Tech in Africa
DrugStoc a Nigeria healthtech has raised a $4.4 million Serie A funding round led by Africa HealthCare Master Fund (AAIC), alongside Vested World (a Chicago-based venture firm), and the German Development Bank (DEG). The funds will go towards expanding access to quality medicines and providing sustainable supply chain financing for healthcare providers across sub-Saharan Africa.
Drugstoc is a cloud-based platform providing healthcare providers with an easy access interface for easy access to pharmaceuticals and other healthcare products. This helps patients get quality access to medicines at affordable prices. Drugstoc boasts of superior quality control systems with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certification on Good Distribution Practice.
Launched in 2017 by two health sector professionals Chibuzo Opara and Adham Yehia, Drugstoc claims to have powered over nine million prescriptions and projects 12 million by end of 2021.
In a statement, DrugStoc co-founder/CEO Chibuzo Opara said, “Fragile and resource-challenged healthcare systems require a radically transformative set of market-based strategies to expand access to healthcare. The DrugStoc way re-engineers the value chain digitally, improving and expanding access to healthcare at the same time.”
Nobuhiko Ichimiya, Director at AAIC, stated that “We are very excited to be part of the DrugStoc journey. The pharmaceutical market in Africa has enormous growth potential and we are glad to back a company well-positioned to be a key player in the sector’s growth in sub-Saharan Africa.”
In 2016, Drugstoc was incubated under Stanford’s Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies. The healthtech has also been shortlisted as a top ten finalist on the 2019 Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative by Jack Ma’s entrepreneurship program.
The investment will see Drugstoc double down on its vision of changing the way healthcare providers interface with the pharmaceutical market and revolutionize sub-Saharan Africa’s access to quality pharmaceuticals.
