Viebeg Technologies, a venture capital-backed Health Tech company, is helping to expand access to affordable health care in Central and East Africa by aiding healthcare facilities in procuring supplies in real-time. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) to manage supply chain processes (from shipping to warehousing, distribution and inventory management) to ensure that healthcare facilities have the precise medical supplies in stock.
The Rwanda Innovation Fund, partly financed by the African Development Bank, invested in Viebeg’s data-driven logistics platform.
The company, which was set up in 2018, works with many health facilities in Rwanda, where two million people have been treated with Viebeg products, according to Alex Musyoka, its Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer. It is already making inroads in other parts of East Africa, including Kenya, Burundi, and Congo, and serving over 500 facilities.
Viebeg’s annual revenue increased from $80,000 to $180,000 six months after the funding from the Rwanda Innovation Fund, representing a 125 percent growth. Musyoka projects that the figure will grow to $2.5 million by the end of 2022.
Apart from improving revenues, the funding has enabled the company to, among other things, conduct training for its employees, access working capital, and employ more workers.
The African Development Bank invested $30 million in the Rwanda Innovation Fund. The Bank’s support aligns with the country’s National Information Communication Infrastructure (NICI) III Plan, which underscores the importance of ICT in improving service delivery to citizens.