Ghana’s eHealth startup Berry Health has raised $1.6 million in pre-seed capital .
Lightspeed Ventures and General Catalyst took part in the funding exercise.
Berry Health, which specializes in sexual and mental health, now aims to bolster its operations in Africa and work towards providing stigma-free healthcare to victims.
Announcing the move, Lightspeed noted that the investment was a testament to its commitment to backing startups with efforts of redefining the delivery of healthcare in Africa.
Lightspeed added that the aim of investing in Berry was to fill the gap where over 300 million people have a high healthcare spend hence reflecting a significant opportunity for eHealth solutions.
Furthermore, Lightspeed cited the alarming numbers of mental illness cases and Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) in Africa as a motive for its investment in eHealth, noting that the situation is further exacerbated by the unavailability of healthcare specialists.
“Africa, with its booming population of 1.34 billion people, is witnessing an unprecedented digital revolution,” a statement from Lightspeed read in part.
“The availability of healthcare professionals is also staggeringly low, with Sub-Saharan Africa having less than one doctor for every 10,000 people — a stark contrast to the 30 doctors per 10,000 people in the States and 37 doctors per 10,000 in Europe.”
With the new capital, Berry Health is looking to make medical consultations, prescriptions, and treatment for various conditions under their purview more accessible through its direct-to-consumer platform approach.
Berry is also eying a healthcare system devoid of stigmatization and other barriers through its platform that provides an alternative to in-person consultation and treatment which is not always available to all parts of Africa.
However, the new expansion plans will start in Ghana before expanding to other countries.