$1.3 M pre-seed funding raised by Kenyan e-health startup Zuri for expansion
Zuri Health, a Kenyan e-health business, has secured $1.3 million in a pre-seed round of investment to develop its product offerings and enter new markets.
The company began in Kenya and has since expanded to Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, and Zambia. It has over 300 doctors, 27 lab and diagnostic centres, and 15 pharmacies on its platform, and has collaborated with 16 major mobile network carriers with over 400,000 SMS customers.
Zuri has raised $1.3 million in pre-seed funding from DOB Equity, Launch Africa Ventures, Founders Factory Africa, V8 Capital, Platform Capital, Villgro Africa, Asime Ventures, and the Salik Family Trust in order to expand across Africa.
The money will go into expanding the company’s digital platform, expanding product offerings, and expanding into new areas.
“We are driven by the impact our service could have – to be a solution to Africa’s lack of sufficient healthcare. Healthcare infrastructure in most parts of Africa is grossly inadequate, with painfully high doctor-patient ratios. There are many Africans who cannot afford healthcare services or who live too far away from healthcare facilities. And with skilled healthcare workers increasingly leaving Africa for greener pastures, the situation is worsening,” said Ikechukwu Anoke, CEO and founder of Zuri Health.
“We have a burning desire to democratise healthcare access and harness the power of technology to provide quality, first-tier medical services.”
Launch Africa Ventures managing partner Zachariah George expressed confidence in the Zuri team’s capacity to pioneer African e-health.
“Zuri Health shows tremendous potential to scale across the continent and democratise access to healthcare,” he said.
Dr. Akintoye Akindele, chairman of Platform Capital, will join the Zuri board of directors and expressed interest in working closely with the team to revolutionize healthcare access.
“We believe that Anoke, Isiaho and the Zuri Health team have created a platform that addresses the large healthcare infrastructure gap that exists on the continent and has the potential to ensure access to affordable medical care for every African,” he said.
