Rocket Health, a telemedicine and last-mile healthcare provider in Uganda, has raised $5 million in a Series A funding round to expand geographically and accelerate its technology roadmap to other regions in Africa.
Telemedicine is the provision of medical services to patients via two-way voice and visual communication when doctors and patients are physically separated. Doctors can consult with patients using HIPAA-compliant video conferencing tools powered by satellite tech, thanks to modern technology.
In some parts of Africa, the COVID-19 was a great opportunity for telemedicine to make new inroads. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced traditional healthcare providers to change their models and adopt new tech products — like telehealth and telemedicine. Telemedicine saw a spike worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic, growing up to 78 times in April 2020, according to a study by McKinsey.
Uganda is not left behind, as the telemedicine industry has already taken off, albeit slowly, through Rocket Health, a startup working to transform the delivery of medical care using technology.
About Rocket Health
Founded in 2012 by Davis Musinguzi (CEO), John Mark Bwanika (COO), Fiona Nuwamanya (CFO), Hope Achiro (chief pharmacist) and William Lubega (chief medical officer), Rocket Health is Uganda’s leading telemedicine provider, delivering an end-to-end healthcare experience to thousands of patients in the country. The startup’s approach integrates technology to provide four services: 24/7 teleconsultations, medicine delivery, home sample collection for laboratory diagnostic tests, and physical specialist clinic consultations. The company also has a USSD service for those without an internet connection.
Rocket Health operates its own lab and pharmacy delivery services, which helps the company to maintain control over product and service delivery. They charge $3 for consultation and $1.5 for the delivery of drugs.
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The need for remote treatment during the pandemic accelerated the company’s growth from a few thousand virtual consultations per year to almost 400,000.
“COVID has been a huge help in getting people interested in telemedicine.” Once someone has experienced that magical last-mile telemedicine experience, they almost never return to waiting in hospitals for a doctor’s appointment. “In addition to home-based care, we now do diagnostics like PCR testing,” Musinguzi explained.
Expanding Telemedicine across Africa
According to the World Health Organization, countries across sub-Saharan Africa have 0.23 doctors for every 10,000 people, against the best ratio of 84.2 doctors in the most developed countries.
Rocket Health’s co-founder and CEO, Davis Musinguzi, disclosed that the greater plan remains making healthcare easily accessible across Africa which has the highest disease burden in the world and the lowest patient-to-doctor ratio.
Following a $5 million Series A funding, the company is planning to expand its integrated digital healthcare system to other regions across Uganda and East Africa over the next two years, after nearly a decade of operation. The company also made it known that it will explore expansion opportunities in West Africa in the long run.
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“A lot of healthcare facilities and professionals are still centralized within the urban areas or the capital cities. So very many people across the country don’t get the benefits of these highly skilled individuals… There’s no way we’re going to build enough hospitals to be able to reach everybody with the health care that they need. I think technology complemented with existing infrastructure is how we can bridge that gap,” says Musinguzi.
“Rocket Health is on a quest to make quality primary healthcare accessible, affordable and convenient to achieve the best outcomes for as many Africans as possible through the exponential power of technology,” he added.
Creadev, an evergreen investment firm backed by the Mulliez family, led the company’s $5 million Series A funding round, which included early-stage African investors Grenfell Holdings and LoftyInc Capital Management. Rocket Health, so far, has raised a total of $6.2 million in investment.
“We are delighted to partner with Rocket Health on its mission to make Healthcare accessible to many people in Sub-Saharan Africa,” Creadev Africa said in a statement. “We have been highly impressed by the creativity, tenacity and vibrant culture of the Rocket Health team, who hold an ambitious vision for the future of African primary care. The opportunities are countless, from data analytics to innovative distribution channels.”
Rocket Health’s clientele base ranges from those calling in to have their children vaccinated to patients managing chronic illnesses. Also, 12 insurance companies have partnered with the company, giving it access to a pool of customers within Uganda and across East Africa, since most of them have a regional presence.
“We have different categories of clients; a lot of our clients are in urban areas, and they love the convenience of our services. We have also seen companies start buying subscriptions for casual workers, who don’t qualify for corporate medical covers,” Musinguzi revealed.
Another notable achievement that will see to the exponential growth of the company is the partnership with a Berlin-based end-user self-assessment platform, Ada, to integrate artificial intelligence into its teleconsultations.