HealthTech Startup Susu Nets $1M to Boost Insurance in Africa

Ivory Coast- and France-based health insurance startup Susu is being backed with $1 million in pre-seed funding, Yahoo! Finance reported.

The 3-year-old HealthTech said the cash couldn’t come at a better time, given the scarcity of quality healthcare in Africa due to the lack of insurance or ill-equipped hospitals.

Angel investors made the financing possible, along with $1.2 million in debt and grant financing from Bpifrance, the one-stop shop for entrepreneurs funded by the French government.

Bola Bardet founded the company with Laurent Leconte and Sandrine Egron after losing her father to a chronic health condition.

“My father died in 2017 after he had a heart issue and could not be saved,” Bardet said. “The health issue was a complication from his hypertension that was poorly managed.”

At that time, she was completing her MBA at HEC Paris. Bardet said she made it her mission to prevent such illnesses from happening to others.

“Maybe that will be something good that I can do in my life,” she said. “So that’s how the story started.”

Susu provides care packages to patients suffering from chronic diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, and to at-risk pregnant women who require careful monitoring.

The company allows patients to finance their health bills and offers a collective financing solution, where family members can help patients finance their monthly subscription fees with care bundles.

Susu is not the only healthcare provider in Africa, where just 3% of residents have medical insurance.

Last month, Reliance Health, the Nigeria- and Texas-based digital healthcare provider, completed a $40M Series B funding round.

Read more: HealthTech Firm Reliance Health Closes on $40M in Series B Funding

This new cash will be used to hire staff, accelerate the HealthTech’s expansion into emerging markets and create products to complement its proprietary technology, facilities and partnerships, the company said.