Afrigather MDaaS, a healthcare startup with 16 diagnostic clinics in Nigeria, has opened its first clinic in Cameroon, marking its entry into Francophone Africa. The transfer is a part of the startup’s technique to mitigate publicity to Naira volatility and enhance income.
“We’re scaling quickly in Nigeria—we did over 16,000 affected person visits final month—however we realised that we would have liked to diversify from a single nation contemplating all the pieces happening in Nigeria,” stated Oluwasoga Oni, MDaaS CEO.
Based in 2017, MDaaS gives X-rays, ultrasounds, and totally automated lab assessments at its community of clinics throughout Nigeria. It additionally companions with 20 affiliate clinics utilizing its proprietary tech platform, extending its attain to 26 states. The startup claims profitability in Nigeria, the place prospects pay upfront for providers.
“What’s completely different about us is that we not solely present these providers ourselves however we additionally set up and deal with all the pieces, together with the tech. Our tech is so good—it’s our secret sauce—which suggests we will coordinate at scale,” Oni stated.
MDaaS selected Douala, Cameroon’s financial capital, as its entry level into Francophone Africa resulting from its bilingual atmosphere (English and French) and robust demand for healthcare providers. In keeping with the World Well being Organisation, public providers in Douala are restricted, concentrated within the metropolis centre, and largely offered by the personal sector.
“We went to Cameroon and visited different diagnostic centres and we seen that the customer support tradition could possibly be improved. We noticed that processes occurred a lot slower—for instance, when you did a check, you needed to bodily return to gather your outcomes. These are points we’ve already solved in Nigeria,” Oni stated.
MDaaS is amongst a number of Nigerian startups increasing overseas following a 70% depreciation of the Naira towards the greenback resulting from current financial reforms. Buyers are more and more urging cross-border enlargement, notably into Francophone West Africa, the place the Euro-pegged forex gives better stability.
“This can be a robust time for venture-funded firms like ours [because] most individuals are usually not getting funded anymore. Proper now, we’re dominating Nigeria, besides, I believe the present panorama accelerated our Pan-African enlargement.”
Along with its diagnostic providers, MDaaS operates Sentinel, a B2B digital well being platform centered on preventive care. Nevertheless, nearly all of its income—65%—comes from B2C providers, with 35% from B2B.
It took the startup six years to develop tech that automates processes, lowering prices and permitting sufferers to finish a mean of three to 4 assessments per go to. MDaaS claims it has recognized over 360,000 sufferers, with over a 3rd recognized simply this 12 months. “It’s been our greatest 12 months ever,” Oni stated, attributing a lot of this progress to Nigerian second-tier cities like Ibadan, Ilorin, and Akure.
The startup, which raised $3 million in March 2024 from Nigerian VCs like Aruwa Capital and Ventures Platform, solely pursued enlargement this 12 months because of the capital and operations-intensive nature of constructing and managing its 16 diagnostic centres throughout Nigeria.
MDaaS hopes to construct and be taught from its enlargement into Douala because it begins to strengthen its foothold within the West African market. “Our large motto is “constructing healthcare for Africa’s subsequent billion,” so all the pieces we’re doing furthers that objective.”
