Redbird seeks to scale its health monitoring services to 30 additional community pharmacies over the next three months with this investment.

Potential of Redbird to reduce the risk of pregnancy complications and maternal mortality, along with improving access to diagnostic services, drove the investment decision.

GMC coLABS, an investment portfolio of impact investor Gray Matters Capital (GMC), has announced its investment in Redbird Health Tech, a medical diagnostics distributor expanding access to healthcare in Ghana through community pharmacies.

This investment is in line with GMC coLABS’ commitment of investing $ 5 million over the next 3 years in innovative and scalable for-profit enterprises that have the potential to dramatically improve the lives of women and girls around the world.

Redbird offers patients a wide range of health monitoring services with the benefits of convenience and affordability as they can get rapid diagnostic tests done for blood pressure, malaria, anaemia, hepatitis B, cholesterol, etc. via pharmacies.

With Redbird, pharmacies can expand their business and provide patients, especially those who are pregnant and have chronic diseases, a more effective way to monitor their health without having to lose a full day of travel and waiting at overburdened hospitals.

"We are committed to investing in companies that are positively impacting the lives of women," said Jennifer Soltis, Portfolio Manager – coLABS, Gray Matters Capital. Outlining the investment rationale, she said, "Redbird offers tests for anaemia, hypertension, and blood glucose, which are important to prenatal monitoring to reduce the risk of pregnancy complications and maternal mortality. Being able to access these tests in community pharmacies provides women a more convenient and affordable way to take control of their health. We’re excited to support Redbird’s efforts to bring health monitoring services closer to the mothers and families who need them most." 

Redbird has partnered with two pharmacies in the Accra area to prove patient demand for the service. Since February, over 1000 tests have been performed by these partner pharmacies. With the GMC coLABS investment, Redbird seeks to scale to 30 additional pharmacies over the next three months.

“We are incredibly excited to bring GMC coLABS on as part of the Redbird team,” said Patrick Beattie, CEO, Redbird Health Tech. “With the investment from GMC coLABS as well as their expertise in helping organizations like ours to scale-up, we’ll be able to expand our customer base in Accra and beyond.”

Redbird is currently participating in the Alchemist Accelerator, a selective program that focuses on scaling early-stage business-to-business enterprise companies. They were runners up in the Skoll Venture Awards, which provides funding to Oxford Saïd students and alumni who have developed a social impact-focused venture.