Lagos-based health-tech startup Healthtracka has raised $1.5 million in seed funding. The funding round received participation from investors such as Africa-focused early-stage VC Ingressive Capital and U.S.-based venture fund Hustle Fund, and angel investors that participated in the round include Alumni Angel Alliance and Flying Doctors.
Healthtracka is an at-home lab testing platform launched in May 2021 by co-founders Ifeoluwa Dare-Johnson and Victor Amusan. Co-founder and CEO Ifeoluwa Dare-Johnson has experience working in healthcare before Healthtracka and her desire to reduce cases that worsen because of late diagnosis and/or detection led to Healthtracka. The startup’s seed funding round comes months after it participated in the Techstars Toronto accelerator program.
“As a scientist, I studied biochemistry in school and worked in the lab, so I knew how important diagnostics was. But it wasn’t until about four years ago, when my dad had passed, that I started to look closely into the space. We live in Africa, where healthcare infrastructure is poor. So you would think that that would make people more conscious about their health, knowing nobody will save them. Unfortunately, that’s not the case” Healthtracka’s co-founder and CEO said.
Elaborating on her dad’s death, she spoke that he looked fit and healthy unbeknownst that he had undetected health issues relating to diabetes and hypertension for a long time. She also said that the average African is guilty of neglecting their health adding that poor waiting times, slow doctor consultations, and poor doctor-patient ratio were factors that contributed to this.
CEO Ifeoluwa Dare-Johnson also went on to say that “These were some of the problems that I saw clearly and wondered how we could get healthcare to that level where you can be at home and access it seamlessly. We thought that could be a game-changer in how healthcare delivery can be improved in Africa. Somebody needed to come into that space to think about how to solve these operational challenges, build the logistics, technology, and the infrastructure to support the idea of at-home lab testing.”
Healthtechs like Healthtracka are trying to revamp the health space in Africa and thanks to the pandemic, the use of telemedicine has grown quite exponentially.
Healthtracka will be doing quite a lot with the funding it received. These actions are, however, geared towards growth and diversifying revenue sources. Healthtracka will be launching subscription plans for retail customers, will be offering APIs to telehealth service providers, and will be partnering with pharmacies to provide its at-home testing for patients. It also plans to expand beyond Nigeria where it is present in seven cities, and venture into Ghana and Kenya before the year comes to an end.
“Ifeoluwa is hungry and very bright. Not only did we anonymously use HealthTracka’s services in diligence and have a 10/10 experience, we recognized truly what this could become across the continent, even from just interacting with her team for tests. The product is high quality, on time, affordable, and unlocking the door for a healthier Africa,” Maya Horgan Famodu, founder of Ingressive Capital commented on the funding.”
