Berry Health, a Ghanaian health IT business, has secured $1.6 million in pre-seed capital to combat health barriers and stigma in Africa.
Lightspeed Ventures and General Catalyst led this fundraising round.
Other notable investors in the pre-seed round include Reddit COO Jen Wong.
Thirty Madison co-founders Demetri Karagas and Steven Gutentag, New York tech lawyers and VCs Ed and Betsy Zimmerman, and former U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin.
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Berry Health will use the huge $1.6 million investment to improve and grow its breakthrough health IT platform.
This funding aims to influence African attitudes around sexual and mental health. Berry Health aspires to improve local health care by delivering services that don’t condemn people and using technology to overcome barriers and social stigma.
Read also: Vantage, NHED, to Boost Nigerian Health System using AI
Why the Investors Invested
Berry Health attracted investors for many reasons. First, Africa has severe rates of STIs and mental illness.
Africa has 80 million STI cases per year, second only to Southeast Asia. The World Health Organisation reports 11 suicides per 100,000 in Africa, which is higher than the global average.
These shocking statistics demonstrate the region’s urgent need to address sexual and mental health issues.
With one doctor per 10,000 people, Africa needs innovative health care methods. Telemedicine, virtual care, and drug delivery systems have increased in Africa because of COVID-19. Health IT firms have many options. Berry Health’s subscription-based tool for diagnosing and treating a wide range of disorders online may make effective health care easier to access and less unpleasant.
Berry Health CEO Fredua Akosa inspires investors. Akosa, a general practitioner, understands Africa’s health care challenges. Berry Health’s unexplored market, solid management team, and proven business plan have investors optimistic about its revolutionary potential.
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About Berry Health
Berry Health, a Ghanaian firm started a few months ago, aims to change healthcare by eliminating sexual and mental health stigma in Africa. The pandemic led British-Ghanaian medical practitioner Fredua Akosa to create Berry Health.
Berry Health can diagnose and treat anxiety, sadness, sexual health issues (like birth control and erectile dysfunction), skin problems, and hair loss from a distance. Online talks with licenced medical doctors or clinical psychologists let users get personalised treatment plans, have medications sent to their homes, and avoid in-person visits and stigma.
With its subscription plan, Berry Health charges 299 GH ($26) a year for all of its services. This is less than what Ghana usually charges for health care. Clinician visits will cost $5, which will make health care cheaper for more people. On Berry Health’s management team are people who have worked for WPP, Instacart, and Babylon Health. The company has a group of gynaecologists, dermatologists, and other doctors on its medical advisory board to help with medical advice.
Berry Health plans to serve Ghanaian consumers after emerging from stealth mode next month. The new company wants to improve health care in Africa.