Selected health-tech startups in Nigeria were provided the opportunities to access funding through the African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA) deal room – which connects high-impact healthcare entrepreneurs with potential investors seeking to accelerate sustainable healthcare solutions.
The deal room event which took place recently in Lagos is the fourth organised by AVPA West Africa, a pan-African network of social investors, this year to create funding opportunities for entrepreneurs seeking expansion and growth.
“We believe in the transformative power of capital to achieve sustained impact on the continent as well as maximising impact opportunities on the continent, especially catalytic capital,” said Tochukwu Ezeukwu, regional director at AVPA West Africa.
He said that there are about $430 trillion in assets sitting in the assets bucket globally, stressing the need to close the gap by building viable business models to unlock the assets into impact opportunities on the continent.
“That is why AVPA exists,” Ezeukwu noted. “We exist to find those business models, encourage and deploy them, and ensure that there is a practical reason for capital to flow towards impact,” he adds.
According to him, viable business models need catalytic capital to grow, function and help achieve some Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adding that it is what the AVPA stands for.
The deal room themed ‘Improving Health Outcomes Through Catalytic Capital’, had eight health-tech entrepreneurs who shared their business models with over 16 investors present physically and a few others online.
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Chinedu Allinson, head of membership & partnerships at AVPA West Africa said the event is a testament to AVPA’s unwavering commitment to fostering meaningful connections between visionary enterprises and investors dedicated to driving sustainable healthcare solutions across Africa.
She noted that by bringing together these dynamic entities, the social enterprise aims to pave the way for transformative advancements in healthcare delivery and accessibility in West Africa, saying the potential collaborations and partnerships that can emerge from it will revolutionise healthcare while ensuring that quality care is accessible to all communities.
“We are incredibly excited about the future possibilities and the positive change these ventures can bring. Our deal room initiative has gained significant momentum this year, with this being our fourth in-person event,” she said.
“We’ve cultivated strategic partnerships, such as with the Organisation for Technology Advancement of Cold Chain in West Africa (OTACCWA) for an agriculture-focused deal room in March, and the Sterling One Foundation for a sector-wide event at the Africa Social Impact Summit in July,” she explained.
“Expanding our geographic reach, we hosted a Climate and Renewable Energy focused deal room in Accra, Ghana, in May. We anticipate hosting additional Deal Rooms before the year’s end to further catalyse investment and innovation across key sectors,” she added.
