Remedial Health raises $12 million in Series A round
In Nigeria, four out of ten packs of medicine sold are counterfeits. While counterfeit drugs sabotage the local pharmaceutical industry and compromise the treatment of diseases, Remedial Health, a Nigerian health tech startup, is addressing this issue and regularising its supply chain. In Nigeria, four out of ten packs of medicine sold are counterfeits. About 267,000 people die every year as a result of fake and substandard medications. Counterfeit drugs deplete Nigerians’ trust in the country’s healthcare system, sabotage the local pharmaceutical industry, compromise the treatment of diseases, and kill people. While there have been efforts by the Federal Government to solve this problem, Remedial Health, a Nigerian health tech startup, is solving this problem. The health tech startup has raised $12 million in Series A funding—a mix of debt and equity—led by US-based venture capital firm QED Investors and Ventures Platform. The investment represents QED’s second investment in an African startup and Ventures Platform’s first Series A investment. Ycombinator, Tencent, and Gaingels also participated in the round. This new funding will enable Remedial Health to deepen the reach of its services across Nigeria—currently, the startup operates in 34 of Nigeria’s 36 states. Founded in 2021 by Samuel Okwuada and Victor Benjamin, Remedial Health offers digital procurement and patient medication records (PMR) platforms that make it easier for neighbourhood pharmacies, Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendors (PPMVs), and hospitals to access affordable and authentic retail medicines. Samuel Okwuada, CEO and co-founder of Remedial Health, while speaking on the raise said, “We are delighted to have raised these funds, particularly with the wider context of the global funding downturn and the wide range of economic headwinds in Nigeria. Our continued growth has put us in a strong position to deliver our mission of creating a tech-enabled, pharmacy-centred healthcare network, and we are looking forward to leveraging these funds to achieve more success.” During the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Okwuada discovered a market gap and a problem with the drug supply chain: hospitals that needed drugs could not access them due to the markets being shut down. “So I said look, we really need to standardize the supply chain for medicine in Africa,” Okwuada told TechCabal. Okwuada and his team began digitalizing the sale of drugs. Healthcare providers can buy vetted medications through the Remedial App and receive them within 24 hours via Remedial Health’s logistics network. Remedial also offers pharmacies and PPMVs credit to fund inventory purchases and provide employee loans and salary advances. Through its ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ solution, pharmacies on the Remedial can get stock delivered within 24 hours and pay for it later, while Remedia Health charges a little interest. This process strips pharmacies and local drug stores of the tedious paperwork, huge deposits and collateral involved in getting regular loans from the bank to do their business. Pharmacies that opt for the BNPL solution of Remedial Health have a repayment period of 14 days, while hospitals and government institutions have an extended period of 30 days and 60 days, respectively. Logistics pose a challenge Nigeria has three major pharmaceutical market hubs; Idumota in Lagos state, Kano, and Onitsha in Anambra state. Remedial Health reaches the entire nation by establishing regional hubs in different zones across the country to enable a seamless experience. However, moving shipments from one point to another remains a challenge. Okwuada asserts that bad road networks, unreliable third parties, law enforcement and various tax collectors pose a big challenge. “Getting items from point A to point B seems simple, but it’s very difficult to do in Nigeria. Especially when you are now on the interstates like you are moving between states.” According to a statement seen by TechCabal, Remedial Health, works with more than 300 manufacturers and serves more than 5,000 hospitals, pharmacies and PPMVs across 34 of Nigeria’s 36 states. According to Remedial’s CEO, 30 new stores have been opened due to Remedial’s financing offering. Okwuada claims the startup sold over 100,000,000 individual packs of medicine in 2022. “If you apply the 40% counterfeit rule, it means that as a company, we replaced 40 million counterfeit drugs in the Nigeria market,” said Okwuada. While Remedial Health is disrupting the drug supply chain in Nigeria and fighting the long battle against the spread of counterfeit drugs, Okwuada is keen on deepening Remedial Health’s market presence in the country. “The goal is to become the operating system for pharmacies in Nigeria at least within the next 18 to 24 months,” he said. “Right now, the goal is to deepen our presence in Nigeria. We have about 10% of the market share. So, we have a very long way to go before we start thinking of expanding to other countries, and we feel that once you have a significant market share in Nigeria, it’s going to be a lot easier to replicate in other countries.”
