Day 1-1000 of Benefit Well being Africa

You possibly can order scorching jollof on Chowdeck and have it at your door earlier than the steam fades. You possibly can order recent tomatoes on GoLemon with out stepping outdoors. But when your mom wants hypertension medicine at 5 p.m. in Bayelsa? 

That query—why the comfort economic system stopped in need of healthcare—haunted Abimbola Adebakin. A pharmacist with years of expertise in organisational technique and consulting, she’d spent her profession constructing techniques behind the scenes. Sooner or later, attempting and failing to assist a household buddy discover a fundamental drug after visiting 9 pharmacies, she was jolted into a private embarrassment that refused to let go.

So she constructed an answer. In 2017, Adebakin launched Benefit Well being Africa (AHA) to make accessing high quality, reasonably priced medicine as seamless as ordering dinner. By means of its flagship platform, MyMedicines, AHA delivers prescriptions throughout Nigeria—even to distant areas—whereas supplying clinics and pharmacies by means of a rising B2B distribution community. At this time, the corporate serves over 30 HMOs, strikes 1000’s of orders month-to-month, and powers an more and more digitised ecosystem by means of its proprietary stock visibility platform, The Benefit.

The highway to relevance was something however linear. Failed merchandise. Damaged tech. Layoffs. A near-collapse of their pharmacy community. On as we speak’s version of Day 1 to 1000, AHA’s founder and CEO, Abimbola Adebakin, walks me by means of how she constructed a healthtech firm out of frustration, scaled it by means of a pandemic, and discovered when to pivot, when to let go, and when to maintain the religion.

That is the story of Benefit Well being Africa, as informed to TechCabal.

Day 1-1000: From consulting gigs to a tech-enabled pharmacy community

Benefit Well being Africa didn’t begin with a grand technique. It began with disgrace.

A household buddy wanted a drug. I supplied to assist. I’m a pharmacist—how laborious may it’s? I went to a pharmacy. They didn’t have it. I went to a different. And one other. I visited 9 pharmacies throughout Lagos that day and nonetheless got here up empty-handed. I used to be embarrassed. What sort of system was this? What sort of pharmacist was I if I couldn’t discover a fundamental drug?

That second stayed with me. It opened my eyes to one thing all of us quietly endure: a damaged distribution system that forces sick individuals to wander from pharmacy to pharmacy, hoping to get fortunate. I assumed: we are able to’t maintain working round this. We have now to repair it.

Once I began Benefit Well being Africa in 2017, we launched with companies: consulting, coaching, something to maintain the lights on whereas we found out the larger factor. We constructed relationships. We labored with pharmacy associations and regulators. We mapped the territory.

9 months later, on October 1st, we launched MyMedicines, a direct-to-consumer service that lets individuals order medication and get them delivered. That first yr, the traction was gradual however regular. Then COVID hit.

Out of the blue, what we have been providing wasn’t a comfort, it was important. Folks couldn’t go away their houses. Clinics wouldn’t take non-critical sufferers. HMOs that beforehand ignored us got here operating. “Can your pharmacies ship?” they requested. “Sure,” we mentioned, as a result of we may.

Income jumped 10x. Phrase of mouth exploded. Folks overseas have been ordering medication for his or her dad and mom in Bayelsa, Onitsha, locations we may attain in 24 hours. CNN referred to as. The world seen. And we knew: we’d hit product-market match.

We pivoted, failed, restructured, and saved going

Earlier than COVID, we’d additionally tried constructing a pharmacy franchise referred to as MyPharmacy. However the timing was off. The tech was shaky. COVID made every part more durable. We raised some cash for it, however inside 12 months, we shut it down. Nonetheless, the title caught. Folks started to consult with us as “MyPharmacy” even after it was gone. And we saved the spirit of the community alive, simply not within the format we began with.

That was laborious. Letting go of the imaginative and prescient—and letting go of individuals. However we did it correctly. We flew in our area employees, sat them down, and paid two months’ wage. Helped them reposition. A few of them got here again later after we have been able to rebuild.

We additionally tried wholesaling to pharmacies however shortly realised that wasn’t scalable. The margins have been brutal. The size wasn’t there. It was our board that pushed me to modify to selective distribution. They have been proper. That arm took off as soon as we introduced in a seasoned MD with expertise in gross sales and advertising and marketing. I needed to admit what I didn’t know and rent somebody for it. Our branded generics—GT Plus, Actual C Brazil, and others—at the moment are thriving available in the market.

I come from an organisational growth background. Even in chaos, I knew we wanted construction: working fashions, tradition, techniques. We acquired ISO-certified early on. We let individuals go after we needed to, humanely, and employed again a few of them later.

Day 1000-Current day

We failed twice at constructing our core tech, then lastly cracked it. We tried to construct the tech backend—what we now name The Benefit—thrice.

In 2018, we partnered with a staff from Cape Verde who promised to assist after we have been chosen amongst Africa’s prime 50 startups. It didn’t work. In 2021, we tried once more: it was one other flop. Lastly, we constructed inside capabilities, paired them with an exterior developer, and launched a working system in late 2023. Now it powers real-time stock visibility throughout pharmacies. It’s the infrastructure we at all times wanted, and we personal it.

At this time, AHA runs two interlinked companies:

1. Direct to client by means of MyMedicines, with companies like subscriptions, “purchase now, pay later,” and doorstep supply.

2. Enterprise-to-business distribution, supplying choose, in-demand medication to pharmacies, clinics, and hospitals nationwide.

They feed into one another. A prescription generated by an eldercare startup? We fulfill it. A girl in Lagos inserting an pressing nighttime order for her visiting brother? We’ve acquired it coated. One in every of my favourite reminiscences is delivering meds at 11 pm to a lodge in Ikeja. The client was shocked that it was even doable in Nigeria.

What I want I knew earlier and what’s subsequent

I want we had secured seed funding earlier. It could’ve saved us years of technical debt. However we made do. In 2019–2020, we raised about ₦300 million (~$1M on the time) in naira from angel traders. Since then, we’ve largely run on money move and strategic debt.

There have been laborious occasions. There have been nights I took on consulting jobs simply to cowl payroll. One in every of my employees was working full-time whereas doing development gigs to outlive. At this time, he’s a supervisor, successful awards, and flying overseas. That grit and perception within the mission acquired us by means of.

One in every of my most euphoric moments on this enterprise was in 2021, when Bayer Basis chosen us for his or her Ladies Empowerment Program. It was the pat on the again we desperately wanted. After that got here Google, the Nigerian Healthcare Excellence Award, and others. We began to imagine once more.

Actually, I needed to stop many occasions. I acquired affords to steer international foundations, even drone supply startups increasing into West Africa. Since I began AHA, I haven’t earned the sort of wage I earned throughout my Accenture profession.  And these firms have been providing tempting salaries and regular jobs. However I saved pondering of the scripture that claims, “When you’re trustworthy in one other man’s enterprise, God will provide you with your personal.” That promise anchored me.

We’re seeking to combine our companies extra tightly: create clearer synergies between the B2B and DTC arms. And we’re open to becoming a member of a bigger ecosystem,a healthtech group the place our infrastructure turns into the spine.

What we’re constructing is larger than logistics. Greater than tech. We’re proving that in Africa, high quality well being entry can attain the final mile and the final metre.

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