The healthtech solution was developed by a group of entrepreneurs who aim to help people access competitive radiology services. 

Rology is an AI platform developed by an eponymous Egyptian start-up. It enables patients to easily book appointments with radiologists. The Cairo-based startup behind the platform was founded in 2017 by Amr Abodraiaa, Moaaz Hossam, Mahmoud Eldefrawy, and Bassam Khallaf to address the shortage of radiologists in Africa. 

Via its web platform, users can book an appointment with radiology specialists. They can go live within a few minutes after completing the usual formalities. The startup also offers a free trial. In both cases, users need to fill out a form by providing information such as name, hospital, or type of analysis. After the appointment, the patient receives a report from the specialist within twelve hours, and, in case of an emergency, the report is available within 90 minutes. 

Rology works with about 100 hospitals and has completed several rounds of financing ($1 million in total) to expand into Africa and the Middle East. It is now present in eight countries.

In 2020, when the startup raised $860,000, co-founder Amr Abodraiaa said: "for the last three years we saw firsthand how Rology’s services help hospitals offer fast and accurate care to their patients and how it can save patients’ lives. We look forward to expanding Rology’s platform to the African and Middle Eastern market where there is a huge need for Rology’s services and ultimately help hospitals offer better care to their patients."

Adoni Conrad Quenum

In Africa, access to healthcare is challenging in some areas. This is why so many healththech startups are being created to offer interesting solutions to ease access to that basic service. 

CheckMe Health is a digital solution developed by an Egyptian startup. It allows users access to blood collection services in partner laboratories.

Checkme provides an “easy and smooth experience for everyone, from uploading prescriptions and getting Online Consultation to choosing from the best clinical labs around Egypt to book lab tests, PCR, and Scans and receive your results on your phone,”  reads the solution’s web platform. 

Through its mobile app (Android and iOS apps), a user can set up an account to access the services offered. He/she can select a medical test or download a prescription directly from the platform, compare the rates applied by the various partner laboratories, and then, book an appointment. Once the appointment is booked, a representative will come to collect the samples and the results will be sent to the mobile app when available. 

In December 2022, the startup -which claims more than 100,000 CheckMe Health users- announced the acquisition of DoctorOnline, another healthtech that provides on-demand diagnostics.

According to CheckMeHealth co-founder Nesma El Talawy, “this acquisition falls in line with our expansion strategy in the region and with the expansion of our service offering. According to McKinsey Global Institute, the costs saved by Health-tech to the healthcare sector could lie between $1.5 trillion and $3 trillion a year by 2030, which makes acquisitions like this pivotal in their economic impact in the region.”

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He strongly believes that with technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, he can optimize the efficiency of healthcare services. This is why he joined forces with one of his colleagues to launch DoctorAI, a health tech startup that connects patients to healthcare professionals. 

Kevin Muragijimana (photo) is a Rwandan physician who graduated from the University of Rwanda in 2019. He is the CEO and one of the co-founders of DoctorAI, a medical technology company that wants to modernize healthcare services in Africa.

The company, founded in 2019, uses artificial intelligence to detect breast cancer, chest, and heart diseases, and malaria parasites (among other conditions) from X-rays and blood-smearing tests with accuracies exceeding 90%.  It plans to offer other services such as telescreening, telehealth education, telepharmacy, and telemedicine. Its app, which integrates all of its existing services,  allows laymen to voice their health concerns, doctors to improve community wellness, pharmacists to easily dispense drugs, and researchers to impact the world. 

“We are offering other services that will be available later, like online consultations with specialist doctors and licensed pharmacists. The market will also include telemedicine and telepharmacy. We plan to go global. We have made our distribution channels so smooth in a way that our software programs within the DoctorAI app are available to everyone with a smartphone, anywhere in the world,” Kevin told  Disrupt Africa in March 2023.  

Aside from being the CEO of DoctorAI, the latter is also the coordinating medical consultant of AFRI-ONC, a cancer information and research institution. He is also a doctor at the Rwandan Ministry of Health. Before founding his company, he interned at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Bicêtre in France in 2019.

Melchior Koba

A doctor by training, he wanted to address the poor access to healthcare services in his country. So, along with his friends, he launched an app that allows remote consultations.

Desire Ruhinda (photo) is a Tanzanian medical doctor who graduated from Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University with a Ph.D. in 2019. In 2021, he also graduated from the University of Cape Town's Graduate School of Business with a Master of Philosophy in Inclusive Innovation. A year earlier, he co-founded the healthtech startup Medikea, with his friends Elvis Silayo, and John Manko.

In 2016 he joined the International Federation of Medical Students Association as the national exchange officer. In 2019, he became a medical trainee at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences.