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👨🏿🚀TechCabal Daily – MSMEats
In partnership with Share this newsletter: Lire en Français اقرأ هذا باللغة العربية Happy new month Vote for TechCabal! We’ve been nominated for the “Best Educative Content Creator” award at the Social Media Awards. We’d like to win so our EIC can give take us on a real deep dive at the beach. If you’d like to support our ministry of utmost enjoyment, please take a few minutes to vote for us here. In today’s edition Nigeria pledges $164 million to MSMEs and startups Senegal shuts down its internet again SA sends Google packing startups OPay’s CEO steps down The World Wide Web3: Nigeria confirms Binance’s illegality Event: TC Live Opportunities Economy Nigeria pledges $164 million to MSMEs and startups African telecoms are taking a beating, and Nigeria’s shaky forex market is all to blame. Could it be a good time to be a small business in Nigeria? Amidst economic hardships brought on by an abrupt removal of fuel subsidies and new forex policies, Nigeria’s new president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is moving to bolster the country’s informal sector. In a broadcast yesterday, the president announced that the country had earmarked ₦125 billion ($164 million) to “energise” the informal sector, especially micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). President Bola Ahmed Tinubu How will this work? By March 2024, the country plans to provide grants of ₦50,000 ($65) each to 1,300 MSMEs in all 774 local governments across the country. About 100,000 MSMEs and startups will also share a ₦75 billion fund ($98.6 million) from which they can apply for ₦500,000 ($657) to ₦1 million ($1,315) loans at a competitive interest rate of 9% per annum. Manufacturers also get a cut: Per the president, a ₦75 billion ($98.6 million) fund has also been allocated for manufacturers in the country. This fund will support 75 enterprises, each accessing “₦1 billion ($1.3 million) credit at 9% per annum with a maximum of 60 months repayment for long-term loans and 12 months for working capital”. At this time, nothing is known about the application process for these funds. This is a developing story. Secure payments with Monnify Monnify has simplified how businesses accept payments to enable growth. We are trusted by Piggyvest, Buypower, Wakanow, Fairmoney, Cowrywise, and over 10,000 Nigerian businesses. Get your Monnify account today here. Internet Senegal shuts down its internet again Image source: DMforCredit, Lol, but we’re serious. Once again, the Senegalese government has shut down access to the internet. If this feels like like déjà vu, it is probably because this happened twice in June, following the arrest of Ousmane Sonko who ran for president in Senegal’s 2019 election. Why is this happening again? In a tweet, the government announced it is shutting off access to the internet to maintain public order. Apparently, there have been some hateful messages circulating on social media and stirring up trouble. The citizens are protesting Ousmane Sonko’s arrest as they think that it is politically motivated to prevent him from contesting in the 2024 election. Senegal, where approximately 58% of the population are internet users, has a history of using social media restrictions to control protests. In 2021, the authorities reportedly limited access to social media and messaging apps, in addition to measures targeting traditional media. Zoom out: Internet shutdowns have become somewhat of a go-to move for governments seeking to assert control. Nigeria previously banned its residents from using Twitter from June 5, 2021, to January 13, 2022, because Twitter temporarily suspended the country’s President Muhammadu Buhari over an offensive tweet. Last year, seven African countries imposed shutdowns nine times. In the year before, 12 countries disrupted the internet 19 times. Is it really that hard to find a balance between openness and order, or will the internet continue to be a pawn in the political game? Discover Trends with Smile Identity Download the Smile ID State of KYC in Africa Report on the latest trends in identity verification across Africa, highlighting the power of biometric verification and document verification in combating fraud. It is a must-read for any business looking to acquire users across Africa and keep up with fraud trends. Policy South Africa’s Competition Commission imposes new restrictions on websites GIF Source: Tenor Small businesses in South Africa can breathe easy. Yesterday, the country’s Competition Commission released its final Online Intermediation Platforms Market Inquiry report. The report represents the culmination of nearly two years of investigations into both local and international business-to-consumer (B2C) online platform markets. It identifies specific features that have a negative impact on competition within these markets. The results: The commission imposes new restrictions on Google, booking.com, Takealotand other websites to ensure that digital competition is fair and smaller businesses can compete online. Why the new restrictions? After an investigation, the Competition Commission found that Google’s business model and dominance negatively impact online platform competition. Additionally, the price parity requirement implemented by Booking.com prevents customers from listing services and products at lower prices on competing platforms. Launched in February 2021, the publication of the final report was delayed by several months after the Competition Commission published a provisional report with recommendations in July 2022. To address the distortion, the Competition Commission has implemented remedial measures on Google, aimed at enhancing visibility for smaller South African platforms in both paid and organic search results. Furthermore, it has directed Booking.com to discontinue its price parity requirement and notify all hotels and accommodation providers on its platform in South Africa about this alteration. Booking.com is also “required to put in place substantial programmes to provide funding of initiatives in the identification, onboarding, promotion and growth of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that are black-owned and/or in black communities on the Booking.com platform.” All platforms will be given time to implement the remedial actions depending on the complexity of the remedy. Fintech President of Opay Nigeria resigns after two years Ex-President Olu Akanmu and MD Dauda Gotring Yesterday, Olu Akanmu, announced his resignation as president and co-CEO of Opay Nigeria. Moving forward:
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