• Ilara Health

  Participated · Series A · Feb 2024

  Ilara Health is a Kenya-based healthtech that enables private clinics to acquire diagnostic devices, pharmaceuticals and other clinic items on credit. The company began by leasing diagnostic devices to clinics in 2019 and has since expanded its offering to include pharmaceuticals, hospital furniture and a subscription practice-management software. Ilara serves about 3,000 clinics across Kenya and charges KSh.1000 (~$6.25) monthly for its software, which digitizes operations and supplies data for reporting and credit assessment. It partners with manufacturers such as Butterfly Network to provide low-cost portable ultrasound devices and other equipment. The startup plans to use new funding to scale operations in Kenya and to roll out a B2B health and occupational service that gives uninsured workers access to partner clinics for a fixed monthly fee. Management also intends to use clinic data from the software to support credit ratings and lend up to $15,000 in working capital to clinics. Ilara Health is a Nairobi-based diagnostics health-tech service provider that partners with healthcare facilities to expand access to basic diagnostic tests. Since its 2018 inception the company has grown partnerships across Nairobi and Kisumu from 15 to 200 facilities and aims to make diagnostics more accessible and affordable to over 500 million Africans. It recently raised $3.75 million in Series A funding led by TLcom Capital with participation from DOB Equity, Global Ventures, and Chandaria Capital to fund service expansion and technology investment. CEO and co-founder Emilian Popa said the company will widen its disease-indication coverage and create end-to-end value across the care delivery process. Ilara plans to reach patients who currently struggle to access lifesaving tests and to develop data-driven insights to improve quality of care across the continent. The new capital is intended to accelerate service expansion and build the company's technological capabilities across its partner network. Ilara Health distributes low-cost, AI-powered diagnostic devices bundled with its proprietary electronic medical record (EMR) system to primary-care doctors in peri-urban and rural clinics. The EMR records patient data and helps clinicians provide effective patient management while the diagnostics enable testing at the point of care. The company says it was started to help doctors bring diagnostics to the roughly 500 million people in sub-Saharan Africa who need them most and notes that about 70% of patients need some form of medical test to inform treatment. Ilara will use the new funding to grow its peri-urban clinic customer base in Kenya and to build a flexible technology platform to manage and protect patient health and clinic financial data. The startup was founded by CEO Emilian Popa, COO Amaan Banwait and VP sales Hannes Eckmayr and is based in Nairobi, Kenya. The company also received a Columbia Business School Tamer Fund seed grant award (seed grants up to $25,000) announced in late July.

• Mahmee

  Participated · Series A · May 2022

  Mahmee is an integrated care delivery platform for maternal and infant health that provides a subscription-based service offering live support seven days a week, unlimited expert-led support groups and classes, and a unified health record for mom and baby. Since launching in 2016, Mahmee has served over 15,000 pregnant and birthing individuals and its network includes more than 750 practices and community-based organizations. The service pairs expectant mothers with seasoned nurses and care coordinators who proactively screen for health concerns, make referrals to culturally competent professionals, and assist with navigating social services. Mahmee reports patients are 10% less likely to have a C-section and 50% less likely to deliver prematurely, and it maintains partnerships with municipal health departments, hospitals, and insurers including the D.C. Department of Health and Blue Shield of California. The company emphasizes improving outcomes for Black and Indigenous birthing individuals and aims to expand access to comprehensive prenatal and postpartum care for historically underserved communities. Mahmee operates a HIPAA-secure online platform that combines peer group discussions, connections to medical providers, and trained maternity coaches who can flag medical issues. The service offers group and individual video calls (the introductory coach session is free) and subscription tiers starting at $20 up to about $200 per month for unlimited access and monitoring. Mahmee’s dashboard is designed to bridge fragmented postpartum data and enable coordination across practices and health systems. The company charges for engagement and patient monitoring services rather than offering the core community features for free. Mahmee reports more than 1,000 providers in its network. The team plans to expand engineering, clinical, and sales staff and is pursuing partnerships within the healthcare industry.

No current team members are available.