Ghanaian health tech startup mPharma secures $35million Series D funding for expansion

Ghanaian health tech startup mPharma has raised $35 million in a Series D round led by Citigroup Inc.

Other investors that participated in the round include AM Fund, a venture capital firm founded by Tinder co-founder Justin Mateen, Unbound, a growth investment firm founded by Shravin Mittal, managing director Bharti Global Limited (Bharti family investment arm), and Lux Capital, a New York City-based VC firm investing in science and technology ventures, were among the investors in the round. Northstar, Social Capital, Novastar, and TO Ventures. 

mPharma intends to use this new funding to hire more engineers to help grow its data infrastructure and support expansion goals in existing and new markets. It will also use the funding to launch its e-commerce platform for pharmaceuticals.

“We are hiring over 100 engineers to build all our technology in-house and this includes a massive data infrastructure we are creating,” mPharma co-founder and CEO Gregory Rockson told TechCrunch. “We are also investing in other skilled talent like doctors and nurses, professionals that are critical in the work we do.”

mPharma was founded in 2013 and specialises in vendor-managed inventory, retail pharmacy operations, and market intelligence serving hospitals, pharmacies, and patients. In October last year, the startup added telehealth services to its portfolio, tapping into the telemedicine wave that took off after the COVID pandemic.

The startup is currently present in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda and Ethiopia and Gabon and serves about a million patients every year through over 300 partner pharmacies. 

In 2019, the startup acquired Kenya’s second-largest pharmacy chain, Halton, taking control of 27 stores across the country. A few months ago it also acquired a 55% stake in Uganda’s Vine Pharmacy, which was previously held by the Abraaj Group. 

Follow us on Telegram, Twitter, Facebook, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter to ensure you don’t miss out on any future updates. Send tips to info@techtrendske.co.ke.