Peter Bruno, Growth lead at Field Intelligence Inc, in a statement issued on Wednesday, March 11th, 2020, said the $3.6 million equity raise will fund the scale-up of Shelf Life, the technology-enabled supply chain finance platform for pharmacies in Africa.
Shelf Life has helped pharmacies and drug shops grow over 25% by transforming how they stock their shelves, the company said on its website.
Michael Moreland, Co-Founder, and CEO, Field Intelligence, says, “We’re delighted to welcome new investors into the business. They share our vision for catalysing change in a huge and vitally-important sector. They bring deep fintech and logistics experience, which will be vital in helping us build a new generation of healthcare supply chains in Africa and beyond.”
Since inception, the health-tech firm said Shelf Life has maintained 96% stock availability for its clients, up from a pre-Shelf Life baseline of 60%. As an alternative to traditional inventory finance, Shelf Life costs pharmacies between 60 and 82% less than traditional loans - freeing these small retailers from prohibitively expensive capital.
Lauren Cochran, Managing Director, Blue Haven Initiative says, “Shelf Life is a proven platform to transform access to medicines through Africa’s private community pharmacy market. The design and development have been done on the ground in Nigeria and Kenya and there’s a real experience in the team of what it takes to deliver at scale in African health systems.”
Advisory support to the transaction was provided by CrossBoundary through USAID’s INVEST program funded by the USAID Southern and East Africa Regional Missions in support of the US Government’s Prosper Africa initiative.
Field Intelligence to expand operations throughout Nigeria and Kenya
With the annual pharmaceuticals market in Africa valued at over $60 billion, Field Intelligence is ready to commit the new investment in Shelf Life’s expansion throughout Nigeria and Kenya, as well as the development of additional services for Shelf Life clients and their patients.”
The statement added that more than 280 community pharmacies in Nigeria and Kenya have now subscribed to Shelf Life, making the business of community pharmacy less risky and lower-cost, while improving access to an expanded selection of higher-quality medicines.
