We recently invested in  Waspito, a Cameroon-based digital health platform on a big mission to drive affordable and accessible quality healthcare across the African continent.   The $2.7m oversubscribed Series Seed round of venture financing via the Imperial Venture Fund further expands Imperial’s investment scope within Francophone West Africa to augment its market access and healthcare forward integration strategy.

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Their mobile solution is changing the way patients access and pay for healthcare services by enabling patients to:

  • Source and consult with high-quality medical practitioners directly on their mobile devices

Waspito has a unique go-to-market approach to build trust with its users. The digital health platform is developed like a social media platform where patients can access sensitive medical information and educational forums from vetted healthcare professionals and local government healthcare initiatives. Platform privacy allows users to engage on and build trust with the platform with access to key medical resources and patient care knowledge before booking services. 

  •  Order and fulfil prescription pharmaceuticals and mobile lab imagery needs

Not only can doctors issue prescriptions and order lab imagery through the platform, but users can also pay through the platform and get the medication delivered to them through Waspito’s partner pharmacy network.

  • Access digital life and medical insurance products directly on the Waspito platform

Waspito manages the insurance cycle from new customer onboarding to insurance claims management through insurer API integrations.  Waspito is uniquely positioned to act as a distribution channel for existing insurers to sell digital insurance products on their platform and manages claims which reduce insurers’ costs, allowing for cheaper insurance products

Traditional healthcare interfaces in Africa are largely offline and lack digitization. Furthermore, last-mile service delivery in Africa is characterized by complex, sub-optimal or broken supply chains, high mark-ups, low insurance penetration, high fragmentation, high transportation costs, and suboptimal medical care in Sub-Saharan Africa resulting in challenges that centre on accessibility to affordable and quality medical care. Waspito’s solution provides the digital unifying platform where stakeholders within the healthcare value chain can safely and effectively transact, thereby making healthcare and healthcare financing delivery more accessible and affordable. 

We found Waspito compelling for its proven ability to scale, impressive traction and growth across Francophone West Africa, a strong leadership team with extensive local knowledge and market insights expertise, and large, engaged base of users. Waspito’s asset-light technology-first approach aligns strongly with our digitizing healthcare interfaces investment thesis. 

The oversubscribed venture funding round featured a cohort of notable pan-African investors including Launch Africa Ventures, BlocSmart Africa, Orange Ventures, Saviu, Plug & Play, and BringCom. The $2.7m Series Seed round is part of Waspito’s journey to further expand its offering across multiple regions, as it strives to connect Africa’s health ecosystem online.