Based in Kenya, three-and-a-half year-old, seed-raising, virtual care startup, Zuri Health, has already provided more than 1 MILLION doctor consultations via SMS to underserved communities in eight African countries, built a 600+ physician network, and nabbed a partnership with global life sciences innovation giant Bayer to help African women gain access to modern contraception.

This is a story of access and affordability if ever there was one and Zuri Health’s co-founder & COO Titilola Olaolu-Hassan tells it beautifully. “We did not want anybody excluded from quality healthcare,” she explains. “A huge percentage of people in Africa do not have access to healthcare. They can't afford it, and some people have to choose between eating and going to the hospital when they're sick. It's actually a quest for survival. So, we said for providing accessible healthcare, we need to provide solutions that are extremely affordable. Anyone who can afford a bottle of water can access our services.”

The cost to talk to a doctor on Zuri Health? It can be less than ten cents – and we find out how! Titilola (who goes by Titi) explains the business model, including all of its cleaver bundles and membership options which help provide ongoing, holistic care virtually (with occasional in-person support for things like labs) to those who wouldn’t otherwise have the time or wherewithal to visit a clinic or hospital. Zuri Health’s online clinic is accessible via the quadruple threat: app, website, What’s App chatbot, and, because “in Africa, everybody has a mobile phone” (though not necessarily a smartphone) SMS.

As if the accessibility and price-point of Zuri Health’s services weren’t enough, its relationship-building techniques with African physicians are also unique. Titi explains that the average doctor-to-patient ratio is one doctor to 10,000 patients (and rising as high as 1-to-45,000 in some parts of Africa) yet many African physicians can’t find places to work in Africa and are leaving the continent. Their virtual model is attempting to fix this supply-and-demand imbalance and has the support of some of the largest telecommunications companies in Africa to help it further scale. So, what of the Bayer partnership, which is providing Zuri Health free to women needing support finding contraception? And, how about this $4M seed round raise? Tune in to get the details on this inspiring aim to fixing African healthcare’s accessibility issues.

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Jess DaMassa chats it up with the ‘who’s who’ of the health tech and healthcare innovation set on 'WTF Health - What's the Future, Health?' Catch 100's of interviews with leading healthcare technology startups and the VC investors, health insurance companies, big pharma co's, and hospital systems helping bring their new ideas into the healthcare establishment. From AI and Big Data to digital health, virtual care, telehealth, digital therapeutics, payment model innovation, and investing, Jessica helps you spot the trends and figure out what’s next.

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