Investing in Innovation Africa (i3), a pan-African initiative for startups building the future of healthcare supply chains, has selected seven startups to take part in its third programme, which provides up to US$225,000 in funding and impact support.
Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and sponsored by MSD, Cencora, Endless Foundation, HELP Logistics, Sanofi’s Global Health Unit and Chemonics, i3 is dedicated to facilitating the commercialisation of promising early- and growth-stage companies.
Selected startups receive introductions to leading potential customers in industry, donor agencies and governments, grant funding, and tailored investment readiness support from leading accelerators Villgro Africa, IMPACT Lab, Startupbootcamp Afritech, and CcHUB.
i3 has now announced its third cohort of seven growth-stage companies working to transform pharmacy services on the continent. The selected startups offer powerful, tech-enabled solutions that strengthen pharmacy services across Africa, ranging from inventory management, product protection, last-mile delivery, AI-powered prescription refills, embedded financing, and cloud-based pharmacy systems.
The selected startups are:
Together, they demonstrate how data-driven innovation reinforces the resilience of Africa’s health systems while driving economic growth. Operating in 19 countries across the continent, they show the power of locally grounded, scalable solutions to improve patient outcomes, create jobs, and enable more efficient, data-driven healthcare delivery at scale.
Each startup will receive up to US$225,000 in risk-tolerant funding, tailored customer introductions, bespoke deal facilitation, and professional communications and advocacy support.
i3 aims to facilitate around 150 strategic partnerships and influence deals valued at about US$30 million between innovators and major healthcare purchasers. In addition, the cohort will participate in i3’s flagship Access to Markets event in December 2025, designed to spark high-impact partnerships between innovators and large healthcare companies, governments, donors, and multilateral agencies.
