Africa is experiencing a health-tech startup boom

Health tech is booming on the African continent and investment in e-health startups continues to grow, according to a new report from Disrupt Africa.

The report, High Tech Health: Exploring the African E-health Startup Ecosystem Report 2020, says the number of startups active in the health-tech space on the continent has grown by 56.5% over the last three years and has hit an all-time high at 180 active companies.

The report found that investment in this space reached record levels in the first half of 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic. So far this year, Africa's e-health startups have raised over $90 million. More than half of all funding to have gone into the space in the past five years was transacted in the first half of 2020.

"Interest in the e-health space in Africa has accelerated in the last 18 months, and with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a sudden spotlight on e-health startups," explained Gabriella Mulligan, co-founder of Disrupt Africa.

"In many ways now is a great time for the continent's health-tech sector – there's huge opportunities to prove concepts, gain traction, and achieve lasting change in healthcare," she said.

Africa's e-health startups have raised over US$90 million in 2020 so far.

"Africa's health-tech sector is suddenly emerging as one of real value from an economic perspective, while the potential impact on ventures in this space is undeniable. With startups across the continent innovating in various areas to solve very real challenges associated with the delivery of healthcare, this report shines a light on some of those most exciting innovations," added Disrupt Africa co-founder Tom Jackson.

The report shares data on e-health startups across 20 countries in Africa, gathered between January 2015 and June 2020, and analyzes eight sub-sectors of the health-tech ecosystem.

— The Staff, Connecting Africa