Global Firms Partner To Provide $7m To 60 Healthtech Companies

Spurred by a report by Salient Advisory, a consortium of global and continental organisations, with funding from Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, has launched a pan-African initiative to support 60 companies’ impact, access to markets and commercialisation, with $7 million grants over a period of two years.

Healthcare consulting firm, Salient Advisory launched its latest 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.

It revealed that Tech-enabled approaches to digitising medicine distribution to underserved pharmacies, drug shops, clinics and hospitals, 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 resilience of supply chain operations.

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“Also, investor interest has also been strong; 36 per cent of all-time funding reported by health care supply chain innovators profiled was raised in the last 12 months.

ever, exclusionary funding trends remain entrenched: only two per cent of recent funding was raised by Black, women founders, a total of just $1.6 million in 2021,” the report revealed.

Director, Africa, at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Cheikh Oumar Seydi said, in a press statement, made available to LEADERSHIP, said 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,” Seydi added.