Seven African healthtech startups have been selected for the third cohort of the Investing in Innovation Africa (i3) program, a pan-African initiative backed by the Gates Foundation, MSD, Sanofi, and others.
They’ll each receive up to $225K in grant funding and tailored support to grow their pharmacy-focused innovations. The innovative startups are all building tech-driven tools to make medicine access more efficient, affordable, and widespread, helping to close key gaps in healthcare delivery.
African Initiative in The Frontline of Healthcare Delivery
Investing in Innovation Africa (i3) is a pan-African initiative to support African healthtech startups to commercialise and scale their offerings. The three-year program is helping founders improve patient access to healthcare across Africa.

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In many African countries, pharmacies serve on the frontline of healthcare delivery, providing as much as 70% of initial healthcare visits. For this cohort, i3 has prioritised growth-stage startups with pharmacy-focused innovations, recognising their vital role in expanding sustainable healthcare access and bridging critical delivery gaps while creating jobs to spur economic growth and prosperity. 
The program has announced its third cohort of seven growth-stage companies working to transform pharmacy services on the continent. The selected startups operating from 19 African countries offer robust, tech-enabled solutions that strengthen African pharmacy services. 

These solutions include 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.
Meet the Innovators in I3’s Third Cohort 
The selected startups are Chefaa, Dawa Mkononi, Meditect, mPharma, myDawa, RxAll, and Sproxil. Each firm emphasizes that locally grounded, scalable solutions can enhance patient outcomes, create jobs, and foster more efficient, data-driven healthcare delivery at scale.
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The startups will receive up to $225,000, and i3 aims to facilitate approximately 150 strategic partnerships and influence deals valued at roughly $30 million between innovators and major healthcare purchasers.
Additionally, the cohort will participate in i3’s flagship Access to Markets event in December 2025. This event is designed to spark high-impact partnerships between innovators and large healthcare companies, governments, donors, and multilateral agencies.
 
i3’s previous cohort
 
The Impact I3 Has Made Through Its Support Base
I3 is 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. 

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“As the global health landscape continues to rapidly shift, we remain committed to supporting innovative solutions and initiatives that strengthen local health systems across Africa,” Boniface Njenga, Deputy Director, Health Delivery and Systems, Africa at the Gates Foundation, said. “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 the past two years, i3 has provided $3M in direct grant funding to 60 start-ups across 18 African countries. The program has cultivated a diverse group of innovators, where women lead 43% of the initiatives and Francophone leaders drive 20% of the projects. Through the initiative, I3 have facilitated 450 strategic connections, secured 122 contracts and pilots, and generated over $11 million in contracted partnerships. These efforts have expanded its reach and created nearly 1,000 jobs, with women holding half of them.

I3 is coordinated by Salient Advisory and the Solina Center for International Development and Research (SCIDaR). The startups were selected by an expert committee with the support of CcHUB, Villgro Africa, and an independent expert advisory committee.  
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