Nigeria’s Healthtech Startup Remedial Health Secures $4.4 Million in Seed Funding

Remedial Health has closed a $4.4 million equity seed round to boost its mission to expand its operations across Africa. This time around the healthtech startup is looking to penetrate markets in East and West Africa. It also wants to accelerate its expansion across Nigeria and to provide access to credit for inventory purchases for its growing customer base of neighbourhood pharmacies, Proprietary Patent Medicine Vendors (PPMVs) and hospitals in the country. 

The latest fund was led by Global Ventures with participation from Tencent, Y Combinator, Cathexis Ventures, LightSpeed Venture Partners Scout Fund, Ventures Platform, Alumni Ventures and True Capital Management, and several angel investors including Guillaume Luccisano and Christopher Golda.

Founded in 2020 by Samuel Okwuada and Victor Benjamin, Remedial Health combines the use of pharmaceutical procurement innovations, inventory financing solutions, and pharmacy operations/patient management solutions to improve access to genuine and affordable medicines in Africa.

In January, the YC-backed Remedial Health secured $1 million in pre-seed funding to roll out its digital procurement and PMR (patient medication records) platforms and make it easier for neighbourhood pharmacies and Proprietary Patent Medicine Vendors (PPMVs) to access affordable and authentic retail medicines. The startup also disclosed it had plans to expand to more states in Nigerians having been only operating in 6 states as of then.

Speaking on the growth of the healthtech startup, Okwuada said, “We have seen more than 6x growth in the number of customers on our platform since January. The feedback we constantly receive about what they like the most about our platform is around the ease and efficiency of our inventory finance offering, the variety of products they can access on our platform and the effectiveness of our procurement process – wherever our customers are based in Nigeria, they typically receive their orders within 24 hours.” He added that last-mile delivery, backed by its distribution hubs, is done in-house or through its partners.

“The launch of our inventory finance product has also attracted more customers to our platform, as they have been able to take advantage of it to grow their businesses and navigate the challenge of rising prices. More than 60 percent of our customers use the inventory finance product and we have seen more than 50 percent growth in their average basket size since we launched the product,” said Okwuada.

Remedial Health provides a range of solutions, including its digital procurement and PMR (patient medication records) platforms that make it easier for neighbourhood pharmacies, PPMVs and hospitals to access affordable and authentic retail medicines. Healthcare providers can source vetted medications at prices the same, or better, than open-air medicine market prices – with 24-hour delivery to their practice via Remedial Health’s logistics network. In addition to procurement, pharmacies and PPMVs can access credit to fund inventory purchases and provide loans and salary advances for employees.

Since January 2022, Remedial Health has seen 600 percent increase in sales volumes and the company now covers 16 of Nigeria’s 36 states. This new funding will support the roll out of its services across the rest of Nigeria, and also lay the groundwork for expansion across Africa in 2023.

The impact of various global events from the last three years – from the COVID-19 pandemic to rising inflation – has led to a sharp increase in the price of medicines in Nigeria. For neighbourhood pharmacies and Proprietary Patent Medicine Vendors (PPMVs) that represent the main source of medicines for the majority of Nigerians, these price increases mean there is added pressure to balance the need to provide lifesaving medicines to their communities and the need to run their businesses effectively. There is also the challenge of an opaque supply chain where manufacturers have limited or delayed visibility into what is happening on the frontlines, which means pharmacies and PPMVs are often left to make do with what they can get, rather than what they need. 

By leveraging Remedial Health’s tech-enabled platform, neighbourhood pharmacies, PPMVs and hospitals can benefit from group/bulk buying discounts, time saving and improved efficiency, access to credit to improve their earnings, as well as additional revenue from providing financial services and other primary healthcare services. Manufacturers also benefit from an efficient supply chain, a clear and instant route-to-market for their products and real-time intelligence on product utilization to improve decision making on forecasting, production and distribution.

Global Ventures Principal, Sacha Haider said, “The market opportunity to serve community pharmacies across Africa is significant. In Nigeria alone, 500,000 community pharmacies drive over 80% of a 70-billion-dollar market in annual pharmaceutical sales. The team at Remedial Health is proactively addressing challenges including price opacity, poor drug quality control and a very fragmented supply chain through a tech-enabled, pharmacy-centered healthcare network that has allowed over 25% in cost reductions at the point of care.”