Nigerian female health startup SonoCare has raised US$250,000 in funding from Gray Matters Capital to scale its operations by developing a mobile app and deploying more mobile units for catering to 200,000 pregnancies by 2020.
Founded in 2015, SonoCare provides services spanning the spectrum of women’s health such as on-demand mobile 3D/4D diagnostic imaging and cardiac monitoring.
It was the first company in Nigeria to deploy a web and mobile resource for patient information transmission and interdisciplinary collaboration. Offering both fixed site and mobile solutions, SonoCare provides cost efficient programmes scaled to the needs of hospitals, satellite clinics and healthcare providers using a combination of the most advanced imaging systems and highly trained, registered technologists as sonographers.
It currently operates its services across four Nigerian states, and has now secured US$250,000 in funding for further expansion from Gray Matters Capital through GMC coLABS, an early-stage investment portfolio that invests in innovative enterprises with the potential to dramatically improve the lives of women and girls around the world.
SonoCare becomes the second African e-health startup in the coLABS portfolio after its invested in Ghanaian startup Redbird earlier this year, and its third African investee in total after its backing for Rwanda’s A.R.E.D in 2017.
“We are excited to partner with GMC coLABS as our first institutional investor, as we both share the vision and passion to positively impact the lives of women. With this investment, we will be able to scale our operations through our mobile app in addition to deploying more mobile units. This will push us to reach our first 200,000 pregnancies by 2020 and to profitability,” said Dr Moses Owoicho Enokela, managing director of SonoCare.
SonoCare has so far screened over 26,000 women from 17 rural communities and detected over 15,000 high-risk pregnancies.
“With its mobile diagnostic services, SonoCare detects pregnancy complications before they become threats to the lives of women, giving those in low resource areas a better chance for safer pregnancies and deliveries,” said Jennifer Soltis, portfolio manager for coLABS at Gray Matters Capital.
“We are proud to support the work of Dr Moses, a determined and resilient entrepreneur who has brought to market a solution to a problem that most lack the grit to attempt to solve at scale. We’ve been very impressed with what he’s accomplished with modest resources and can’t wait to see what the future holds for him.”
GMC coLABS continues to accept applications from innovative and scalable for-profit, early-stage companies that improve the lives of women and girls with their products and services.
