Interview with Joanna Bichsel, founder and CEO of Kasha on the startup’s latest Series B increase, future growth plans and the state of healthtech startups on the continent.
Last week, Rwandan healthtech startup Kasha introduced a $21 million Series B increase led by Knife Capital. Founded in 2016 by Joanna Bichsel, the startup offers a digital retail and last-mile distribution platform for prescription drugs and fast-moving shopper items (FMCGs).
TechCabal caught up with Bichsel to be taught extra in regards to the firm’s product choices, its latest fundraising in addition to its quest to positively influence healthcare in Africa and past.
TechCabal: Please inform us extra about Kasha’s product providing
Joanna Bichsel: Kasha is East Africa’s main platform for last-mile entry to well being. We promote prescription drugs and fast-moving shopper items to shoppers, resellers, pharmacies, hospitals, and clinics. We give attention to the mass market buyer and likewise do digital, retail and wholesale gross sales. We additionally work with pharmaceutical producers and world well being organisations.
The focus we now have is round entry to well being merchandise and actually, we’re aiming to disrupt the worldwide well being trade. So proper now, the best way it operates is that there’s no visibility on what individuals really need in phrases of well being merchandise. The processes for reaching the last-mile prospects are additionally very ineffective in each city and rural markets.
With Kasha, we constructed a really vast distribution community that goes to the final mile with brokers in communities across the nation. It’s mainly digital ordering. So individuals can confidentially order their well being merchandise after which we ship.
TC: How distinguished is the issue that Kasha is attempting to resolve?
JB: Kasha began in Rwanda and it was constructed to be a world firm. We are nonetheless on our method to turning into a world firm as a result of the issue we’re addressing is just about a world downside. We began in Rwanda after which we expanded to Kenya which is now our headquarters. Additionally, we’re additionally beginning operations in South Africa quickly.
We are additionally launching operations in West Africa both by the tip of Q3 or early This fall. In normal, the issue that we’re aiming to serve impacts billions of individuals around the globe throughout rising markets together with Southeast Asia and Latin America. So we’re Africa first, however there’s potential actually to increase globally.
TC: How a lot traction has Kasha gained up to now?
JB: We have grown fairly effectively, particularly over the past three years. We have achieved 10x development each 12 months. From our Series A to our Series B, our annual income has grown 50x and that’s actually helped us get to the place we’re. We are serving a really massive market section. and there’s a variety of demand for high quality, reasonably priced well being merchandise in addition to family items.
With the Series A funds, we actually centered on increasing our distribution community throughout Rwanda and Kenya, after which simply driving gross sales on high of that platform that we constructed out. So the expansion has been sturdy. And we’re not stopping. The purpose is to proceed to have very exponential development as we transfer ahead.
TC: Kasha introduced its $21 million Series B increase final week. What was that fundraising course of like contemplating the truth that we’re in a VC downturn for the time being?
JB: It was undoubtedly a journey. We began fundraising earlier than the financial downturn. After the downturn occurred, it slowed a variety of issues down. For instance, we had been having a variety of conversations with US-based VCs, and others around the globe as effectively, however after the financial downturn occurred, a variety of worldwide buyers simply mainly stopped investing in the area. They actually turned extra conservative, deciding to focus simply on startups inside their nations.
A Series B increase requires extra capital, and the investor ecosystem throughout the continent continues to be very a lot creating. So if you’re wanting to do bigger ticket sizes, you might have to faucet into a world investor market. For us, we had been really fairly fortunate in the sense that across the time when the financial downturn occurred, we had been ready to carry on a pretty big funding that mainly acted as a bridge spherical. So we had been ready to bridge our method via the financial downturn, simply due to that capital which got here in on the proper time. And so our fundraising completely took longer than we anticipated due to the financial downturn, however as a result of we raised a bridge in between, we had been ready to nonetheless end efficiently.
TC: What will the raised capital be used for?
JB: Expansion is a key a part of it. We are rising into being a number one pan-African platform providing last-mile entry to well being and this funding will go a great distance in serving to us obtain that. We even have an enterprise buyer section which has a lot alternative to make us a really high-margin enterprise. We can even be investing lots in our product and know-how.
TC: What would you say is the state of healthtech on the continent for the time being?
JB: It’s a brilliant thrilling time on the continent proper now for healthtech. When Kasha began, healthtech corporations had been seen extra like social enterprises and never as high-growth industrial corporations. I believe it’s completely crucial we modify that by constructing sturdy industrial, financially sound healthtech corporations which might be scaling. And that’s precisely what we’re doing at Kasha. It’s been fairly the journey from the start as a result of there weren’t as many industrial buyers concerned inside the healthtech house. It was principally influence buyers.
But what you’re seeing now could be healthtech corporations like Kasha which might be scaling and attaining excessive income development and that’s attracting the eye of economic buyers.
There are additionally a variety of pharmaceutical producers and others that need to do enterprise on the continent and want higher channels and visibility and so the chance is certainly there for healthtech innovators. What we want to do as healthcare corporations is to develop sturdy companies and construct out the ecosystem in order to leverage such alternatives.
TC: How is Kasha leveraging partnerships in the ecosystem to speed up its development?
JB: We are a really partner-leveraged enterprise. If you’re working in totally different nations and scaling throughout Africa, partnerships with native well being organisations are completely crucial. This is as a result of in each nation, there are totally different languages and well being insurance policies and it’s essential to perceive these in and out.
Tech is fairly transferable for essentially the most half, however simply having the ability to actually make it related to individuals in all places requires a variety of partnerships. So I believe partnering with conventional well being organisations is a win-win scenario as a result of they’ll scale extra and we are able to scale extra. Additionally, as a result of this trade hasn’t obtained the quantity of capital that others have, you possibly can’t construct the whole lot your self. It’s too costly and too gradual. Partnerships enable corporations to leverage one another’s strengths to construct versatile merchandise. I believe it’s a extremely thrilling house as a result of we are able to really develop stronger collectively as an ecosystem with everybody constructing sturdy companies and dealing collectively and that’s for the great of all.
TC: What do the following 2-3 years look like for Kasha in phrases of the corporate’s roadmap?
JB: First and foremost, we’re centered on being the most important healthcare last-mile platform throughout Africa so there are lots of nations to increase into. We can even be forming partnerships with world gamers to make a play in the worldwide market.
TC: Any parting ideas?
JB: The previous few months have been powerful for startups with the financial downturn. But I believe it’s additionally only a shining second for this continent. What I’ve been observing is that there’s a variety of capital that’s given in developed markets inside the startup group to corporations which might be nowhere shut to profitability or are even pre-revenue. On this continent, you possibly can’t survive like that. You can’t simply increase rounds with out making any cash. And so, I might say the chance right here is there are some sturdy companies on the continent which might be making excessive revenues and they’re high-margin companies with much less entry to capital, so it’s compelled us to construct stronger companies.
Interview has been edited for size and readability.
…. to be continued
Read the Original Article
Copyright for syndicated content material belongs to the linked Source : TechCabal – https://techcabal.com/2023/07/27/kasha-ceo-feature-joanna-bitchsel/