Investor Updates: Rocket Health raises $5m for telemedicine platform

Uganda’s Rocket Health raises $5m for its telemedicine platform

Highlights

• Rocket Health, a startup working to transform the delivery of medical care using technology in Uganda, has closed a $5 million Series A funding round led by Creadev.
• Launched in 2012, Rocket Health offers online medical consultation, collection of samples, and the delivery of medicines. They also have a USSD service for those without an internet connection too.
• After nearly a decade of operation in Uganda, the startup is now set to scale its integrated digital health solution to more regions across the country and within East Africa over the next two years.

Source: TechCrunch

Our Takeaway 

Since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, the popularity of telemedicine—an innovative way of getting access and delivering health care using digital devices such as mobile devices and computers—has risen significantly. Per a McKinsey study, telemedicine grew 78 times in April 2020. In Africa, where fewer than 50% of Africans have access to modern health facilities, the budding healthcare tool has equally made new inroads.

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Codecademy launches Africa-based AI accelerator with Black and Brilliant

Highlights

• Codecademy has teamed up with advocacy group Black and Brilliant to launch an applied artificial intelligence accelerator and mentorship program in Africa.
• Combining upskilling and mentorship, the program will focus on both the hard and soft skills needed to build successful careers in AI. 
• Over 10 weeks, participants will master the fundamentals of data science, data engineering, and programming using Codecademy’s self-guided, hands-on learning platform and also work with a group of coaches and mentors from companies like Shopify, Google, and Fujitsu.

Source: Disrupt Africa

Our Takeaway

Despite its huge potential benefits, Africa faces several challenges in harnessing AI such as a lack of investment and specialized talent. However, these hurdles are being slowly whittled down thanks to multi-stakeholder efforts like the establishment of AI labs in Africa by IBM Research, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon as well as continental collaborations such as Deep Learning Indaba and Zindi. Codecademy’s initiative adds to these efforts. 

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Egyptian proptech startup Circle acquired by Milango

Highlights

• Egyptian prop-tech startup Circle has been acquired by community management startup Milango in a move that will see the latter add more than 100,000 residential units to its client base.
• Founded by Nancy Kamal and Essam Maged in 2020, and backed by 500 Global, Circle enables real estate developers as well as property owners to connect easily to tenants. 
• Milango, meanwhile, was launched in 2021 by Amr Mostafa and offers business clients tools to help them digitize via its set of community management tools. It is funded by A15.

Source: Disrupt Africa

Our Takeaway

On the back of muted growth in 2021, merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in the African tech landscape continue to heat up this year. There have been at least 10 such transactions involving African startups so far in 2022, an average of a deal per week, across the region. And interestingly, the Circle-Milango deal suggests increasing activity in the property technology space, which is still largely untapped on the continent.