Lagos, Nigeria – 18th December 2023: Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (“VKAV”) is pleased to announce its investment of $1 million in Chefaa, an Egypt-based e-Pharmacy, to support its growth plan. Simultaneously, Ryosuke (Rio) Yamawaki, Partner at VKAV, has been appointed as a Board Observer to the company, reinforcing their commitment to transforming the pharmaceutical supply chain sector and driving economic growth in the region. This investment comes as a co-investment M3 Inc., the world leading provider of various digital healthcare platforms.
Egypt has the largest (over $5bn) and fastest-growing (over 12% CAGR) pharmaceutical market in Africa. However, it is also highly fragmented with over 60 thousand independent small pharmacies to distribute pharmaceutical goods, which causes significant operational inefficiencies and inconveniences for all stakeholders. Patients consistently suffer from low availability of goods, pharmacies struggle to attract customers, and pharmaceutical companies lack visibility into the market.
With a vision to digitize the pharmaceutical supply chain in Egypt and the Gulf countries, Chefaa leverages technological innovations to transform the sector. The company has successfully built multi-faceted product offerings serving all those stakeholders in the sector. Their flagship offering “Chefaa Now” connects patients with pharmacies with the right stock in vicinity, solving the issues of both parties at the same time. Leveraging its 1M+ monthly active users and significant transaction volumes, they provide pharmaceutical companies with real-time market insights, which has conventionally been inaccessible.
Doaa Ibrahim Mahmoud Aref, CEO and Co-founder of Chefaa expressed his excitement about partnering with VKAV during this pivotal phase of the company’s growth. She stated, “We are proud to have VKAV strategically positioned to be part of Chefaa milestones to come and looking forward to actively partnering with VKAV.”
Ryosuke (Rio) Yamawaki, Partner at VKAV, emphasized the firm’s focus on investing in category-defining African start-ups. Yamawaki said, “Chefaa is uniquely positioned to transform the retail pharmaceutical supply chain in Africa. We firmly believe that with their wide-ranging product offerings serving multiple stakeholders, Chefaa will become a critical business infrastructure for pharmaceutical supply chain in Egypt and the broader Gulf region.”
As VKAV joins forces with Chefaa, we will provide the necessary impetus to drive the company’s growth plans in collaboration with M3 Inc. The partnership will enable Chefaa to continue delivering innovative solutions, propelling Egypt’s economy forward and showcasing the potential of Africa’s pharmaceutical supply chain sector on a global scale.
