Nigeria’s Healthtracka Raises $1.5M Seed For Its At-home Lab Testing Platform
Healthtracka, an at-home lab testing platform located in Lagos, has raised $1.5 million in seed funding. Ingressive Capital, an Africa-focused early-stage venture capital firm, and Hustle Fund, a venture fund based in the United States, are among the investors in this round. Alumni Angel Alliance and Flying Doctors were among the angel investors.
The money will help Healthtracka in its next phase of expansion as it expands its B2B2C offering, which allows partner organisations in Nigeria to provide at-home testing to their employees.
Why The Investors Invested
Since its inception, the startup has gained significant traction. Healthtracka’s network of phlebotomists has grown 20 times to over 100. According to co-founder and CEO Ifeoluwa Dare-Johnson, the company has performed nearly 7,000 home testing. As a result, its revenue is increasing by 30% month after month.
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The experience of the founders was also important to the investors. Dare-Johnson spent numerous years in the healthcare industry before launching Healthtracka. She once oversaw marketing activities at a diagnostic facility. However, it wasn’t a passion for her job that drove the CEO to address this issue; rather, it was direct knowledge of the problems that delayed or no diagnostics may produce.
“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,” said Maya Horgan Famodu, founder of Ingressive Capital on the raise. “The product is high quality, on time, affordable, and unlocking the door for a healthier Africa.”
A Look At What The Startup Does
Ifeoluwa Dare-Johnson and Victor Amusan founded the company in May 2021.
Healthtracka’s product is a website where people may arrange lab tests online, have samples collected at their homes, and receive findings through email within 48 hours. Fertility and STD testing, as well as whole body count and COVID tests, are among the available lab tests.
The one-year-old healthtech focuses on preventive care and collaborates with lab centres to diagnose, sending phlebotomists to consumers’ homes. Dare-Johnson stated that the team’s diagnostic knowledge helps them build quality checklists to vet these lab centres, one of which is fulfilling the standard ISO laboratory accreditation.
Healthtracka also collaborates with doctors to review results and specialists to provide additional consultation. However, while a standard test covers phlebotomist visits and doctors examining data, users pay an additional fee if Healthtracka connects them with specialists if the diagnosis is concerning.
To pursue further growth and diversify its revenue streams, the company is exploring three tactics. For starters, it is introducing subscription programmes for its retail clients. The second is banking on its B2B strategy, providing APIs to telemedicine service providers, hospitals, and pharmacies in order to provide at-home blood testing for their patients. Third, by the end of the year, the healthtech firm hopes to expand its footprint beyond seven Nigerian towns to Kenya and Ghana.
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“Our progress has moved from being B2C to an infrastructure play, somehow. We want to power digital diagnostics and empower healthcare providers to reach their customers where they are comfortable,” the chief executive said. “This will help reach more people, save more lives, and ensure that healthcare is better in Africa.”
The latest round of funding follows Healthtracka’s participation in the Techstars Toronto accelerator programme in October of last year.
Healthtracka home lab testing Healthtracka home lab testing
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. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh
