Kenyan startups Zuri Health, Damu Sasa awarded Ksh.7M grants by Gates Foundation

Zuri Health and Damu Sasa will each receive a $50,000 (Ksh.7 million) grant as well as support and mentorship towards partnerships with donors, industry and institutions in the healthcare industry.

Zuri provides a platform for mass-market patients to get affordable, convenient, and quality healthcare services via SMS, WhatsApp and a dedicated app.

Launched in January last year, the company has, through partnerships with telecoms like MTN, Safaricom and Telkom, been able to aggregate healthcare providers like medical labs, pharmacies, and hospitals.

Damu Sasa on the other hand is an end-to-end blood services information management system that supports blood sourcing, inventory management, transfusion management and haemo-vigilance. 

Founded in May 2017, the cloud-based platform seeks to reduce costs in the provision of healthcare by enhancing decision-making, hence effective management of blood services.

The two startups are among 30 startups selected from 14 African countries, out of which eight are from East Africa and 47% women-led (having at least one woman with an equity stake and active executive leadership role). 

“We are thrilled to see strong women leaders at the helm of many of these start-ups, as we know innovation ecosystems are strengthened by diversity,” Said Ann Allen, Senior Program Officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

I3 is a Pan-African initiative aimed at bridging the gap between African-led businesses, investors, and donor agencies in the health sector. 

The program is sponsored by Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD), the World Health Organisation Regional Office for Africa, AUDA-NEPAD, and AmerisourceBergen.