Ghanaian health startup mPharma buys Vine Pharmacy to expand into the Uganda market and make drug affordable for sick people in Africa | Tech News

mPharma, a Ghanaian well being startup, introduced right now it has taken a controlling stake in one other African tech startup Uganda’s Vine Pharmacy for an undisclosed quantity, based on the information first reported by TechCrunch. The acquisition additionally marks the 8-year-old mPharma entry into its newest African market.

Based in 2013 by CEO Gregory Rockson, James Finucane, and Daniel Shoukimas, the Accra, Ghana-based mPharma streamlines last-mile supply of pharmaceuticals and makes them inexpensive in under-served markets. The startup at present operates in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

mPharma revealed to TechCrunch that it acquired a 55 % stake in Vine Pharmacy beforehand held by the Abraaj Group, a non-public fairness agency based by Pakistani businessman Arif Naqvi and was primarily based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Abraaj acquired Vine Pharmacy in 2013 when it was the biggest pharmacy chain in Uganda. Abraaj Group later shut down in 2020 after traders, together with the Invoice and Melinda Gates Basis, sounded an alarm over the administration of its $1 billion healthcare fund.

In a press release, mPharma CEO Gregory Rockson advised TechCrunch, “Vine was the largest pharmacy chain in Uganda. At its peak, it had about 36 shops unfold throughout the nation. However with Abraaj as its largest shareholder, the enterprise needed to resize as soon as there wasn’t any extra capital out there for development. We’re shopping for out the stake that Abraaj held.”

The drug provide chain in Africa is damaged as pharmacies on the continent battle to maintain life-saving medicines in inventory. On the similar time, sufferers are sometimes compelled to pay costs 3 times what they might in a Western nation for a similar medication, amidst rising illness charges.

By eliminating inefficiencies and taking possession of the provision chain, mPharma is ready to clear up the pipeline of drug procurement to make drugs accessible and inexpensive for sick individuals throughout the continent. “What we hope is that with our give attention to bringing down the price of medication, there’ll be a systemic change the place different actors shall be compelled to cut back their costs,” says founder Gregory Rockson.

In the meantime, that is mPharma’s second main acquisition. In 2019, the startup acquired Kenya’s second-largest pharmacy chain Haltons to enter the East Africa regional market. The acquisition gave mPharma partly management possession of the 20 Haltons shops cut up between Nairobi and Mombasa.

Since its inception eight years in the past, mPharma has raised a complete of $53.2M in funding over 12 rounds. Its newest funding was raised on Could 26, 2020, from a Collection C spherical. mPharma can also be funded by 24 traders, with  Daniel Vasella and DOMPE being the newest traders.

“I can inform you Vine is a really worthwhile pharmacy chain. It’s been a family-owned enterprise for nearly 30 years, and so, we’re actually attempting to make use of this second to scale the enterprise,” Rockson stated. “It’s a extremely thrilling time for us and happily, Uganda is an thrilling market. It might be like 5 years behind Kenya, however we expect it’s ripe for innovation and disruption,” he added.

In 2015, mPharma was the primary place winner of the WHS Startup Observe that came about in Berlin, Germany. mPharma was chosen from amongst 9 different unimaginable startups, themselves chosen from a pool of over 70 candidates.

In accordance with the data on its web site, mPharma has “helped 400,000 sufferers make financial savings on high-quality medicines.”