Venture Spotlight: Rocket Health

Founders: Davis Musinguzi, John Mark Bwanika, Hope Achiro, Fiona Nuwamanya and William Lubega

The Africa Health Collaborative, in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, will be welcoming the Health Entrepreneurship (HENT) African Impact Challenge’s second cohort for their upcoming visit to Toronto, where they will continue their implementation phase through activities targeting business development, expanding entrepreneurial networks, and facilitating exposure to potential investors.

The University of Toronto’s Health Collaborative Internal Communications Working Group caught up with the ventures to learn more about the origins of their companies, what they’ve learned to date, and what is coming up next…

Category: Spotlight
Pillar: Health Entrepreneurship
Tags: African Impact Challenge; Health Entrepreneurship; Venture Spotlight

Rocket Health

Extensive patient wait-times and low pharmaceutical stock pose a serious challenge to the increasing cost of health care in Uganda. These challenges inspired Rocket Health’s founding team (Davis Musinguzi, John Mark Bwanika, Hope Achiro, Fiona Nuwamanya and William Lubega) to create a technology that could streamline the patient experience and create a more efficient health care value chain to serve as many populations as possible.

Since 2012, Rocket Health has used their telemedicine business model to bring a digital solution that centralizes different health care solutions into one place. This is done through a 24-hour contact centre that enables patients to consult with doctors remotely, at any time of the day or night, and from anywhere across the country. Costs are kept low by replacing physical consultations with remote consultations, though Rocket Health offers mobile services (e.g. pharmaceutical deliveries, home vaccinations, etc.) for patients with acute conditions.

What is the accomplishment to date that your team is most proud of?

Having set out to achieve the best possible quality of care for customers, Rocket Health has recorded several key milestones on its journey as Uganda’s pioneer and leading telemedicine provider. In 2019, we accomplished a seamless end-to-end integrated service of a clinic, laboratory, and pharmacy that facilitates quality customer experiences and outcomes. In March last year, we closed a $5M Series A fundraising round which has facilitated expansion to a new service point in Kyetume, Gayaza and a move into the wholesale market.

If you could give advice to another founder getting started, what would that be?

“You don’t have to see the whole way through, just have the courage to get started, have a clear mission and continuously surround yourself with the right people.”

Looking forward, Rocket Health aims to become the leading world-class digital health company in Africa. They are in the process of developing and launching a Health Wallet that will enable customers to deposit money that can be used to access prepaid health care, so that their services can reach the over 90% population of Ugandans who do not have access to health insurance. Additionally, the Rocket Health team is dedicating significant resources to the wholesale business with a goal of achieving value chain efficiency for retail pharmacies, clinics, laboratories, and other institutions that source medical supplies.