Redbird, an Accra-based healthtech company that enables doctors and patients to display the specifics of test results at any time, has raised $1.5 million in seed funding to enable it to expand its operations in Ghana and to enter new markets that will remain unnamed. 

“Very happy to be able to publicly share that Redbird has closed a seed round with J&J Foundation, Newtown Partners (via the Imperial Venture Fund), Founders Factory Africa, and others. The past year has thrown a lot of unexpected challenges in our path, but I’m very proud of the Redbird team for showing resilience and dedication to our customers and to patients needing convenient medical testing now more than ever. J&J Foundation, Newtown, and FFA each bring not just investment, but also the expertise that will help us continue to grow and bring convenient testing across the continent. Very excited to have them join the Redbird team and for what we’ll achieve together in 2021!” Said Redbird CEO Pattrick Beattie.

Here Is What You Need To Know

• Johnson & Johnson Foundation, Newton Partners (via the Imperial Venture Fund), and Founders Factory Africa were among the investors in the round. This takes the total sum earned for the company to $2.5 million.

• Redbird took part in the Alchemist Accelerator just a few months before its completion in 2018. It was the second African startup to participate in the six-month initiative, following fellow Ghanaian healthtech startup mPharma. In April of last year, the company was accepted into Founders Factory Africa.

Why The Investors Invested

Since 2016, lead investor in this round, Cape Town-based Newtown Partners, has actively been investing in startups in Africa via its Imperial Venture Fund. The VC took part in equity fundraises for Lori Systems; Field Intelligence; SweepSouth; Wala; OVEX, among others. The VC invests in a variety of startups, no matter the sectors. 

“We’re excited about Redbird’s decentralised business model that enables rapid diagnostic testing at the point of primary care in local community pharmacies. Redbird’s digital health record platform has the potential to drive significant value to the broader healthcare value chain and is a vital step toward improving healthcare outcomes in Africa. We look forward to supporting the team as they prove out their business model and scale across the African continent,” Llew Claasen, the managing partner of Newtown Partners said. 

Based in the UK, Founders Factory Africa runs an accelerator program for startups. Apart from its accelerator program, it also invests in startups. Redbird was part of its accelerator cohort in March 2020 when it poured $271k into the startup as well as in Truzo (South Africa), MVXchange (Nigeria) and WellaHealth (Nigeria). The fresh investment in Redbird is evident of the startup’s positive performance.

The Johnson & Johnson Foundation is funded entirely by the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies, and it currently operates as the Johnson & Johnson Foundation US (founded in 1953) and Johnson & Johnson Foundation Scotland (founded 2007). Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures, a creative finance vehicle designed to fix the current void in health-focused impact investing by financing social enterprises that help front-line health workers, is one of the Foundation’s initiatives.

Read also: Tunisian E-signature Startup NGSign Raises $544k Funding

A Look At What The Startup Does

Patrick Beattie, Andrew Quao, and Edward Grandstaff founded the healthtech company in 2018. Beattie’s work as a founding scientist at a Boston-based medical diagnostics startup was to create innovative rapid diagnostic tests. During his time in Accra in 2016, he met Quao, a Ghanaian trained pharmacist, at a hackathon, and discovered that their interests in medical research were close.

Redbird allows Ghanaian pharmacies to provide quick diagnostic testing for ten different health conditions as part of their pharmacy services. Anemia, blood sugar, blood pressure, BMI, cholesterol, Hepatitis B, malaria, typhoid, prostate cancer screening, and pregnancy are among the tests available.

“Pharmacies who partner with Redbird gain access to the software and all the ways Redbird supports our partners for free as long as they purchase the consumables through us. This aligns our revenue with their success, which is aligned with patient usage,” said the CEO.

In Ghana, this model is used in over 360 pharmacies, primarily in Accra and Kumasi. Despite the pandemic, Redbird has more than doubled its numbers since 2019. In the last three years, these pharmacies have recorded over 125,000 tests from over 35,000 patients who have registered on the website.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer

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