Nigerian Healthtech Startup Field Intelligence Expands into 11 New Cities in Africa
Nigeria based Healthtech startup Field Intelligence digitizing the supply chain and transforming access to essential, life-saving medicine, has announced its expansion into Rivers, Edo, Kaduna, Kano, Enugu, Delta and Kwara States in Nigeria, and Eldoret, Mombasa, Kisumu and Naivasha in Kenya.
Field Intelligence launched Shelf Life in 2017 to solve the inventory problem cutting across Africa’s $75B retail pharmacy market by providing pharmaceutical procurement and inventory management to eliminate frequent over and understocking, which results in expiry losses of over 10% a year and 30% stockout rates, driving pharmacies to reduce the variety of products they offer and increase their prices.
By expanding, the startup intends on leveraging its 700+ existing pharmacy members serving over 1.4 million patients to enable independent and franchise pharmacies access 1000 unique products, inventory planning, subscription delivery and Pay-As-You-Sell on the Shelf Life platform.
The expansion comes after a year of rapid growth in sales and Shelf Life membership subscriptions, with Nigeria increasing by 47% and 65% in Kenya, selling over 586,950 products in 63 different product categories.
Michael Moreland, CEO of Field Intelligence speaking on the expansion said that startup is helping pharmacies overcome challenges.
“Shelf Life’s rapid uptake across such a range of African markets is a testament to its potential as a solution for pharmacies across the continent.
“Rural and urban, East and West, we have found Shelf Life helping pharmacies overcome a shared set of challenges and seize new opportunities for growth by improving access for their patients.
“The ability of our technology to digitize, automate, and optimize planning, assortment, and fulfillment, led by an incredible team, is quickly making Shelf Life one of the largest retail pharmacy supply chains in Africa” said Michael.
By way of selling Shelf Life’s goods on consignment through its Pay-As-You-Sell program, pharmacies avoid expiry risk and access a cheaper alternative to working capital finance. The pioneering model has seen pharmacies grow an average of 25% CAGR.