Investing in Innovation Africa (i3), a pan-African initiative to support African healthtech startups to commercialise and scale their offerings, has announced its 3rd cohort of 7 growth-stage companies working to transform pharmacy services on the continent.
Sponsored by the Gates Foundation, MSD, Cencora (formerly AmerisourceBergen), Endless Foundation, HELP Logistics (a subsidiary of the Kühne Foundation), Sanofi’s Global Health Unit and Chemonics, the three-year program will empower innovators to improve patient access to healthcare across Africa and scale their impact.
According to Boniface Njenga, Deputy Director, Health Delivery and Systems, Africa at the Gates Foundation,”The i3 program emphasises the transformative potential of technology-driven innovations on the continent when empowered with the right resources, and we have already seen impressive results from the cohorts.”
In many African countries, pharmacies serve on the frontline of healthcare delivery, providing as much as 70% of initial healthcare visits. The selected growth-stage startups offer tech-enabled solutions that strengthen pharmacy services across Africa, ranging from inventory management, product protection, last-mile delivery, AI-powered prescription refills, embedded financing, and cloud-based pharmacy systems. These companies are reimagining how medicines and health services reach patients, making essential care more accessible, affordable, and safer.
They include Chefaa, Dawa Mkononi, Meditect, mPharma, myDawa, RxAll and Sproxil. Each innovator will receive up to $225K in risk-tolerant funding, tailored customer introductions, bespoke deal facilitation, and professional communications and advocacy support.
The cohort will participate in i3’s flagship Access to Markets event in December 2025, designed to spark high-impact partnerships between innovators and large healthcare companies, governments, donors, and multilateral agencies.
Dr. Priya Agrawal, Vice President, International Health Equity and Partnerships, at MSD, noted: “MSD is committed to partnering with i3 to support entrepreneurs that are dedicated to expanding equitable healthcare access. By engaging the local private sector and meeting patients where they are, we can enhance access and strengthen health systems through fostering innovation in pharmacy services.”
In the past two years, i3 has provided $3M in direct grant funding to 60 start-ups across 16 African countries. The program has also established a diverse cohort of innovators, with 43% being women-led and 20% Francophone-led. Finally, successes have recorded 450 facilitated strategic connections, including 122 contracts and pilots, resulting in >$11M in contracted partnerships, expanded reach, and nearly 1,000 jobs created—half of which were held by women.
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