Health diagnostic startup, Ilaya Health, announced that it has raised $735,000 from group of angel investors and venture capital (VC) firms including Chinese fund ShakaVC ,Chandaria Capital and Villgro Kenya.
According to the Nairobi based company, the fund will be used to grow its operations in Kenya and to build a “flexible” technology platform to manage and protect patient health and clinic financial data.
Over half a billion rural and peri-urban Africans cannot access basic diagnostics today because they are out of reach geographically and financially. The bottleneck problem is that doctors cannot offer the vast majority diagnostics in their clinics so must refer patients to labs. But given the infrastructure challenges in Africa (time and money it takes to get anywhere), labs are far away and patients often do not go.
Ilara Health solves the bottleneck problem by: (1) partnering with companies using robotics and AI to create new lower cost diagnostics, (2) integrating their devices into our tech platform, and (3) selling this bundle to doctors with financing. Doctors can now offer tests directly in their clinic, improving care and growing their revenue. For patients, solving this bottleneck problem will make diagnostic access easier, more immediate, and more affordable.
Founded in 2018 by CEO Emilian Popa, COO Amaan Banwait and VP sales Hannes Eckmayr, Ilara Health makes common diagnostics accessible and affordable to the 500 million people in Africa who today struggle to access even basic blood tests.
