Our Portfolio

Villgro Kenya has supported 16 companies since 2015. Our portfolio is a mix of hardware devices, technological health systems and services.

Eligibility

Early stage inventor or innovator based entrepreneur who has a product or service around health innovation that can impact the poor and vulnerable in society can apply. It should be an idea that can be scaled up and change the lives of Africa’s rural and urban poor communities.

Multidisciplinary team with one technical co-founder

Minimum Viable Product Built

Problem Solution Fit

Validated Market Demand

Product Market Fit

Clear revenue Model

Process

Fill in the application form. Once shortlisted you will be taken through a due diligence process and personal interviews. You will then present your innovation to our selection panel, who will gauge your innovation and entrepreneurial appetite and make the final selections.

Incubation Journey

Once part of the Villgro Kenya portfolio, incubatees go through an intensive program which will depend on the company’s needs and stage. Entrepreneurs will use this time to develop, test and refine their business models until their ventures become investment ready. Entrepreneurs will work closely with Villgro Kenya staff, and mentors, and will also be exposed to the right networks. Though official work hours are 9am-5pm Mon-Fri, our workday is 24x7x365. It will be sheer hard work, sleepless nights, restless days and the fire in your belly keeping you going.

Ilara Health

Ilara Health makes common diagnostics accessible and affordable to the 500 million people in Africa who struggle to access basic blood tests by partnering with companies using robotics and AI to lower the cost of diagnostics, integrating their devices into their tech platform, and selling this bundle to doctors with financing

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Turaco

Turaco offers health loans bundled with insurance so their clients can get care whenever a medical emergency arises. This reduces out of pocket health care expenses which pushes low income earners back into poverty.

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Health-E-Net

Health-E-Net - Improving the quality of PHC through Telemedicine – remote diagnosis and case study to link PHC settings to medical consultants and the Paper EMR which guides clinicians through medical guidelines for treatment and diagnosis of illnesses. Good reliable medical records are a big gap in PHC settings, but this method enables practitioners to display and monitor the quality of care and interventions

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Clinic Pesa

ClinicPesa is a digital micro-savings and loans platform that provides users with convenient and affordable means to accessing healthcare. ClinicPesa allows users to access their saving and loans for use at registered health services providers therefore reducing out-of-pocket spending for medical bills and purchases of drugs

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Enzi Health

Providing quality and affordable primary healthcare through a Hail a clinic model for primary healthcare capitation model in their clinics and Tiba Mkononi, diagnostic services on call to solve the problem of understaffed, under equipped or simply too far, out of reach healthcare services

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Matibabu

Malaria diagnostic device that is IOT enabled and has potential for non-invasive diagnosis. Able to provide health authorities with information about malaria prevalence using geothermal referencing in real time this will reduce the spread of malaria

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Maisha Meds

Provides point of sale system for small rural pharmacies to help them ensure that the medicines they purchase are from WHO approved suppliers to ensure quality of stocks and inventory management. People in rural areas pay high prices for medicines supply chain aggregation of orders ensure they buy in bulk o reduce the final cost to the customers.

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Mama Ope

An easy to use and time saving kit that can aid health workers and practitioners to easily diagnose Pneumonia at a faster rate with increased accuracy.

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Afya Poa

A micro health insurance platform for those not served by NHIF or private insurance; and who are not targeted with existing products. Their platform seeks to provide access to quality & affordable healthcare to cover 85% of people informally employed in the economy with the aim of reducing out of pocket payments for healthcare.

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Mentors

A multidisciplinary team with 80 years of experience & expertise in biomed, finance, ICT entrepreneurship and engineering.

Ms. Snider Mugese is a BSc. Financial Engineering graduate from Jomo Kenyatta university of Agriculture and technology (JKUAT). She is also a certified Public accountant (CPA K) currently pursuing a certification in Finance and Investment analysis. She previously worked as an accountant at NewQuest Consulting Limited, an accounting firm where she handled various companies in Bookkeeping and Tax and held a team supervisory role.

Ordia Akelo holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Linguistics Media and Communication from Moi University. She was awarded a Climate Tracker Fellowship as a Climate journalist in 2016 & 2017. She has worked as a writer, editor and managed websites & social media sites for Standard Media Group and the African Network for Internationalization of Education.

John Masanda is an astute entrepreneur and business executive with experience and expertise to lead diverse teams with multiple skills and multicultural background.

John has successful participated in various enterprises start-up and growth, diversifications, new products launch, new markets entry, business consolidation, mergers and acquisitions, funding and investment decisions.

John is Founder & CEO of Malfini Capital Ltd (MCL) which is investment and stockholder in Malfini Gas Ltd a distributor of BOC GASES; a leading global brand of gases and process engineering services, Malfini Energy Ltd a distributor of petroleum products Fuels & CALTEX LUBRICANTS; a leading global brand and Malfini Logistics Ltd a 3PL logistics service provider, commodity trading and FMCG distributor. MCL is an investor in Malfini Gas DRC Sarl a joint venture company participating in development of the Lake Kivu Methane Gas Project to produce methane gas for both domestic use, industrial use and power generation. John does provides advisory services to; FasterCapital LLC a virtual incubator co-founding and cofounding start-ups with innovative app-based or online based solutions, Villgro Kenya an incubator of innovative ideas on healthcare and biosciences and Capital One Group a corporate communications agency with East Africa operations and Ugavilla Development Co. Ltd a developer of affordable housing.

