Meet MOBicure, a HealthTech Startup Using Mobile Technology to Solve Child and Maternal Health Challenges
Thousands of women and children in Africa die from preventable causes everyday. They range from complicated pregnancy to childbirth and early childhood diseases.
Many of these deaths running into millions yearly could have been averted if only the mothers were equipped with relevant information no matter where they are.
A Nigerian startup is out to solve that.
Meet MOBicure
MOBicure is a health-tech startup that is using mobile technology to solve some of the most pressing healthcare problems facing Nigeria and the rest of Africa.
The startup was founded in 2015 by Dr Charles Akhimien, Dr Emmanuel Owobu and Raman Anurag (a software engineer). Using mobile technology devices such as phones, tablets, SMS, apps and Interactive Voice Recordings (IVRs), the startup provides solutions to poor immunization coverage, high maternal and child mortality and poor health access.
The startup is most particular about maternal and child health which is still a huge challenge in Africa. One of its solutions, OMOMI, is geared towards addressing that problem.
Meaning ‘My Child’ in Yoruba, the Omomi app helps parents keep their children healthy by enabling them to easily monitor their children’s health. The app also provides both pregnant women and mothers with access to maternal and child health information.
For pregnant women, the app provides antenatal, postnatal and child care. It also helps mothers track their children’s immunization status and manage diarrhea at home with interactive Do-it-yourself (DIY) platform.
The platform also provides mothers access to experienced doctors in case of emergencies. So far, the app has engaged over 40,000 women on its platform.
MOBicure’s other solution is myPaddi. This is a platform that provides young people with accurate, unbiased and youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health information.
The online community helps users find great insights about sex, contraceptives, abuse and sexual health. Users can also have chats with ready counsellors and doctors to lay complaints or ask for help. The community has over 10000 users currently.
Since inception, MOBicure has raised a total of $167,000 in funding over 3 rounds. Its last funding was a $100k grant from Expo Live grant, in 2017.
