In the 1970s, Thalidomide’s tragedy led to sweeping drug-testing reforms. But instead of better safeguards, women of childbearing age were excluded from clinical trials for decades—leaving women’s health neglected.
The impact? Endometriosis (10% of women) takes 8 years to diagnose. Up to 32% of African women have PCOS with limited treatment. Maternal mortality claims 70% of its victims in Africa but isn’t a research priority. Even breast cancer screenings fail Black women, whose denser breast tissue hides tumors.
Then there’s the funding gap: Women’s health research gets just 4% of global budgets. In 2023, VC funding in women’s health was $1.9B compared to $200B for broader healthcare. Yet, the women’s health market is set to hit $1.2T by 2027. The opportunity is clear: Will investors step up, or will women’s health remain an afterthought?
At HealthCap Africa, we see this history as a challenge to overcome. Our portfolio companies: MDaaS Global , LifeBank, Healthtracka , and InstantRad Inc, are leveraging technology to fill these gaps, delivering solutions that empower women in Africa and resonate globally. From diagnostics to maternal care, cycle tracking to cancer detection, they’re turning decades of oversight into a new era of equity.
MDaaS Global: Diagnostics at the Heart of Women’s Care
Since its founding in Nigeria in 2016, MDaaS Global has redefined healthcare access. What started as a mission to democratize diagnostics has scaled to serve over 1 million patients (nearly half of them are women) through a network of tech-enabled centers. In a region where diagnostic tools are scarce and the doctor-to-patient ratio is 1:6,000, MDaaS delivers critical services like fertility testing and cancer screenings. For African women, this means catching conditions like cervical cancer early, addressing needs that male-focused research ignored for decades. MDaaS isn’t just closing a gap; it’s building a foundation for proactive women’s health.
LifeBank: Tech-Powered Lifelines for Mothers
Maternal mortality epitomizes the cost of neglect, with Africa bearing 70% of the global burden. In Nigeria, postpartum hemorrhage is a leading killer, often due to delayed blood transfusions. LifeBank, launched in 2016 by Temie Giwa-Tubosun after surviving a near-fatal childbirth, tackles this crisis with technology. Their platform connects hospitals to blood banks, using drones, bikes, and trucks to deliver blood in under 45 minutes. Having moved over 25,000 units across Nigeria, Kenya, and Ethiopia, serving 1,000+ hospitals, LifeBank’s blockchain-tracked SmartBag ensures quality. By solving a logistical failure that research overlooked, they have saved 15,000 pregnant mothers.
Healthtracka: AI Insights into Women’s Cycles
Women’s reproductive health has long been a blind spot, shrouded in stigma and underfunding. Healthtracka, founded in 2021 by Ifeoluwa Dare-Johnson and Victor Amusan, breaks this silence with accessible diagnostics and Lola, an AI-powered cycle-tracking app. In Africa, where one in ten girls faces period poverty and PCOS often goes undiagnosed, Lola empowers women to monitor cycles, predict fertility, and detect irregularities—via smartphone, SMS, or USSD for low-resource areas. Thousands of women now use Lola AI, signaling a demand for tools that decades of male-centric science failed to provide. Additionally, Healthtracka has already had a tangible impact, with over 1,000 women screened for cervical cancer using their self-sampling kit including rural female farmers and female drivers.
Instand Rad: AI-Powered Precision for Breast Cancer
Breast cancer detection reveals another layer of neglect, particularly for Black women. Their denser breast tissue, common in African populations, makes tumors harder to spot on standard mammograms, delaying diagnosis and raising mortality risk by up to 40% compared to white women.
Instand Rad, an AI-powered radiology-as-a-service company, is changing that. With the world’s largest repository of 300,000 mammogram images, their technology enhances diagnostic precision, tailored to diverse breast densities. For Black women in Africa and beyond, InstantRad turns a racial disparity into a solvable challenge, addressing a gap that traditional research ignored.
The Stakes and the Opportunity
Women’s health neglect is a multifaceted failure, scientific bias, funding shortfalls, and cultural silence have left African women especially vulnerable. Public health spending in Africa averages $8 to $129 per capita, far below the $4,000+ in high-income nations, amplifying disparities like maternal death rates 200 times higher than Europe’s. Yet, Healthcap’s portfolio companies are proving that private-sector innovation can pivot this narrative. MDaaS diagnoses, LifeBank delivers, Healthtracka informs, and InstanCRad detects, collectively touching millions of lives with women at the core.
A Global Impact from African Roots
Thalidomide’s legacy laid bare a truth: women’s health was too often an afterthought. Today, MDaaS, LifeBank, Healthtracka, and Instand Rad are flipping that script. In Africa, where resources are stretched thin, their tech-driven solutions are lifelines. Globally, their scalable models from AI radiology to drone logistics, offer a blueprint for equity. At Health Cap Africa, we are proud to champion these innovators, whose work is not just redefining women’s health in Africa, but inspiring a healthier, fairer world.