Africa is becoming a hub for e-health start-ups, with 115 medical-related ventures operating in 20 countries. To date, these enterprises have raised more than US$19 million in investment.
Research by Disrupt Africa – which analysed eight key subsectors of the e-health space, including funding trends, health-focused accelerators and competitions – found that while Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa have been early adopters, there has been a rise in emerging e-health innovators in Uganda, Ghana, Egypt and Senegal.
The study also found that the majority of start-ups do not necessarily choose mobile phones as a delivery channel – only 44% of companies sampled were mobile based. This is despite the popular belief that most start-ups leverage the use of mobile devices, given the continent’s reputation as a ‘mobile-first’ region.
However, according to a Daily Nation report, Kenyan start-ups still prefer mobile devices, with 73% of e-health ventures using mobile technology to reach their customers.
