Lifestores Healthcare raises $3M to expand its pharmaceutical marketplace across Nigeria
Summary
Launched during the pandemic in 2020, it lets pharmacies and hospitals aggregate their purchasing needs, with which Lifestores negotiates with suppliers for the lowest possible price on high-quality medications, thereby getting 10 to 20% discounts for them. Lifestores will also expand its B2C services, with pilots in patient savings, care management and medication delivery.While telemedicine remains the standout healthcare offering that has witnessed massive adoption globally since the pandemic, startups that digitize the supply chain and distribution to providers like Lifestores have achieved scale faster and seen the most impressive growth among Africas healthcare space in the last 12 months, according to this report. The recently launched firm is the healthcare-dedicated corporate venture capital (CVC) vehicle of CFAO Group (part of Toyota Tsusho), which has the largest healthcare distribution channel in sub-Saharan Africa.Were proud and happy to make our first investment with Health54 in Nigeria and in Lifestores. As a strategic partner, were delighted to work together and bring the benefits of our vertically integrated pharmaceutical supply chain so we can support more patients in Nigeria and beyond with quality primary healthcare.This investment will see Lifestores leverage Health54s increasing network of health services providers and CFAO Healthcares existing wholesale distribution capabilities in Nigeria and across Africa should it plan regional expansion down the line. But for now, the healthtech wants to fuel growth in Nigeria, improve its software capabilities, reach new customer segments and ramp up hiring across sales and engineering teams and senior management.