Afrigather 
In 2008, Ifeoluwa Dare-Johnson, founder and CEO of at-home testing firm Healthtracka, realised she didn’t wish to pursue a profession in medical biochemistry. That yr, she was an intern on the College School Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, Nigeria. Her calling, she felt, was the enterprise facet of well being. However it might take one other 11 years—after careers in knowledge evaluation and advertising—for her to embrace her ardour and located Healthtracka, following her father’s passing from undiagnosed and untreated hypertension. In 2019, she wrote an article on LinkedIn, drawing consideration to the absence of a advertising ethos in Nigeria’s healthcare trade. That article sits immediately as a constructing block of Healthtracka’s service and enterprise mannequin.
On this episode of My Life in Tech, Dare-Johnson shares her journey constructing her younger firm, her expertise at Techstars 2021, and the corporate’s objectives for its current seed increase of $1.5 million.
This interview has been edited for size and readability.
Throughout your internship at UCH, you realised you didn’t wish to work in a medical lab however on the enterprise finish of healthcare. What do you imply by that?
One of many issues I learnt about myself throughout my internship was I’ve empathy for folks going by way of well being points; and one of many issues I felt was helplessness. I needed to be on the opposite facet of creating selections that might make their lives higher, versus being the scientific individual giving medicine.
You’ve talked about that your dad struggling a stroke and finally passing led you to discovered Healthtracka. Are you able to share with me what occurred together with your dad?
Once I bought the decision that my dad had slumped and was in hospital, nearly unconscious, it was unbelievable. My dad was essentially the most optimistic individual on earth; there was nothing incorrect with him. After which I spoke to the physician who stated my dad had untreated hypertension and diabetes. That was information to me. And that’s why, immediately, one of many issues that we do is proactive, preventive healthcare. Simply since you appear and feel all proper doesn’t imply all is effectively inside your physique.
We watched my dad turn out to be a shadow of himself. He wanted assist, and I believe it broke his coronary heart figuring out that this wasn’t who he was—that due to his sickness he needed to rely on different folks.
After he handed, I realised we can not make the identical errors: we can not watch and permit ourselves to get thus far the place you’ve labored onerous, it’s time so that you can get pleasure from, chill and calm down, after which your physique says, “Nah, you’ve not paid consideration to me; I’m not going to point out up for you.”
At-home testing is Healthtracka’s service mannequin. Why is the enterprise designed that manner, versus being a diagnostic lab with at-home testing being one of some choices for shoppers?
It’s about figuring out the one factor that adjustments the sport, and that was what we did. What’s that one factor we are going to do that may make it handy for folks to get their assessments finished and be answerable for their well being? There are labs elsewhere and folks have entry to those issues, however on the finish of the day, when was the final time you went to the hospital for a checkup? Aside from affordability, the second frequent motive [people don’t go in for checkup] is comfort. It’s simply not handy to depart work, spend hours in site visitors, go sit down and queue simply to see a physician for 10 minutes. It’s such a protracted course of, and also you’d reasonably hold it on the backburner, until you’re unwell and urgently have to see somebody. And that’s the behaviour behind the non- and late analysis of well being points. So we mainly stated we’re going to decide on at-home lab testing and make it seamless, in order that anybody who goes on our platform will realise they don’t have to undergo the stress of testing at a hospital.
In your article about healthcare advertising, you stated that the area in Nigeria was underdeveloped on the time. Has that modified? Are you doing any well being advertising at Healthtracka?
Fortunately, my background in advertising has been useful. I perceive buyer acquisition and easy methods to design experiences that make prospects wish to come again for our merchandise. What we’ve finished from day one is to obviously talk our choices. Even from the stream of touchdown on our web site, that’s all advertising—how we make folks really feel after they come; how real our messages to them are; how useful our buyer expertise staff is. So, it’s every part I wrote in that article. What of search engine optimisation? What are folks on the lookout for regarding their well being that we will present details about, in order that they’ll then see that we care about these matters and have options for them.
Congrats on elevating $1.5 million in seed and getting chosen for Techstars. How was your Techstars expertise?
[My co-founder Victor Amusan and I] have been nearly 5 months into launching Healthtracka once we bought into Techstars, in Might 2021. We did our accelerator programme on-line [rather than live in Toronto], as a result of it was throughout COVID. In hindsight, it was good for us as a result of we couldn’t have spent two months exterior the nation at the moment. We have been solely 5 months into the enterprise and needed to be on the bottom; our staff was small and we have been doing every part by ourselves. It was a whole lot of work—conferences at odd hours as a result of we have been in several time zones, combining our day-to-day actions at a five-month-old firm with being current to attend the worldwide accelerator for 4 hours every day.
However that was top-of-the-line selections we ever made; it helped us to shortly deal with what was essential. We have been studying from individuals who had constructed companies—the mentorship, the networking, and naturally, the cash, as a result of it prices cash to run an organization, particularly on the early levels. Techstars accelerated our enterprise in ways in which might need taken two to 3 years to get to.
What was your most important studying at Techstars?
That fundraising takes longer than most individuals assume. You see folks announce raises on a regular basis and may be tempted to assume, “Oh it have to be straightforward! They’re throwing cash at you folks at this level!” You hear concerning the increase however don’t really know all that has gone down for it to occur.
What are your objectives for the $1.5 million seed?
Our primary objective is to penetrate the Nigerian market and get our companies to the arms of everybody. Quantity two is, in fact, growth to different international locations. Now we have our eyes set on Ghana and Kenya.
What’s essentially the most troublesome factor about being a founder?
You by no means really shut down. Even whenever you’re sleeping, you’re not sleeping deeply. I get up at 3 AM, and I deliver out my notes and I’m writing. Typically I’m leaving notes for my staff members, and going, “No, no, no, you don’t want to reply, proper now. Simply dropping this so I don’t neglect.” It’s onerous generally to relaxation, and when you’re not cautious, all of your validation comes from how effectively or not your enterprise is doing. I believe it’s troublesome for many founders, not simply me, to close down.
My Life in Tech (MLIT) is a biweekly column that profiles innovators, leaders, and shapers within the African tech ecosystem, with the intention of placing a human face to the startups and improvements they construct. A brand new episode drops each different Wednesday at 3 PM (WAT). Should you assume your story will curiosity MLIT readers, please fill out this form.
