---
title: "Investing in Innovation Africa"
description: "Investing in Innovation Africa, also known as i3, is a pan African initiative that supports African health tech startups with grant funding and structured access to markets. It is presented as a program rather than a traditional venture capital fund, and focuses on enabling early and growth stage companies that improve health product distribution and pharmacy care across the continent. The initiative is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and sponsored by partners including MSD and Cencora, among others. Within Africa, Investing in Innovation Africa provides risk tolerant grants of around 50,000 dollars to early stage innovators and up to 225,000 dollars to growth stage companies, combined with tailored introductions to healthcare organizations and support to close commercial partnerships. Based on available investment records, the program has backed at least 19 rounds between September 2022 and April 2025, deploying approximately 1.5 million dollars. These investments concentrate on health tech, with select activity in logistics and supply chain and one fintech related health savings and payments solution. The initiative has a broad geographic reach, with portfolio companies across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, Rwanda, Uganda, and Cameroon. Its backing of companies such as mPharma, LifeBank, DrugStoc, WellaHealth, Healthtracka, Chekkit, and others reflects a clear focus on strengthening pharmacy services, digitizing medicine access, securing health supply chains, and expanding patient access to diagnostics and care across African markets."
canonical_url: "https://liners.com/investors/investing-in-innovation-africa"
markdown_url: "https://liners.com/investors/investing-in-innovation-africa.md"
type: "investor"
language: "en"
image: "https://assets.liners.com/storage/v1/object/public/media/investors/investing-in-innovation-africa/favicon.png?v=1785330091186"
updated_at: "2026-09-17T03:02:34.913Z"
---

# Investing in Innovation Africa

Investing in Innovation Africa, also known as i3, is a pan African initiative that supports African health tech startups with grant funding and structured access to markets. It is presented as a program rather than a traditional venture capital fund, and focuses on enabling early and growth stage companies that improve health product distribution and pharmacy care across the continent. The initiative is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and sponsored by partners including MSD and Cencora, among others. Within Africa, Investing in Innovation Africa provides risk tolerant grants of around 50,000 dollars to early stage innovators and up to 225,000 dollars to growth stage companies, combined with tailored introductions to healthcare organizations and support to close commercial partnerships. Based on available investment records, the program has backed at least 19 rounds between September 2022 and April 2025, deploying approximately 1.5 million dollars. These investments concentrate on health tech, with select activity in logistics and supply chain and one fintech related health savings and payments solution. The initiative has a broad geographic reach, with portfolio companies across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, Rwanda, Uganda, and Cameroon. Its backing of companies such as mPharma, LifeBank, DrugStoc, WellaHealth, Healthtracka, Chekkit, and others reflects a clear focus on strengthening pharmacy services, digitizing medicine access, securing health supply chains, and expanding patient access to diagnostics and care across African markets.

## Breadcrumbs

- [Investors](/investors)
- [Investing in Innovation Africa](/investors/investing-in-innovation-africa)

## Summary

Investing in Innovation Africa, also known as i3, is a pan African initiative that supports African health tech startups with grant funding and structured access to markets. It is presented as a program rather than a traditional venture capital fund, and focuses on enabling early and growth stage companies that improve health product distribution and pharmacy care across the continent. The initiative is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and sponsored by partners including MSD and Cencora, among others. Within Africa, Investing in Innovation Africa provides risk tolerant grants of around 50,000 dollars to early stage innovators and up to 225,000 dollars to growth stage companies, combined with tailored introductions to healthcare organizations and support to close commercial partnerships. Based on available investment records, the program has backed at least 19 rounds between September 2022 and April 2025, deploying approximately 1.5 million dollars. These investments concentrate on health tech, with select activity in logistics and supply chain and one fintech related health savings and payments solution. The initiative has a broad geographic reach, with portfolio companies across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, Rwanda, Uganda, and Cameroon. Its backing of companies such as mPharma, LifeBank, DrugStoc, WellaHealth, Healthtracka, Chekkit, and others reflects a clear focus on strengthening pharmacy services, digitizing medicine access, securing health supply chains, and expanding patient access to diagnostics and care across African markets.

This anonymous Markdown view includes only rows that are readable before the HTML sign-in gate. Use the canonical HTML page to sign in and view more.

## Recorded investments

| Product | URL | Stage | Amount | Date |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| mPharma | /mpharma | Other | 225000 | 2025-04-01T00:00:00.000Z |
| Sproxil | /sproxil | Other | 225000 | 2025-04-01T00:00:00.000Z |
| RxAll | /rxall | Other | 225000 | 2025-04-01T00:00:00.000Z |
| Kapsule | /kapsule | Other | 50000 | 2023-09-01T00:00:00.000Z |
| Drugstore.ng | /drugstore-ng | Other | 50000 | 2023-09-01T00:00:00.000Z |

## Related pages

- [All investors](/investors)
- [Funding rounds](/funding)

## Access and citation

- [Canonical HTML page](https://liners.com/investors/investing-in-innovation-africa)
- [Markdown route index](/sitemap.md)
- [Agent access guide](/llms.txt)