Cameroonian healthtech start-up Waspito has raised US$2.7-million in what it described as “an oversubscribed seed funding round.”

The telemedicine platform had initially target US$1-million to drive its Africa expansion.

The funding was secured from Launch Africa Ventures, Newtown Partners via the Imperial Venture Fund, BlocSmart Africa, Orange Ventures, Saviu Ventures, Plug & Play and BringCom.

Ndenge Norah Makang, Communications Manager at Waspito said with this venture capital, Waspito hopes to grow its subscriber base in Cameroon and expand operations to Côte d'Ivoire.

The company is also looking forward to spread to ten different markets in the next four years.

Waspita Founder/CEO Jean Lobe Lobe said his team has been making baby steps in the right direction since they launched in April 2020. He is confident this additional funding will help accelerate execution. “We are proud of the pool of investors we were able to get on this round. Their experience and network will add value to our team as we continue this journey to solving Africa’s health care accessibility and affordability problem.”

In a bid to close the gap on health personnel shortage and other health system challenges in Africa - as well as connect Africa’s health ecosystem online, Waspito is designed to connect patients to doctors via online video calls.

The platform enables users to remotely consult medical doctors from their smartphones, thereby surmounting the difficulty of travelling long distances for healthcare.

Moreover, users have the possibility of using mobile laboratory services through the platform and have a laboratory technician collect their samples where they reside. Results are then sent digitally.

Different payment options, including mobile money, debit cards and health insurance cards have been integrated into the telemedicine platform to facilitate settlement of bills.

According to Waspito it has so far garnered 20 million users and handles 500 consultations on average per day.