mPharma, a Ghanaian-based startup that streamlines last-mile delivery of prescription drugs, and makes them affordable, in under-served markets, recently raised $9.7m in Series B funding.
This round, which Digest Africa reports is about $2.3m shy of what mPharma originally intended to raise, brings the startup’s total funding till date to over $21.3m.
mPharma was founded in 2013 by Gregory Rockson (CEO) and his co-founders, Daniel Shoukimas, and James Finucane. They have since grown to have operations in Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe. To deliver on their value proposition, they partner with major pharmaceutical manufacturers, insurance companies, financial institutions and governments in these countries.
The startup employs a particularly interesting model — dubbed QualityRx — to enable its last-mile delivery network. Through a cooperative scheme, the startup offers mom-and-pop pharmacies loans, business support and access to its inventory. In return, mPharma takes participating pharmacies under its brand, using its growing purchasing power to lower the cost of drugs. So far, it has enlisted over 208 pharmacies and counting.
As at last year, mPharma claimed to have over 40 people on its payroll, serving more than 20,000 patients each month, mostly via pharmacies and private hospitals. With the new funding, mPharma will likely be looking to grow its network of delivery points and expand to other emerging market countries.
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Nigerian startups raised $17.6m in Q1 2019, 8.5% higher than they did in Q1 2018. Find out more in the latest quarterly edition of the Nigerian Startup Funding Report here.
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