The COVID-19 pandemic and increasing prices of goods due to inflation have increased the price of medications in Nigeria. This has put a significant strain on neighborhood pharmacies and Proprietary Patent Medicine Vendors, also known as PPMVs. These are the main source of medicine for most Nigerians and a primary resource for running their businesses. Consequently, they have to provide lifesaving drugs to their communities while efficiently running their businesses.
By using Remedial Health’s digital purchasing platform, pharmacies and Personal Purchasing Machines can access everything they need in one place. This includes medicines, medical supplies and even small devices through a mobile app or web-based store. Furthermore, these items can be purchased at open air medicine market prices through the platform. Additionally, purchasers can receive delivery of their items within 24 hours of purchase.
$4.4M Seed Investment
Remedial Health recently received $4.4 million in initial funding through a seed round. Global Ventures led this round of financing; they invested in the company’s $1 pre-seed round. Other participants included Tencent, Y Combinator, Cathexis Ventures, LightSpeed Venture Partners, Scout Fund and Alloy. Prominent angel investors participated in this round of funding, including Guillaume Luccisano and Christopher Golda.
This investment will lay the groundwork for Emefa Pharma’s expansion across Africa in 2023. In the mean time, the funding will be used to grow its customer base among hospitals, neighborhood pharmacies and Proprietery Patent Medicine Vendors, or PPMVs.
Samuel Okwuada claims that Neighborhood pharmacies and privately owned primary care pharmacies have the potential to become the face of a healthy healthcare system on Africa. He states that technology can help make this vision a reality by helping these businesses grow despite years of challenges. As CEO and co-founder of Remedial Health, Okwuada thanks his investors for supporting him with funding and a strategic advantage. With this help, he vows to deliver solutions that address many hindrances that pharmacy businesses previously encountered. Furthermore, he believes this will help safeguard lives and livelihoods across Africa for years to come.
Sacha Haider, the Principal of Global Ventures, commented that Remedial Health was addressing significant market opportunity. This was because 500,000 Nigerians out of a total population of 174 million people operated 500,000 community pharmacies. Furthermore, these pharmacies drove 80% of a 70 billion naira — or $4.1 billion — annual pharmaceutical sales market in Nigeria alone. Sam’s mission is to reduce the cost of healthcare through improved supply chains in Africa. By partnering with Sam, Mr Haider noted that Remedial Health allowed 25% reductions at the point of care— which is an impressive accomplishment.
Digitises African Pharmaceutical Industry
In 2021, Samuel Okwuada and Victor Benjamin founded Remedial Health in Nigeria. This healthtech company delivers solutions for the African pharmaceutical business that increase efficiency and profitability. Remedial Health also supports the creation of a tech-connected network of pharmacies for healthcare across the continent.
By using Remedial Health’s platform, pharmacies, Pharmaceutical Partnering Models and hospitals can receive significant benefits. These include time saving, improved efficiency, bulk buying discounts and access to credit. Additionally, they can earn additional revenue by providing financial services and other primary healthcare services. This is possible because manufacturers can benefit from a streamlined supply chain with clear and easy product launch route-to-market. They can also leverage real-time data on products’ usage to improve their forecasting, production and distribution intelligence.
Remedial Health connects to over 100 pharmaceutical manufacturers and suppliers, including GSK, Pfizer and AstraZeneca. The company has already expanded to cover 16 out of Nigeria’s 36 states, with a 600% increase in sales volumes. Additionally, Remedial Health already operates in 6 states throughout Nigeria.
