The pan-African program, Investing in Innovation (i3), has announced its second cohort of 29 African startups operating in the healthcare product distribution sector. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and supported by partners such as Cencora, Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD), Microsoft, and Chemonics, this program aims to support early-stage and growing startups by providing them with a $50,000 grant and investment readiness support.

The selected startups operate in 21 African countries and offer digital solutions for healthcare product distribution. They are developing online pharmacies, telemedicine services, inventory management systems, supply chain data analytics, and much more. It is noteworthy that 38% of these businesses are led by women, and 17% are active in French-speaking Africa.

These startups will have the opportunity to participate in the annual “Market Access” event of the i3 program, scheduled for November 14 and 15 in Nairobi. This event promotes partnerships between industry, governments, donors, and major multilateral agencies, with the goal of supporting the development of startups through contracts, pilot projects, and mutually beneficial investments.

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The first cohort of 31 companies supported by the i3 program has already concluded 24 contracts, pilot projects, and strategic partnerships, demonstrating the potential of this program to drive healthcare innovation in Africa.

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Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. 
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard