Nigerian startup Field Intelligence has announced that it has closed a $3.6-million Series-A funding round to fund the further roll out of its product Shelf Life, a supply chain finance platform for pharmacies in Africa.
The round was led by Blue Haven Initiative, with investors including Newtown Partners via the Imperial Venture Fund (which it launched on Monday — see this story) and Accion Venture Lab.
In a statement today the startup, which was was founded by American Michael Moreland and Australian Justin Lorenzon in 2015, said the new investment will fund Shelf Life’s expansion throughout Nigeria and Kenya, as well as the development of additional services for Shelf Life clients and their patients.
Using Shelf Life pharmacies can subscribe to over a thousand quality-assured and price-stabilised drugs from 50 medical, health and wellness categories.
Field Intelligence was founded in 2015 by American Michael Moreland and Australian Justin Lorenzon
The startup said since first debuting in Nigeria in 2017, the startup has signed on over 280 community pharmacies in Nigeria and Kenya as subscribers to the platform.
In addition, since inception, Shelf Life claims it has maintained 96% stock availability for its clients, up from a pre-Shelf Life baseline of 60%.
It says as an alternative to traditional inventory finance, Shelf Life costs pharmacies between 60% and 82% less than traditional loans.
Advisory support to the transaction was provided by CrossBoundary through USAID’s Invest programme, funded by the USAID Southern and East Africa Regional Missions in support of the US Government’s Prosper Africa initiative.
