Egyptian Healthtech Chefaa Raises Undisclosed Venture Round

Chefaa, a patient-centred pharmacy benefits platform based in Egypt, has raised an undisclosed venture round from Newtown Partners, Global Brain and GMS Capital Partners. The venture round will be used to expand Chefaa's network, digitise chronic illness management to improve quality of life for chronic patients who use their platform, and support the launch of a new product called Chefaa Prime - a medical insurance alternative that has been created for emerging markets.

“From the start, we focused on empowering Chefaa’s ability to measure the impact of every step it takes with real data, not just for funding but for execution and scaling as well," Doaa Aref, CEO and Founder of Chefaa, says.  “I believe this venture round is pivotal not because it will only help us scale our validated business models, but because it will also help us capitalise on untapped market opportunities.”

Doaa Aref and Dr. Rasha Rady both founded Chefaa in 2017 in order to help chronic patients and caregivers gain access to as many medical services and products as possible as easily as possible, from recurring prescription orders to on-demand, one-off pharmacy sales. After achieving total coverage across Egypt's 26 governorates and 52 cities, with a path towards regional expansion starting in Saudi Arabia, Chefaa has attracted international investors including the likes of Japan-based VC Global Brain, US-based investment firm GMS Capital Partners, and South Africa-based VC Newtown Partners.

“There is usually a challenge to meet patient needs particularly when it comes to medicine," Mr Yasuhiko Yurimoto, Founder, CEO and General Partner at Global Brain, says. "We believe that Chefaa's approach of growth, which is an opportunity to enhance medical literacy through freemium service and employee benefits, is the right way and contributes to one of the severe national health problems; a shortage of providing optimum care for chronic patients.”

For all three investment companies, this is their first venture into the Egyptian market.