Across Africa, 85 percent of retail medicine purchases happen at micro-enterprises, typically neighbourhood pharmacies and) and Proprietary Patent Medicine Vendors (PPMVs). For store owners, 90 percent of their wholesale purchases happen in open markets that are largely unfit for consumables and medicines.
Store owners also have to endure expensive and time-consuming weekly order cycles that typically amount to two working days to access the inventory they need to stock their shelves. These realities, combined with a predominantly paper-based approach to managing operations, present various challenges that make it difficult to maximise profitability.
To address this challenge, Nigeria’s Healthtech startup Remedial Health has developed a solution that seeks to make Africa’s pharmaceutical value chain more efficient. The startup has now raised $12 million in an equity and debt funding round to deepen the penetration of its services in Nigeria and support the delivery of targeted financial services to drive business growth across the country’s pharmaceutical sector.
US-based fintech VC firm QED Investors and Ventures Platform co-led the $8 million Series A equity round. The two have now invested in Remedial Health at every funding round since the pre-seed stage. This investment also represents Ventures Platform’s first Series A investment. Ycombinator, Tencent and Gaingels also invested after participating in previous rounds. The $4 million debt funding was led by a consortium of local and international financial institutions.
“We are delighted to have raised these funds, particularly with the wider context of the global funding downturn and the wide range of economic headwinds in Nigeria. Our continued growth has put us in a strong position to deliver our mission of creating a tech-enabled, pharmacy-centred healthcare network and we are looking forward to leveraging these funds to achieve more success.” Samuel Okwuada, CEO and co-founder of Remedial Health, said.
Remedial Health operates at the intersection of healthcare, supply chain management, technology and financial services, delivering the digital procurement infrastructure to power effective healthcare distribution for Africa’s 1.2 million pharmacies. Starting in Nigeria, Remedial Health has built an effective operating system for pharmaceutical buyers and suppliers, working with more than 300 manufacturers and serving more than 5,000 hospitals, pharmacies and PPMVs across 34 of Nigeria’s 36 states, with regional hubs to enable a seamless experience across the country.
Store owners can access more than 8,000 vetted products via the mobile app, with same-day delivery and inventory financing to minimise cash-flow friction for routine orders and maximise sales opportunities. The startup also provides facility financing, payment solutions and inventory management solutions that makes it easier for store owners to run their business more efficiently and profitably. For pharmaceutical manufacturers, Remedial Health provides an effective route-to-market for their products, as well as data-driven insights into local markets that can be leveraged for more effective planning and decision making.
This new funding will enable Remedial Health to deepen the reach of these services across Nigeria and deliver more game changing solutions to drive greater efficiency across the pharmaceutical value chain.
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