Shock and amazement greeted the announcement that Kuda bank, a Nigerian fintech startup, had raised a $55 million Series B a mere 4 months following its similarly blockbuster $25 million series A. Beyond the fundraise, Kuda also revealed that they had doubled their user base to over a million in only a few months. In response, cries of ‘God when’ rang through the tech ecosystem as many founders, not least health tech founders, dreamed about making similar progress in traction and fundraising. Such rapid growth in fundraising and user adoption is a feature of high-growth tech startups. Recently flutterwave, another Nigerian startup, reached unicorn (valued over $1 billion) status and Chipper cash, a Pan African startup, founded less than 4 years ago raised over $100 million. Both of these startups like Kuda are all fintechs. As a group, Nigerian fintechs have been remarkably successful at attracting venture capital and have collectively raised over $0.5 billion in the last 5 years.
Thanks so much for this post. I had no idea of this rich history and groundwork behind all the fintech news we're seeing today.
We're definitely at the infrastructure stage for healthtech in Africa. For example, the market will likely continue to be unattractive without robust health insurance coverage. Out of pocket payment for healthcare in a poor country is just not encouraging. I also believe health tech founders will likely have more impact by working with the government.
Surely having the foundation laid speeds up the process and ensures that more focus is given on improving the overall experience instead of trying to close the institutional voids. All the best to Wellahealth Neto!
Very beautiful and encouraging write up sir...really admire ur enthusiasm and ur work. I'm a medical Biochem student and would like to go into health tech, how do I get in contact with u sir.
Neto,
Thanks so much for this post. I had no idea of this rich history and groundwork behind all the fintech news we're seeing today.
We're definitely at the infrastructure stage for healthtech in Africa. For example, the market will likely continue to be unattractive without robust health insurance coverage. Out of pocket payment for healthcare in a poor country is just not encouraging. I also believe health tech founders will likely have more impact by working with the government.
Gold.
Surely having the foundation laid speeds up the process and ensures that more focus is given on improving the overall experience instead of trying to close the institutional voids. All the best to Wellahealth Neto!
Health tech 1.0 underway already⚡⚡
Very beautiful and encouraging write up sir...really admire ur enthusiasm and ur work. I'm a medical Biochem student and would like to go into health tech, how do I get in contact with u sir.