London-based consumer health startup Berry Health raised $1.6m from Lightspeed Venture Partners and General Catalyst to democratize access to healthcare in Africa, starting out with mental health, sexual health and dermatology.
Angels in the round include Reddit COO Jen Wong, Thirty Madison co-founders Demetri Karagas and Steven Gutentag, New York tech lawyer and VC Ed and Betsy Zimmerman, and former US Surgeon General ’09 to ’13 Dr. Regina Benjamin. Africa currently has the highest rate of clinically diagnosed depression and suicide globally according to the WHO, the second highest incidence of STIs, and a rapidly accelerating chronic disease burden.
The company was founded by Dr. Fredua Akosa, a British-Ghanaian medical doctor, public health expert and former VC, and the team includes: VP of Marketing Lusiana Castiglione (ex-WPP), VP Product Management Gaurav Kumar (ex-Instacart), Director of Design Daniel Harvey (ex-Babylon Health), and an expert clinical team.
“Lightspeed understands what it takes to build a successful technology-based healthcare business in various markets around the world,” said Paul Murphy, Partner at Lightspeed. “Our experience and longstanding relationship with Fredua, coupled with his unique insights on the gaps that exist for patients across sub-Saharan Africa, made us extremely excited to partner with Berry Health. We can’t wait for Fredua and the team to bring access to world-class healthcare to patients in Africa.”
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