TeamFund, a United States-based hybrid company that allows nonprofit and for-profit organizations to invest in med-tech startups in developing countries, has raised an inaugural fund of $30m. The fund will be used to provide aid for med-tech startups in Sub-Saharan Africa and India.
The fund was raised from MedTech investor, Yousuf Mazhar and Tim Ring, the former Chairman, and CEO of C.R. Bard.
The prevalence of diseases in sub-Saharan Africa has been a disturbing issue. According to the World Health Organization WHO, Africa with nearly 11% of the world’s population has 60% Hiv/Aids cases and 90% of malaria cases, amidst others. Africans continue to suffer from inadequate health service providers and the inability to afford expensive medical technologies needed to address the growing healthcare demand.
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Transforming Equity and Access for MedTech (TeamFund) will, therefore, use the fund to address the spread of diseases in poverty prone nations, and provide sound but affordable medical care through appropriate technologies. It will also sponsor med-tech innovations and startups to reach this goal.
TeamFund is the brainchild of Ms Kathryn Gleason and Tim King. It incorporates a hybrid model of charity and impact fund partnership to invest in self- sustaining innovation. The initiative will identify innovative technologies and support medtech companies with financial aids and deploy more than 55 MedTech Advisors to help scale growth. It will also support the startups to become sustainable and maximize impact.
There are over 14 MedTech and Pharma companies worldwide, and 14 former MedTech CEOs have contributed to or invested in, the Hybrid Fund.
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