UGANDA – Uganda’s Rocket Health, telemedicine, and last-mile healthcare provider, has closed a US$5 million series A funding round to accelerate its expansion to the different regions of Uganda and into Kenya.
The funding round was led by Creadev, an evergreen investment fund backed by the Mulliez family of French entrepreneurs.
The round also attracted participation from early-stage African investors Grenfell Holdings and LoftyInc Capital Management.
The startup will use the funding to accelerate its technology roadmap and geographical expansion to the different regions of Uganda and into Kenya.
Founded in 2012, Rocket Health is the number one telemedicine player in Uganda, offering an end-to-end healthcare experience to over 25,000 individual patients.
The startup’s solution leverages technology to provide four integrated services: 24/7 teleconsultations, medicine delivery, home sample collection for laboratory diagnostic testing, and physical specialist clinic consultations.
“Rocket Health is on a quest to make quality primary healthcare accessible, affordable, and convenient to achieve the best outcomes for as many Africans as possible,” said Dr. Davis Musinguzi, founder and CEO of Rocket Health.
“Together, we shall build a sustainable digital healthcare value chain down to the last mile across Africa.”
The startup runs its own lab and pharmacy delivery services that enable it to control the delivery of products and services. They charge a US$3 consultation fee and US$1.5 for drug delivery.
The company has grown from a few thousand virtual consultations a year to about 400,000, propelled by the demand for remote healthcare during the pandemic.
Its clientele base ranges from those calling in to have their children vaccinated to patients managing chronic illnesses.
In addition, 12 insurance companies have signed up with the startup, giving it access to a pool of customers within Uganda and across East Africa, since most of them have a regional presence.
On its roadmap to expansion, the startup aims to reduce the patient-doctor ratio in sub-Saharan Africa.
Currently, countries across sub-Saharan Africa have 0.23 doctors for every 10,000 people, against the best ratio of 84.2 doctors in the most developed countries.
As Rocket Health expands and embarks on its next phase of growth, they have partnered with Ada, a Berlin-based end-user self-assessment platform, to integrate artificial intelligence into its teleconsultations.
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