Maisha Meds Hits 1,000 Active Facilities, Expands to Nigeria
Kenyan-based digital pharmacy network, Maisha Meds, has reached 1,000 active facilities, making it one of the largest digital pharmacy networks in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Founded in 2017 with operations across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and more recently Nigeria, Maisha Meds provides a business management software and reimbursement programs for pharmacies, drug shops and clinics, and patient support via its point-of-sale pharmacy app. Over the years, it has grown to support over 4 million patient encounters annually across its markets with its suite of software products.
The Android-based inventory management software works in any clinic, pharmacy or drug shop, is free to download and supports offline use as it was made for low-internet peri-urban and rural areas to bring the many small independent facilities into a larger ecosystem.
“Today is a big milestone for Maisha Meds as our network hits 1,000 facilities utilizing our technology across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria and Zambia,” said Jessica Vernon, Cofounder & CEO, Maisha Meds, in a statement. “Over 350,000 patients walked into one of our tech enabled pharmacies in the past 30 days alone (with 2.5 million in the last year), and of these 8,300 received clinically appropriate malaria, family planning, and HIV services through our health insurance-style loyalty program.”
Apart from officially launching in Nigeria, the startup is also designing an e-marketplace and credit solutions for pharmacies and clinics to help them access high-quality medications at the best possible prices. Maisha Meds is also raising between $10 and $15 million in new funding commitments to scale across Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria in the next few months to several thousands more pharmacies.
“We are building the financial and technology infrastructure to enable global health funders to pay for health outcomes at the last mile, with a focus on malaria case management, injectable contraceptives, prenatal care, HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, and COVID testing and vaccination,” added Vernon, in a statement.
Maisha Meds backers include USAID Development Innovation Ventures, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, Pfizer, and others. The firm is building partnerships with multilateral global health funders, pharmaceutical companies, and national health insurance funds.