Nigeria: Healthcare products platform secures $4.4m funding
Healthtech startup DrugStoc has raised $4.4 million in series A funding to expand access to quality medicines while providing sustainable supply chain financing for healthcare providers in sub-Saharan Africa. The funding round is led by Africa HealthCare Master Fund (AAIC), and other investors including Chicago-based venture firm VestedWorld and the German development bank DEG.
Nobuhiko Ichimiya, director at AAIC stated, “We are very excited to be part of the Drugstoc journey. The pharmaceutical market in Africa has enormous growth potential and we are glad to back a company well-positioned to be a key player in the sector’s growth in sub-Saharan Africa.”
Chibuzor Opara, DrugStoc’s co-founder and CEO, noted, “We are committed to making an impact in the healthcare industry. This funding will enable us to expand and launch our tech-enabled products in more African countries where pharmaceuticals are critically needed.”
Launched in 2017, DrugStoc is a cloud-based platform that provides healthcare providers with the interface for easy access to pharmaceuticals and healthcare products. It ensures that patients get quality medicines at affordable prices. It boasts superior quality control systems with International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) certification on Good Distribution Practice.
The company, founded by two professionals in the health sector, Chibuzo Opara and Adham Yehia, has powered over nine million prescriptions and projects 12 million by the end of 2021.
Opara said, “Fragile and resource-challenged healthcare systems require a radically transformative set of market-based strategies to expand access to healthcare. The DrugStoc way re-engineers the value chain digitally, improving and expanding access to healthcare at the same time.”
It is predicted that Africa’s pharmaceutical industry will be worth $56 billion to $70 billion by 2030, from just $5.5 billion in 2007. However, the broken supply chain and chaotic distribution channels on the continent still pose a significant challenge. It affects the delivery of quality medicines, affordability of pharmaceuticals and efficient healthcare delivery for health workers. Innovation to solve supply chain challenges is a key opportunity in this growing market.
CardinalStone Partners Limited acted as financial advisers to DrugStoc.
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