Rwandan digital retail platform, Kasha, has successfully raised $21 million in a Series B funding round, signaling significant interest in women’s health care in Africa. The funding round was led by South African venture capital firm, Knife Capital, and saw participation from various prominent investors, including Finnfund, Development Finance Corporation (DFC), Tim Koogle (former CEO of Yahoo), Beyond Capital Ventures, Altree Capital, Bamboo Capital’s BLOC Smart Africa Fund, and Five35 Ventures.
The newly acquired capital will be instrumental in Kasha’s plans to expand its health access platform across Africa, aiming to address the often-neglected segment of women’s menstrual and reproductive health needs in the continent’s startup ecosystem.
Keet van Zyl, co-founder, and partner at Knife Capital, praised Kasha’s business model as a capital-efficient and female-led venture that has a strong foothold in serving women customers and the mass market segment in Africa. He expressed eagerness to support the startup’s Pan-African expansion journey, considering the current economic climate.
Notably, women’s health care remains an essential aspect in Africa, where access to modern contraception is limited to only 55% of women in sub-Saharan countries. Kasha’s platform holds the potential to bridge this healthcare gap and contribute to the well-being of millions of women across the continent, aligning with the increasing interest from investors in private healthcare startups and Africa’s startup ecosystem as a whole. The investment in Kasha represents a promising step towards improving women’s healthcare accessibility and addressing critical health needs in Africa.
