Cameroonian e-health startup Waspito secures $2.7m in seed funding round

Waspito, a Cameroonian e-health startup, has raised US$2.7 million in seed funding to expand its user base in Cameroon and to Ivory Coast.

Waspito, founded in 2020 by Jean Lobe Lobe, connects users with medical doctors via instant video consultations from their smartphones. It also offers mobile laboratory services, with a lab technician collecting samples from a user’s home and delivering results digitally.

Waspito has served over 15,000 patients to date and plans to expand to 10 countries in the next four years. It also has a health-focused social network where users can interact anonymously with medical doctors who provide preventive care tips and answers to questions.

The first stage of this expansion will be funded by an oversubscribed US$2.7 million seed round led by Launch Africa Ventures, Newtown Partners through the Imperial Venture Fund, BLOC Smart Africa managed by Bamboo Capital Partners, Orange Ventures, Saviu Ventures, Plug and Play, and BringCom.

Waspito will also broaden its service offering as it strives to connect Africa’s health ecosystem online in order to alleviate the continent’s shortage of medical doctors and other health system challenges.

“My incredible team has been taking small steps in the right direction, and this additional funding will help accelerate execution,” Lobe Lobe said. “We are pleased with the number of investors we were able to attract for this round.” Their expertise and network will be valuable assets to our team as we continue our journey to address Africa’s health-care accessibility and affordability issues.”