NEWS
Ghanaian health-tech startup Redbird wins seed funding The Imperial Innovation Venture Fund,
and patients can view the details of those test
a partnership with Newtown Partners,
results at any time.
together with Johnson & Johnson
“We’re thrilled to work with Johnson &
Foundation, participated in a $1.5mn seed
Johnson Impact Ventures and Newtown
round for Ghana-based health tech startup,
Partners. Newtown and Imperial’s expertise in
Redbird, bringing the total funding raised to
African supply chains, coupled with Johnson
date to $2mn.
& Johnson’s long-standing commitment
The Redbird team
to improve care for the most vulnerable
decentralised business model that enables
manage their health via five-minute medical
populations through technology, create a strong
rapid diagnostic testing at the point of primary
tests offered by community pharmacies.
support for our vision of revolutionising health
care in community pharmacies in Ghana.
Patients can also access their digital health
monitoring,” says Beattie.
Redbird’s digital health record platform has
Redbird enables patients in Ghana to easily
records from anywhere via Redbird’s app.
Today, patients can go to any Redbird partner
the potential to drive significant value to the
pharmacy – of which there are over 350 in Ghana
broader healthcare value chain and is a vital
CEO, Patrick Beattie, the future of disease
– and register for the platform. They can then
step toward improving healthcare outcomes in
burden in Africa will be chronic, with diseases
access any of 10 available rapid tests, which are
Africa. We look forward to supporting the team
such as diabetes projected to grow by 156%
performed instantly at a partner pharmacy, and
as they prove out their business model and
over the next 25 years. For patients and
receive results within minutes. These results are
scale across the African continent.”
healthcare professionals to properly track
saved to their personal Redbird health record,
and manage chronic illnesses, healthcare
which can be accessed by the patients via the app
operations within Ghana and to expand to
needs to be decentralised and much more
or at any partner pharmacy. The team also aims
new markets.
convenient, with the ability for a patient’s
to provide doctors with access to these health
health information to follow them wherever
records under patients’ consent, providing a
August 2018 and was accepted into the
they go. Redbird aims to facilitate the growth
more complete picture of a patient’s history.
Alchemist Accelerator in Silicon Valley as part
According to Redbird co-founder and
of such a system by enabling easy access to convenient testing and ensuring doctors
Llew Claasen, managing partner of Newtown Partners notes: “We’re excited about Redbird’s
The funding will be used to grow Redbird’s
Redbird officially launched in Ghana in
of the April 2018 cohort, as well as to Founders Factory Africa in April 2020.
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A filling cycle time of significantly less
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WWW.PHARMACOS.CO.ZA // APRIL 2021
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