i3 Program backs 29 African healthcare startups

STARTUP VENTURE CAPITALSeptember 25, 2023 at 9:05 AM UTC

Investing in Innovation Africa (i3), a pan-African initiative for startups building the future of healthcare supply chains has announced its second cohort of 29 companies.

Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and sponsored by Cencora, Merck Sharpe & Dohme (MSD), Microsoft, and Chemonics, i3 helps commercialize promising early- and growth-stage companies.

Selected startups receive introductions to leading potential customers in industry, donor agencies and governments, a $50,000 grant, and tailored investment readiness support from leading accelerators Villgro Africa, IMPACT Lab, Startupbootcamp Afritech, and CcHUB.

Key Takeaways

In Africa, pharmacies often struggle to stock life-saving medicines due to their cost and drugs fail to get to those who need them most. As such, there is an increasing number of health tech startups looking to tackle what’s mostly a supply chain challenge with solutions built around different models. With the Middle East and Africa’s pharma market said to be worth around $100 billion, the market opportunity is significant. But most importantly, such solutions balance commercial and social impact.