospitals, pioneered by companies such as Lifestores, Maisha Meds and Shelf Life, recorded rapid growth in the past year, mirroring trends seen in B2B e-commerce on the African continent.
Innovators are also demonstrating an increasing interest in powering rural supply chains, improving availability of medicines, and bolstering resiliency of supply chain operations.

Cheikh Oumar Seydi, Director, Africa, at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, commented “African health innovators have shown increasing capacity to leverage technology to optimize supply chains and advance access to medicines. Such local innovations have the potential to change how supply chains and health systems function – and it is time to support them. We are pleased to be collaborating with strong global and continental partners to jointly strengthen African health systems and accelerate progress towards universal health coverage.”

Investor interest has also been strong; 36% of all-time funding reported by health care supply chain innovators profiled was raised in the last 12 months. However, exclusionary funding trends remain entrenched: only 2% of recent funding was raised by Black, women founders, a total of just $1.6 million in 2021.

Inspired by the progress and potential of African innovators in supply chain, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, alongside Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD), the World Health Organisation Regional Office for Africa, AUDA-NEPAD and AmerisourceBergen, are launching a $7 million pan-African initiative to provide 60 promising early and growth-stage companies with risk-tolerant grants alongside commercialization support to power their impact at scale. The program, called Investing in Innovation (i3), is coordinated by Salient Advisory, SCIDaR, and SouthBridge A&I and is operationalized with CCHub,  Startupbootcamp, IMPACT Lab, and Villgro Africa.

Applications for the first cohort of 30 companies are open now, at www.innovationsinafrica.com. Applications will close in mid-August.

Dr Abdullahi Sheriff, AVP, Global Market Access, Sustainable Access Solutions at MSD also commented:

“There has been considerable progress in tech-driven innovation in health product distribution across Africa. Spurring and scaling disruptive innovation in health supply chain is key to expanding access to medicines for all. That’s why we, at MSD, are excited to collaborate on the i3 program.”

Dr Janet Byaruhanga, Senior Programme Officer – Health at AUDA-NEPAD also commented: “The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the capacity of African innovators to leverage tech enabled solutions to transform medicine distribution. AUDA-NEPAD will continue to leverage its mandate and comparative advantage to foster partnerships that strengthen evidence, deploy innovation, enhance policy environments and facilitate critical investments, while creating valuable and high-impact jobs across the continent.”
Speaking on the launch of the report and i3 program, Director of Salient Advisory, Remi Adeseun said: “There has been considerable progress over the past year as supply chain innovations work to enhance access to quality medicines. Our report provides investors, donors, and governments with actionable recommendations on engagement strategies to advance companies’ growth and impact. With funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and along with our esteemed partners, we are excited to be launching the Investing in Innovation program to connect promising companies to customers who can power their impact and scale.”
Launched in 2020 with a globally distributed team in Kenya, Nigeria and Canada, Salient Advisory helps changemakers enact transformative approaches to health. The company conducts analysis and supports partnerships to use technology and innovations, adapt policy and financing, and elevate unheard voices to change global conversations and transform access to care.

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