Currently, he is the logistics manager of the non-government organization International Federation of Medical Students Associations (IFMSA). 

He is also the CEO of the healthtech startup Medikea. Through the startup, he offers online consultations with doctors and supplements them with lab tests and home drug delivery, so patients can get timely care, avoid long queues and save money.

The doctors registered on the platform can manage common and chronic illnesses, mental health, and lifestyle issues. The solution is suited for anyone seeking high-quality, affordable, and convenient treatment for non-emergency medical problems, medical advice, a prescription, a letter of recommendation, a medical certificate, or a second opinion on a pre-existing condition.

Recently, in February, it was selected by Kenyan venture capital company The Baobab Network as one of the five startups that will participate in the 2023 Baobab Network's acceleration program. The selection entitles it to $50,000 support.

Melchior Koba

Mental health is a taboo subject in most African societies. Yet, according to a 2017 report by the World Health Organization, more than 29 million Africans suffer from depression.

Nguvu is an e-health solution developed by a Nigerian startup. It gives users access to mental health experts online.

"Our customers are able to communicate – via text, audio, and video – directly in-app with their therapists and are able to schedule live video sessions with their matched therapists. This is particularly useful at such a time as this, post-pandemic. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have made mental health therapy more important than ever," explained Joshua Koya, Nguvu's co-founder, and CEO, in December 2021.

Users can access the services offered by the e-health startup using either its Android/iOS apps or by visiting its web platform. They can register, pass a test, and eventually get connected to a therapist. They can also choose between video consultations or text therapy. Currently, the Nguvu Android app has been downloaded more than 10,000 times on Playstore.

Let's note that some of the services offered by Nguvu are free. They include for instance free mental health screening. Meanwhile, additional text therapy services cost NGN3,000 (about US$6.5) weekly, NGN10,000 monthly, NGN27,000 quarterly, and NGN100,000 annually. For video therapies, each session cost NGN7,500 while the 4-session bundle costs NGN27,000.

For the time being, Nguvu operates in Nigeria and Kenya and dreams of conquering the world in the coming years. "Our vision is to extensively build tech solutions that revolve around preventing mental disorders from happening and correcting existing disorders," Joshua Koya indicates.

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Côte d’Ivoire currently has an important shortage of physicians, with 1.4 doctors for every 10,000 individuals. E-health solutions are therefore important tools that can help bridge the gap. In that context, Skanmed wants to help by leveraging new technologies.

Skanmed is an e-health solution developed by Ivorian start-up Skan Technologies, launched in 2011. It allows users to remotely consult doctors, notably general physicians, pediatricians, and cardiologists.

Once registered on the e-health platform, users can search for doctors by specialty or by name. They can click on each medical practitioner suggested to check their information, register on their waiting list, or request an urgent video consultation.  

In addition to the online consultations, the healthtech solution also offers home service. It has a team of doctors and nurses ready to provide home care 24 hours a day.

In 2021, Skanmed was the winner of the CGECI’s Grand Prix Business Plan Competition. The healthtech also won the first innovation prize awarded by the Ivorian Ministry of Health the same year. Currently, it plans to conquer the whole country before expanding outside. However, its debut was shaky as Skan founder Anicet Amani explains.  

"The main challenge we faced was the lack of trust. During the prospecting phase, after the first version of the app, hospitals and physicians were not buying into our idea,” he said. The skepticism, however, disappeared after the startup signed an agreement with the Ministry of Health.

Adoni Conrad Quenum

Developing innovative solutions to boost the SME world is a major concern for African economies. Yet, accessing financing remains a headache for sector players.

On Tuesday, November 15, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced the launch of a new vehicle dedicated to supporting venture capital systems in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Pakistan. This $225 million fund will provide seed funding for startups that address development issues in areas such as climate, health, education, agriculture, e-commerce, etc. through technological innovations.

“Support for entrepreneurship and digital transformation is essential to economic growth, job creation, and resilience. It will help innovative tech companies in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Pakistan expand during a time of capital shortage and create scalable investment opportunities. We want to help develop homegrown innovative solutions that are not only relevant to emerging countries but to the rest of the world,” said Makhtar Diop, IFC's Managing Director.

The already difficult access to funding for startups in low-income countries has worsened with the global slowdown in venture capital investment, the Covid-19 pandemic, rising food and supply chain costs, rising interest rates, and currency devaluations. However, countries still have a huge potential for development. In Africa, for example, the digital economy could contribute up to $712 billion to the continent’s GDP by 2050, according to a report published on June 9 by the international network of high-impact entrepreneurs Endeavor.

