Uganda’s healthtech startup, Rocket Health, announced that it has raised $5 million to scale its telemedicine service across Africa.
This funding was led by Creadev; an evergreen investment firm backed by Mulliez family, with participation of early-stage African investors Grenfell Holdings and LoftyInc Capital Management.
Founded in 2012 by Dr. Davis Musinguzi (CEO), Dr. John Mark Bwanika (COO), Ms Fiona Nuwamanya (CFO), Dr. Hope Achiro (chief pharmacist) and Dr. William Lubega (chief medical officer), Rocket Health is a bundled service of The Medical Concierge Group, a licensed and registered clinic, laboratory and pharmacy. It offers telemedicine healthcare services such as doctor consultations through phone calls, Whatsapp and SMS, laboratory sample pickups and medicine delivery at your convenience and from any location within Kampala.
Combined with $1.2 million raised earlier, this brings the total funding raised to date by Rocket Health to $6.2 million.
Rocket Health aims to use the new funds to scale its integrated digital health solution to more regions in Uganda and within East Africa over the next two years. In the long-term it says it will pursue growth opportunities in West Africa.
The COVID-19 epidemic has given rise to an unprecedented increase in opportunities for funding, expansion and innovation in the Africa continent.
Healthtech investment in Africa totaled $106.7 million in 2020, spread over 62 funding deals and accounting for 12% of all declared investment rounds. In the first half of 2021, healthtech companies raised a total of $61.982 million through over 15 acquisitions.
Even with this increase, there are a lot of people that do not have access to basic healthcare. According to the World Health Organization available data, countries across sub-Saharan Africa have 0.23 doctors for every 10,000 people, against the best ratio of 84.2 doctors in the most developed countries.
David Musinguzi believes that telemedicine will help bridge the gap of availability. According to him, “I think tech is what helps us cover that gap, create more efficiencies, and broaden our reach beyond. There’s no way we’re going to build enough hospitals to be able to reach everybody with the health care that they need.”
“A lot of healthcare facilities and professionals are still centralized within the urban areas or the capital cities. So very many people across the country don’t get the benefits of these highly skilled individuals. And I think technology complemented with existing infrastructure is how we can bridge that gap,” he added.
Rocket Health’s business model consists of charging its patients a $3 consultation fee and $1.5 for drug delivery.
During the COVID pandemic, virtual consultations grew from a few thousand a year to about 400,000, propelled by the demand for remote healthcare. “Covid has been a great boost to introducing people to telemedicine. Once somebody has had that magical experience with last mile telemedicine, they almost never go back to queuing up in hospitals waiting to see the doctor. We now do tests like PCR testing in addition to home-based care,” said Musinguzi.
According to Creadev Africa in a statement, “We are delighted to partner with Rocket Health on its mission to make Healthcare accessible to many people in Sub-Saharan Africa. We have been highly impressed by the creativity, tenacity and vibrant culture of the Rocket Health team, who hold an ambitious vision for the future of African primary care. The opportunities are countless, from data analytics to innovative distribution channels.”
Ghanaian health tech startup, mPharma is a promising startup in the telemedicine space across Africa. It acquired Vine Pharmacy to enter into Uganda and recently raised $35 million in a latest Series D round to scale its business across Africa
