The Venture Codex

Participated · Equity · Apr 2024

Hewatele manufactures and distributes medical oxygen via six operational Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) plants across Kenya and Uganda. Founded in 2013 by a group of doctors, the company supplies hospitals and regional facilities with gaseous oxygen (GOX). It has secured a USD 20M funding package composed of debt and equity to support expansion. Hewatele will build a liquid oxygen (LOX) manufacturing facility on the outskirts of the City of Nairobi. The company also plans to expand regional distribution capacity at key strategic regions within Kenya and double its existing hospital-based production and distribution capacity using pressurized gas cylinders. The raise is intended to increase both production scale and reach within the region.

Led · Equity · Jul 2016

Arbutus Medical develops TrakPak®, a single-use, pre-sterile procedure kit for bedside skeletal traction in trauma center ERs, and distributes surgical drills using its patented DrillCover Technology. The DrillCover creates a sterile enclosure around DEWALT® power tools, converting them into disposable sterile surgical drills and reducing the need for between-case sterilization. The company says its products have regulatory clearances from the U.S. FDA and Health Canada and that its devices have been used in 40 countries, enabling an estimated 85,000 surgeries. Arbutus is ISO13485 certified and aims to expand TrakPak adoption to improve ER efficiency, reduce costs, and broaden access to safe surgical care. The financing announced will fund the launch of the next-generation TrakPak in 2023 and support rapid scale-up. Arbutus Drill Cover, based in Vancouver, BC, develops a sterile cover that turns a hardware-store drill into a surgical tool. The device is intended to enable the use of consumer drills in surgical procedures. Arbutus was one of six Canadian healthtech companies selected for investment by Grand Challenges Canada. Grand Challenges Canada invested $1 million in Arbutus as part of a $5 million package across the six companies. Grand Challenges Canada, funded by the Government of Canada, worked with the companies through its transition-to-scale program to facilitate connections with private partners and public resources to secure additional funding. After each company went through the transition-to-scale program, the total investment reached $10 million.

Led · Debt Financing · Jun 2015

ZanaAfrica Group is a hybrid social enterprise in Nairobi that designs and sells affordable disposable and reusable sanitary pads, underpants, and educational comics for girls. Its core product line pairs pads with aspirational, behavior-change comics and a back-to-school kit to increase reach and deliver menstrual health information. The company uses a tiered distribution model that leverages social enterprises, community health workers (CHWs), supermarkets and roadside kiosks to make products available within walking distance of low-income women and girls. ZanaAfrica plans to scale up production, drive sales growth, and integrate impact evaluation into delivery channels as part of its expansion funded by new investment. Operational traction includes roughly 300,000 pads sold since November 2013, reaching about 20,000 customers (35% girls), and a target to reach 150,000 beneficiaries by the end of 2016. Education and systems-change work is led through the ZanaAfrica Foundation to create lasting reproductive-health outcomes alongside product sales.

Participated · Grant · Mar 2014

LionsGate Technologies (LGTMedical) is developing Phone Oximeter, a small device that attaches to a smartphone and connects to a companion app to measure blood oxygen levels. The app includes a predictive score intended to alert pregnant women if they are at risk for pre-eclampsia due to high blood pressure. The device is not yet for sale but is expected to be priced at $40. The company is testing Phone Oximeter on athletes in training and plans longer clinical trials to validate the predictive score with 80,000 women across India, Pakistan, Mozambique and Nigeria. LionsGate raised $2 million to develop and test the product, including a $1 million investment from Irfhan Rajani of Coleco Investments and a $1 million grant from Grand Challenges Canada. The Grand Challenges Canada contribution came from a fund created through a strategic partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada.

Participated · Equity · Sep 2013

ChipCare produces a handheld, mobile blood-testing platform designed for use in remote health settings to diagnose infectious and non-communicable diseases. The company is a University of Toronto startup led by CEO James Fraser. Its first HIV-related test is targeted to help link people with HIV to appropriate treatments and was scheduled to go to market in late 2016. ChipCare closed a $5.045M Series A to commercialize its product and continue development of next-generation devices. The company intends to use the proceeds to bring its current product to market while further developing subsequent products. Investors in the round include both existing backers and new strategic and angel investors. ChipCare, based in Toronto, develops a mobile handheld cell analyzer to test multiple diseases from a single drop of blood. The system has two components: a handheld reader and disposable test slides. Its assays include cell counting, protein/enzyme and pathogen detection. Revenue is expected to be generated mainly from sales of disposable test slides (consumables). The company is led by CEO James Fraser and CTO James Dou. It intends to use recently raised funds to continue development and commercialization of the handheld tool.