John has been CEO of Kenlloyd Logistics Ltd; which grew to be regional network partner and franchisee of DB Schenker of Germany; a leading global logistics service provider, negotiated and performed Fuel Supply Agreement with Jacobsen Elektro AS of Norway supporting seamlessly their 50Mw power plant in Uganda for 7 years, negotiated and signed a PPP concession with Government Of Uganda through City Authority and a subsidiary; Pioneer Easy Bus Ltd to operate public transport passenger services for 5 years. John has been instrumental in negotiating and introducing into East Africa innovative construction technologies and alternative building technologies; Probase Road System (‘’PRS’’) for roads and Lightweight Concrete Methodology (‘’LCM’’) for housing.

Daniel Ohonde is a dynamic, strategic and visionary leader with more than 25 years of exceptional leadership experience in CEO / COO and investment stewardship roles managing high performance teams. He has a combination of international development experience and broad commercial experience gained from diverse markets. His experience in the provision of patient capital to small and growing businesses (SGBs) is extensive across Africa and, as a member of the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) Global Executive Committee, he also brings on board a deep understanding of the SGB landscape in other developing and emerging markets globally. He is former CEO at the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF). His passion is in supporting and catalyzing early stage (and scaling) innovative enterprises and business models that can sustainably deliver social change.
He has a rich mix of human resources, operations, strategy, finance, investment, governance, resource mobilization and portfolio management experience having previously worked (across various locations internationally) with African Development Bank, Real People Financial Services, African Management Services Company (AMSCO), USAID, Plus Consultants, ExxonMobil, Coca-Cola Africa, and WestConsult.
Daniel has a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from University of Nairobi, MBA in Strategic Management from USIU-A and an MSc in Finance from the University of London. He is an avid tennis and cricket supporter, is married and blessed with two sons

Dr. Abdi Mohamed is an award winning serial entrepreneur who was voted as one of the Top 40 under 40 men in Kenya. He is the co-founder and CEO of Ladnan Hospital which has been acquired by a PE Fund. Dr. Abdi has been elected into leadership positions by his medical professional colleagues. Dr. Abdi has strong entrepreneurial acumen with a leaning towards social enterprises.

Wesley Ronoh is a seasoned Pharmaceutical Sector Development Expert having worked and consulted for leading International Development Agencies within East Africa and beyond. He has a deep understanding of the health technologies landscape in the developing world having been involved in developing regional and national policies and other strategic interventions aimed at improving access. He has core competencies in Life Science Product Development including technology transfer management, commercialization, manufacture and delivery to market. Wesley is a Registered Pharmacist with postgraduate degrees in Medicinal Chemistry and MBA.

Mr. Basil is Founder and CEO of Villgro Innovations Foundation. Over the last decade, Mr. Basil has incubated over 130 innovative enterprises, creating over 4000 jobs, touching around 5 million lives in villages across India.

Mr. Basil also co-founded Menterra Venture Advisors, a seed stage, impact fund that makes venture investments in for-profit, impactful enterprises.

Apart from the core of his mission, which is incubating early stage, innovative businesses, Paul also has contributed to building the social enterprise eco-system in India. Unconvention, India’s leading conference on innovation and social entrepreneurship is organized in 15 cities across India, a Centre for Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship at IIT-Madras that focuses on research and education, the ANDE India Chapter (Aspen Network for Development Entrepreneurs) a network of intermediaries that support small and growing businesses etc., are some of his achievements in building the eco-system in India.

Mr. Basil was awarded the Ashoka Fellowship in 2002 for his outstanding social entrepreneurship in setting up Villgro. He has also been conferred the Samaj Seva Bhushan Award and the Star Entrepreneur Award

Paul Belknap is COO, Villgro Kenya. Paul has diverse experience in both product development and social business incubation. He spent three and a half years building the Villgro India health portfolio by sourcing pipeline, leading diligence and portfolio management for multiple companies.

Rob brings a unique combination of seasoned experience in business and social entrepreneurship, education and technology. Rob is a visionary leader who has lived in Kenya for the past 11 years and is fully aware of the unique challenges that Kenyans face seeking sustainable livelihoods within the East African context.

Robert serves as the CEO, Villgro Kenya where he is spearheading the replication of the Villgro incubation model of social entrepreneurship and impact investment in the healthcare and life sciences industry. He has over 10 years of experience in global health R&D as a biomedical scientist at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) where he discovered his passion for impacting peoples’ lives through science and innovation.

Wilfred brings in diverse experience having lived and worked in Middle East, Asia and Africa and travelled to 8 countries. His first immersion into startup and incubation world came while pitching his idea to a Jordanian based incubator, OASIS500. He went on to do a one year Villgro fellowship in India after which he took up the challenge of scaling Villgro to Africa.

Dr. Kevin Muite is an Investment Manager with Villgro Kenya. Kevin holds a PhD in Immunology from the University of Chicago and a former consultant for large pharmaceutical clients. He began his scientific career in Durban South Africa researching HIV at the Doris Duke Medical Center at the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal during his undergraduate years. He spent a year conducting research at Virginia Tech as an NIH post baccalaureate fellow researching mucosal immunology.

Gibson holds a Bachelor’s degree in Arts (Economics) from the University of Nairobi. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA K) . He previously worked as a freelancing Accounts and Tax Consultant for SMEs and a junior financial analyst at Fledge-Africa, a financial consulting company providing investment readiness and fund raising support for Villgro Kenya’s portfolio, where he discovered his passion for due diligence and financial modeling

Moses holds an MSc. in Global Health from the University of Manchester and a Bachelor of Business Administration specializing in entrepreneurship from the Kenya Methodist University. He has diverse experience in managing health research and intervention programs covering areas such as substance abuse, mental health, HIV/AIDS, health promotion and behavior change programs. He has held senior roles in several non-profits including the Private Sector Development Trust, The Institute of Quantity Surveyors of Kenya and SCAD.