Ivory Coast-based e-health company Meditect, which develops and markets pharmacy management software in Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa, is already active in eight countries in the region, and plans to rapidly expand into a further eight countries.
Founded in 2018, Meditect provides pharmacies with management software that allows them to better run their operations and develop a better understanding of their business, thereby helping them increase revenues.
“In Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa, pharmacies lack management software that allows them to work efficiently and understand their business operations comprehensively. Pharmacists generate significant revenue and are keen to improve their practice. Our role is to provide them with the best pharmacy management software and the best customer experience,” said Arnaud Pourredon, CEO and co-founder of Meditect.
“Our software generates high-value data from the activities of our users. This data not only helps us but also assists our partners, such as NGOs and governments, in understanding what is happening at the last mile, both in urban and rural areas.”
Pourredon said Meditect had experienced the three phases of “scale – mess – debt”.
“Our main challenge was adapting to different countries while addressing various types of clients – urban and rural pharmacies. Now, we have different user profiles and are accelerating growth,” he said.
Based in Ivory Coast, Meditect is also currently operating in Senegal, Guinea Conakry, Mali, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, and Congo. Pourredon said it wants to move into Burkina Faso, Togo, Niger, the Central African Republic, Gabon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, and Madagascar before 2026. To do this, the startup has hit the fundraising trail.
“In 2019, we completed a pre-seed round with business angels. We then raised funds with an institutional fund, LBO France. This past year, to accelerate our growth and market penetration in various countries in the region, we secured funding from Beenok, investors from Dakar Network Angel, Proparco, and Launch Africa Ventures,” he said.
Meditect sells its SaaS product to pharmacies at an average cost of EUR600 (US$650) per year, while its insights offerings for pharmaceutical companies, governments, and NGOs are customised.
Developing pharmacy management software involves creating a very comprehensive product, Pourredon said.
“Pharmacists need software that manages finances, accounting, and inventory. Additionally, as healthcare professionals, they must ensure patient follow-ups and work with various stakeholders, such as insurance companies, which significantly complicates the software,” he said.
