Can Global Health and Venture Capital get along?
Rowena Luk of Africa Health Ventures makes a compelling case
In Africa, we don’t call it impact investing, it’s just investing.
Rowena Luk, Africa Health Ventures
Much has been made of the need to change development funding, or what is referred to as the Foreign Aid Industrial Complex. There is a will to change how local leadership and power dynamics change. But how?
Could VCs who take a wider lens on value be part of the solution?
has spent time building digital tools to solve healthcare access and delivery problems at scale across Africa, and now leads work to invest in the next wave with . Rowena, who originally started one of the first global digital health related podcasts, sat down with me on the Global Perspectives on Digital Health podcast to talk about her story, her vision and her case for why this crisis is a real opportunity for Africa to build resilient health and tech infrastructure for sustained impact. [Podcast and Youtube links below]Here are some of my personal highlights:
This is Africa’s moment. Rowena’s case for investing and the hard metrics business case is pretty compelling.
It is not always the case that VCs look at the short term only. In fact, philanthropy and development funding cycles themselves are short, and good VCs have a 10+ year view and look at broader value.
You have to meet the market where it’s at.
My takeaway: Africa is not homogenous. Do the work to know what is needed right now, and build a path to where you want to get.
If you’re a US or Europe based investor looking to invest in Africa, check your biases and leave your mental models at the door. Things are different here, in a good way.
Useful advice for people building and investing in Africa
The importance of investing in distribution and infrastructure.
My read: You might have the perfect tool, but it’s hard to get hospitals and institutions to even know about them, let alone maintain, find payment models and have a path to adoption.
I often talk about how the digital health industry over-indexes on short term financial aspects of value and growth at all costs, resulting in what I call ‘economic gymnastics’: i.e using often very shaky assumptions and economic modelling to turn health outcomes and improved patient experience into dollars, instead of just recognising the inherent value of those things.
And so it was great to discuss this with Rowena on the podcast, and I was reminded that often philanthropic and aid investment also has short term funding cycles. In addition there are VCs, especially those in healthcare in Africa who take a 10+ year view and view health outcomes at scale as a marker of success.
Another good argument: if we accept that health outcomes are our bigger goal, and they generally take 5-10 years to be realised, then you want to make sure, as a founder, that you are viable and sustainable as a business to get there. The investment model builds the sustainability of the business as a whole and how well it is set up to serve the market - we can interpret this as ‘the needs of people locally’. Compare that with historical siloed donor funding for one particular disease vertical, where accountability lies up in that ivory tower in a high income setting, several layers removed from the ground, then we have 2 sides of a continuum.
Great food for thought, and more importantly, action. Rowena’s bullishness on Africa is contagious.
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What’s your view?
Dr Shubs Upadhyay
I am focused on how we use technology in healthcare to prioritise underserved communities globally.
With my experience and expertise in clinical medicine, industry and policy, I help investors and digital health companies focus on building towards the right value with the right proof points. Fractional clinical product leadership. Evidence generation and communication. Quality as an organisation-wide mindset.
Want to work with me? Get in touch at hello@shubs.me