What's the inspiration behind Aimcare and what problem are you seeking to solve?
Aimcare was born from personal tragedy. In 2013, I lost my mother to complications from substandard insulin. This devastating experience opened my eyes to a systemic problem in African healthcare. While investigating what happened, I discovered that local pharmacies weren't negligent - they were trapped in a broken system. For 80% of Africans, community pharmacies and medicine stores are the frontline of healthcare, yet these small businesses routinely run out of essential medicines, incur significant losses to expiry, and struggle with substandard products. These inefficiencies cost the health system millions while limiting access to quality care.
What impact are you hoping to create with Aimcare?
Aimcare provides essential healthcare providers with the technology, inventory, capital, and expertise they need to serve their communities effectively. We're transforming Africa's primary healthcare system into a reliable, accessible network where quality care is the standard, not the exception.
Currently, we service 150 healthcare providers who are improving healthcare for over 20,000 patients monthly across three states in Nigeria. We want to scale this impact to 2,000 healthcare providers across the entire country, creating a comprehensive network of quality-assured healthcare access points.
Ultimately, our goal is to support a sustainable healthcare ecosystem that operates efficiently without external support - where pharmacies and clinics have the business tools and resources to provide excellent care while building sustainable businesses that contribute to their local economies and improve health outcomes for millions of Nigerians.
How has the King’s Start-up Accelerator helped you progress your venture?
Joining the accelerator gave us access to targeted resources that addressed our specific growth challenges. What I valued most were the deep dive workshops led by Experts-in-Residence, which provided focused insights on scaling our operations beyond our initial markets. These sessions challenged our assumptions and helped us refine our approach to expansion.
Our most important learnings came from the funding workshops, where we gained practical knowledge about structuring investment deals, term sheets, managing investor relationships, and navigating different funding options. The guidance helped us articulate our impact story in ways that resonate with impact investors, while maintaining focus on our core mission.
The accelerator also provided a valuable community of peers who were tackling similar challenges in different sectors. These connections created a support network where we could openly discuss the unique pressures of scaling an impact-driven business in challenging markets.
You joined the King's Start-up Accelerator, whilst completing your PhD. How have you balanced working on your venture, with your study commitments?
I intentionally aligned my academic research with challenges relevant to scaling impact ventures, so that my studies and start-up were connected. I’ve been able to use my academic knowledge to enhance our business approach, and the business insights have informed my research questions – rather than competiting for attention, both my start-up and PhD have been strengthened.
Practically, I use a strict time blocking system – dedicating specific days to company work, whilst reserving others for academic writing and research. I’m also grateful to the strong team at Aimcare, for allowing me to delegate some responsibilities.
Aimcare started to generate revenue two months after launch, what's your advice to other entrepreneurs looking to start and scale businesses in Africa?
Deeply understand the local context and build solutions that address fundamental needs, not just interesting problems. Our ability to generate revenue quickly came from starting with a clear need and building a solution that created immediate value. African markets reward entrepreneurs who solve real problems with practical solutions that work within existing constraints.
My top tips are:
1. Spend extensive time with your users - understand their daily challenges and build solutions they're willing to pay for immediately.
2. Design for the infrastructure and environment that exists, not that you wish existed.
3. Focus on building sustainable unit economics from day one, rather than growing at all costs.
4. Leverage local knowledge and talent - our team's understanding of local healthcare dynamics has been invaluable.