Nigerian e-health start-up, MDaaS Global has indicated a commitment to building and operating tech-enabled diagnostic centres in clinically underserved communities across Africa following a US$1 million
seed fund.
Founded in 2016 by Oluwasoga Oni, Opeyemi Ologun, Genevieve Barnard Oni and Joseph McCord, the start-up seeks to address the lack of high-quality, affordable diagnostic services in low- and middle-income sub-Saharan Africa, starting with Nigeria’s 130 million low- and middle-income patients.
Recall that we reported recently that the startup was on the verge of raising about $1.1 million in new funding round from over 12 investors. This was made known by a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.
The funding round was led by Consonance Investment Managers, with participation from Techstars, FINCA Ventures, an investment initiative of FINCA International, the Fund for Africa’s Future, a fund led by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji and Nadayar Enegesi, Greentree Investment Company.
“This funding round fuels our next phase of growth, allowing us to continue providing modern, connected healthcare for Africa’s next billion. With diagnostics as the bedrock of modern medicine and key to the treatment of diseases like cancer, heart disease, and diabetes – which are on the rise within the continent – unbridled access to quality healthcare is crucial. We are immensely proud of our brick-and-mortar presence; merging physical patient care with state-of-the-art technology enables us to reach more patients with the care that they deserve.”
MDaaS Global’s CEO and Co-Founder Oluwasoga Oni speaks on the funding
With this funding round, MDaaS seeks to replicate and scale its novel and innovative business model by opening 100 additional centres in Nigeria and West Africa over the next five years.
Explaining the choice of investment in MDaaS Global, Ami Dalal, Managing Director of FINCA Ventures highlighted key features of the MDaas business model that will make the startup a social enterprise with a clear diagnosis of Africa’s health trajectory and a health care solution for the continent’s next billion:
- Getting Diagnostic Services to the Underserved
- Putting Clients at the Center
- Driving Momentum for Scale and Impact
- Increasing Customer Resilience for Financial Service Providers
“Quite simply, MDaaS is a beacon of hope for improved health outcomes across sub-Saharan Africa, and with their continued expansion, we believe the prognosis is promising”, she says.
MDaaS’s affordability is helping change the healthcare narrative, with basic procedures, like obstetric ultrasounds, starting at just US$4(<2000Naira). On a continent where public healthcare is appallingly underfunded – receiving less than 5% of GDP, MDaaS presents the opportunity to bolster the health sector.
Having partnered with over 60 referring health facilities, MDaaS serves as the centralized diagnostic department for surrounding hospitals and clinics within Ibadan and has served over 9,000 low and middle-income patients to date.
