Nigerian-based DrugStoc secures $4.4m funding round
A Nigerian e-health pharmaceutical distribution start-up, DrugStoc has secured $4.4 million in a Series A funding round led by Africa HealthCare Master Fund, Chicago-based venture firm Vested World, German Development Bank (DEG) amongst others.
The e-health drugs procurement platform was born out of a hospital management company IntegraHealth, founded by Chibuzo Opara and Adham Yehia in 2015.
According to Opara, the platform’s monthly revenues has grown over 1,500% in the last three years, a demand brought by the quality assurance that comes with DrugStoc’s platform and they earn a commission for every sale made.
DrugStoc currently links 400 manufacturers to 3,200 doctors, hospitals and pharmacies, a report sighted by NIPC Intelligence states.
“When we started, I don’t think we ever had a doubt about the demand because we understood the scope of the problem. We understood that people were fed up with the status quo,” said Opara.
“It’s the fact that we are transforming not just convenience and access but also paying great attention to quality which every healthcare professional at the end of the day is bothered by, that is the underlying drive in a lot of healthcare facilities or pharmacies.”
Opara further stated that the secured fund will enable the startup to expand access to quality medicines and provide sustainable supply chain financing for healthcare providers in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“It will also allow the cloud-based platform to get quality medicines at affordable prices, thereby boosting superior quality control systems with International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certification on Good Distribution Practice,” he said.