The IFC sees in its new platform a way to boost nascent venture capital markets in regions that have shown early growth potential but face challenging global economic conditions. The international organization says it will make equity and quasi-equity investments in tech startups and help them grow into scalable companies capable of attracting traditional equity and debt financing. It will also use the platform to collaborate with other World Bank Group teams to build and support venture capital ecosystems through regulatory reforms, sector analysis, and other tools.

An additional $50 million will be provided by the International Development Association's Private Sector Window Blended Finance Facility, which helps reduce the risk of investments in low-income countries.

Samira Njoya

The physician has nearly 20 years of clinical experience in HIV/TB and 10 years of experience in the healthtech segment.  The healthtech startup he founded provides effective and much-needed digital health solutions to  “support self-care and provide access to services.”

Musaed Abrahams is a South African health professional and the founder/CEO of Aviro Health, a healthtech startup founded to improve access to quality healthcare in Africa.

“My goal is to create healthcare impact through technology by focusing on empathy, great design, and data,” his Linkedin profile reads.

His healthtech startup offers tech solutions that automate workflows, therefore allowing healthcare professionals to focus on important tasks. It also improves access to health information and provides digital consulting services. Currently, it claims more than 50,000 patients helped in South Africa and Kenya.

The startup developed Aviro Pocket Clinic to allow healthcare providers to easily and quickly perform digital HIV, tuberculosis, and diabetes checks. It also allows individuals to privatively perform those checks and access specialists and services for support when needed.  

Its CEO holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBChB) obtained at the University of Cape Town in 2001. In 2010, he got an HIV management diploma from the Health Professions Council of South Africa. He also took part in the Harvard Business School’s Healthcare management program.

His professional career began in 2005 as a senior physician at the ARV Clinic in South Africa. He joined Médecin Sans Frontière (MSF) in 2008 as the HIV training coordinator in South Africa. Then, from 2013 to 2015, he worked as the organization's digital content producer and editor, contributing to the creation of the eighth edition of the MSF HIV/TB guide.

Currently, he is the deputy president of MSF's Southern Africa board. Between 2016 and 2017, he was a senior business development consultant for the health technology company Praekelt.org.

Let’s note that his startup, Aviro Health, was among the top 45 of the most innovative startups at the AfricaTech Awards 2022. It is also a beneficiary of the pan-African innovation program Investing in Innovation.

Melchior Koba

Though they are not yet popular like fintech and healthtech solutions, insuretech tools are garnering a fair share of attention in Africa. In Rwanda, a tech entrepreneur has developed a solution to allow access to decent healthcare for corporate employees.

Eden Care is a digital platform developed by a Rwandan eponymous start-up. It helps users subscribe to health insurance without even passing through insurance brokers.  

"Eden Care was founded to create the kind of health insurance we wanted for ourselves – one that is affordable and doesn’t require filling six pages of documents at the hospital and a three-hour wait time. One where we can easily see our benefits and provides wellness tools, community, and incentives to enable us to get and stay healthy,” explains Moses Mukundi, CEO and founder of Eden Care.

The solution offers customizable and affordable health plans allowing firms to subscribe to plans based on the number of their employees. It boasts an extensive network of providers for good national coverage. If necessary, it resorts to telehealth.  

It significantly reduces the paperwork with faster pre-authorizations and also reduced reimbursement times for medical providers.

"We see Eden Care as having what it takes to deliver that increase in value and service for consumers. […]By digitizing insurance processes and providing a wellness-first insurance cover to employers, Eden Care is making quality health insurance accessible to an underserved market – growing SMEs and businesses,” says Arnold Mwangi, partner at the Dutch impact investment firm DOB Equity, which contributed to the healthtech startup’s recent pre-seed round.

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In Africa, hospitals are still recording numerous deaths caused by the shortage of blood products. To solve this problem in his country, a Sierra Leonean tech entrepreneur has set up an e-health solution facilitating blood donation.

LifeBlood is a digital platform developed by a Sierra Leonean eponymous startup. It allows users to donate blood in a few clicks.

With its mobile app "Donate Blood," it streamlines the blood donation process. Once a user downloads the app and registers an account, he/she can carry out a blood test and, if everything goes well, donate blood and set a donation frequency. The app reminds its users of upcoming donations.

The Sierra Leonean startup has numerous blood donation centers, across the country. Its centers are usually set up in hospitals, giving users the choice to get to the centers closer to their homes or offices depending on their schedules. This approach helps users donate blood without causing much disruption to their tight schedules.

It also allows users to set up blood donation campaigns, and define the targets, periods, etc. With this feature, it aims to allow users to support its actions, therefore increasing the number of unpaid voluntary donors and improving the operational efficiency of blood services and the national blood safety service.

For its actions, the startup won the first prize of the Orange Social Venture Prize in Africa and the Middle East (POESAM), going home with a €25,000 check.  

Adoni Conrad Quenum