#37: mPharma - How the HealthTech supply chain platform is providing services to pharmacies & patients across Africa Afrobility: Africa Tech and Business

Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about mPharma - the Ghanaian prescription drug inventory management company. We’ll explore the mPharma story across 6 areas:


African Health care status & context
mPharma founding and early history
Fundraising & Growth
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook.

This episode was recorded on Sep 5, 2021



Companies discussed: mPharma, Novartis, DrugStoc, Medsaf, Helium Health, Golden Palm Investments, Novastar ventures, CDC & Gates Foundation



Business concepts discussed: Healthcare Logistics, drug distribution, Healthcare technology, Health insurance coverage, Health platforms, IFC & Public policy



Conversation highlights:


(01:14) - Why we’re talking about mPharma
(05:18) - Background of Healthcare in Africa
(19:41) - Healthcare and Pharmacy / Drugs access in Nigeria
(26:05) - Healthcare context and insurance in Ghana
(27:15) - mPharma founding and early history - Gregory Rockson background
(43:56) - Fundraising - Seed, Series A, B, C
(56:00) - Traction - users, reported revenue, etc.
(1:01:50) - Product strategy - Quality (Shop) Rx, Mutti, etc.
(1:11:57) - Monetization strategy
(1:14:17) - E-Commerce logistics vs healthcare logistics
(1:21:48) - Competition
(1:34:22) - Options for exit - mergers, acquisitions
(1:36:56) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:45:36) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(1:55:47) - Recommendations and small wins



Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:


Recommendation: The World After Capital (Albert Wenger)
Small win: Setup Galaxy Z Flip3. Different experience.
Other content: Life expectancy (World Bank database)



Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:


Recommendation: Donald Shoup on the economics of parking & Heaven and Hell - Kanye West
Small win: Attended a wedding in New Jersey this past weekend. Lots of fun celebrating with friends. Happy Married Life Joan & Chris!!!
Other content: Accelerating improvements in Health Product Distribution by Salient Advisory & How the QWERTY Keyboard Broke the Chinese Language



Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Please email info@afrobility.com with your feedback!



Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about you & what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com



Investors: We'd also love to link up with you, to partner to drive the ecosystem forward. Contact us at info@afrobility.com



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