Nigeria-based Remedial Health raises $1M in pre-seed to digitize Nigerian pharmacies

Y Combinator-backed health-tech company Remedial Health has secured $1 million in pre-seed funding to digitize pharmacies in Nigeria. The fund will also be targeted towards curbing the supply of fake and substandard pharmaceutical products in the country first, then the rest of Africa, according to the company.

The pre-seed funding round was led by Global Ventures and Ventures Platform. Other participants include Ingressive Capital, Voltron Capital, Opeyemi Awoyemi” Angel Syndicate Fund, and other angel investors such as Olugbenga “GB” Agboola (Flutterwave) and Victor Asemota.

Remedial Health was founded in 2020 by Samuel Okwuada, a professional pharmacist and self-taught software developer; and Victor Benjamin. The startup kicked off as a private business, which imported pharmaceutical products from markets like India, the USA, and Nigeria, and then sell to pharmacies in Nigeria.

Founders of the company said the new funding will also be used to extend its buy now, pay later (BPNL) offering to hit a wider reach. The startup, to date, has more than 300 pharmacies in its clientele that make orders through its mobile app, and WhatsApp platform.

"The pharmacies don't have to pay for products upfront; in some cases, they pay deposits, maybe 20%, and then pay the balance over time, but depending on how well we've known them, it can be 100% financing," Okwuada said.

Remedial was part of the Winter 2022 cohort of Silicon Valley’s Y Combinator accelerator. It gets its products from over 100 globally known pharmaceuticals including GSK, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Nigerian-based Orange Drugs, Emzor and Fidson Healthcare.

The startup’s platform allows pharmacies to effectively manage their operations, make and track orders which would take about 24 hours to process, as well as other helpful operations. The platform also features a confidential database of patients' medical records and supports reporting and accounting.

“For those using the system, because we can basically see their shelves, we are solving their supply issues by ensuring that they’re getting the products when they need them. And so they don’t have to go to the market and waste time by going through 20 to 30 individual distributors to buy all the medicines and supplies that they need,” Okwuada said.

Remedial Health also covers pharmacies that are not registered on their system. It allows these pharmacies to purchase products via an online shop – the Remedial Health app.

"We don't force everyone to use the system because we don't assume that every single pharmacy has a computer and constant power supply. And because we know that the major problem is supply, we make it possible for them to access the procurement system on their phones," he added.

The health-tech startup currently operates in six states, with plans to expand across the country, as well as other African markets.