Afrobility: Africa Tech and Business

#38: 54gene - How the HealthTech platform is building diverse datasets to improve diagnostic and treatment outcomes across Africa

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Overview: Today, we’re going to talk about 54gene - the genomics HealthTech company. We’ll explore the 54gene story across 6 areas:

  1. African Health care status & context
  2. 54gene early history
  3. Fundraising & Growth
  4. Product & monetization strategy
  5. Competitive positioning & potential exit options
  6. Overall outlook.

    7. This episode was recorded on Sep 19, 2021

    Companies discussed: 54gene, llumina, African Centre of Excellence for Genomics of Infectious Diseases, Y Combinator (YC), 50 Years, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Gilead, IMS Health, Broad Institute, Novartis, Cathay AfricInvest, Helium Health & mPharma

    Business concepts discussed: Genomics, Capacity development / Local knowledge development,  Healthcare technology, Health insurance coverage, commercial biobanks & public policy

    Conversation highlights:

    • (00:54) - Why we’re talking about 54Gene today
    • (06:25) - Context on Healthcare and Genomics in Africa
    • (27:02) - 54Gene founding and early history
    • (34:13) - Fundraising and early growth - Seed, Series A, Series B
    • (54:15) - Product and monetization strategy
    • (1:11:00) - 54Gene capacity building
    • (1:17:00) - Competition in this space, exit opportunities
    • (1:30:39) - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
    • (1:42:38) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
    • (1:56:03) - Recommendations and small wins


      • Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:

      • Recommendation: Afridigest newsletter (by Emeka Ajene) Awesome and well done. Combines threads from multiple angles. Fabulous.
      • Recommendation: Frontier FinTech Newsletter (by Samora Kariouki) So thorough and detailed. Love it.
      • Recommendation: Kate Nash - Foundations. So good
      • Small win: Galaxy Buds 2 - Small,  ANC (Active Noise Cancellation), great battery life, good software controls
      • Other content: Boom - Supersonic Passenger Airplanes


        • Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:

        • Recommendation: Slow Down - King Promise, Code Breakers by Walter Isaacson & Sarah Tavel on 20 minute VC
        • Small win: Chelsea FC 3-0 W vs Tottenham
        • Other content: 54Gene partnership with Illumina & Colonialists are coming for blood - Literally


          • Listeners: We’d love to hear from you. Email [email protected] with feedback!

          Founders: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at [email protected]

          Investors: We'd also love to link up with you to drive the ecosystem forward. Contact us at [email protected]

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          Afrobility: Africa Tech and BusinessBy Olumide Ogunsanwo and Bankole Makanju
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