Helping incubate and scale innovative healthcare startups in Africa
Established in Kenya in 2015, Villgro Africa is an incubator and impact investor supporting innovative solutions for accessible and affordable healthcare across the continent. By offering early-stage medtech startups a personalized incubation experience, Villgro Africa helps them navigate the African startup ecosystem, scale their ideas and products, and reach maximum impact to improve lives.
“This is a region where the market, environment, and resource availability look very different from other parts of the world, and there is a huge unmet need for affordable, high-quality healthcare,” says Program Officer Maggie Flanagan. “Medtech startups in Africa are playing a vital role in addressing this need, and Villgro Africa is at the forefront of this movement.”
Villgro Africa’s commitment to improving funding accessibility and support for these small businesses is improving the availability of medical hardware and business models to address the region’s health challenges. Over the past seven years, it has incubated over 50 healthcare startups across Africa, and unlocked upwards of $6M in follow-on funding that has impacted more than 10 million lives.
With a footprint in East, Central, and West Africa, its incubation portfolio includes solutions covering a wide range of health-sector challenges. Read more about the healthcare innovators and entrepreneurs Villgro Africa supports.
Its business acceleration-as-a-service model and domain expertise has led to partnerships with leading global healthcare players and pharmaceutical companies, including the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), Johnson & Johnson Foundation, Boehringer Ingelheim Social Engagement (BISE), and many others.
“From its origin, a health sector focus has enabled Villgro to develop deep internal expertise and relevant networks of mentors and institutional partners, through firsthand experiences supporting commercialization of innovative healthcare solutions,” says Foundation Executive Director Rob Schneider.
Recent Updates:
- Villgro-Africa plans to launch an Incubator-Fund Platform in partnership with the Jaza Rift Ventures Fund to provide follow-on capital to startups graduating from its incubator, and to launch a Biotech Innovation Hub to accelerate the development of drugs, vaccines, and diagnostics for the control and elimination of poverty-related diseases and neglected tropical diseases.
- In August 2023, Villgro Africa hosted the first annual Transforming African Medtech Conference in Nairobi Kenya. Funded by the Foundation and in collaboration with grantees and partners — including Jaza Rift Ventures, Rice360, Kenyatta University, PDP Forum, University of Global Health Equity, Ifakara Innovation Hub, and East Africa BioDesign — the conference seeks to support and facilitate connections and resource sharing to drive innovating changes to the medical technology industry across Africa.
- At the 2023 Prix Galien USA, Villgro Africa received the award for Best Incubator/Accelerator/Equity. Prix Galien USA is an awards ceremony hosted by The Galien Foundation to recognize pivotal achievements and impact in biomedical products, health technology, and scientific innovation.
