Social Entrepreneurship Profile South Africa

Zuri Health launched to help provide affordable, accessible healthcare solutions

Launched in February 2020, Play Zuri Health Limited is a mobile health service that delivers first level medical services to its users through their mobile devices via apps, WAP, and SMS. The Kenyan startup has just announced the launch of their first mobile app, Zuri Health.
Arthur Ikechukwu Anoke and Daisy Isiaho, co-founders of mobile app, Zuri Health
Arthur Ikechukwu Anoke and Daisy Isiaho, co-founders of mobile app, Zuri Health

Zuri Health's mission is to provide certified, affordable and accessible healthcare solutions via mobile with dedicated apps, wap and SMS services based on availability, location and specialization of the medical providers.

Users will have access to a myriad of professionals and services from across their home counties. They are able to book appointments instantly with any medical professional or hospital within their geographic regions, book laboratory tests, chat with the practitioners via both message and video as an added feature and request for home visits by the licensed and certified medical practitioners.

Under the “Pharmacy” function, users can get their prescription and over the counter medication online and have it delivered to their doorstep. Under the SMS service functionality, Zuri Health has been designed to reach a wide range of users who may not have access to WAP or internet enabled devices. The mobile app also helps doctors to tap into a wider market of on-demand patients and earn extra money while saving lives.

The app's code was written with the daily challenges patients face in the journey of seeking affordable and accessible healthcare solutions. They solve the problem of expensive and inconvenient hospital trips for small or minor diagnosis and prescriptions, long waiting times and queues during doctors’ visits and appointments scheduling and booking which can be tasking.

Co-founder and CEO, Arthur Ikechukwu Anoke says, “Zuri Health App is very personal to me. Millions of people in Africa do not have access to quality medical care. At Zuri Health we have taken time to develop a product that will fill that gap, giving doctors a wider and easier platform to reach patients who need them. With Zuri Health the underserved populace can now access affordable and sustainable healthcare.”

Zuri Health co-founder and project manager, Daisy Isiaho, gives further insight into building a healthtech startup during this climate.

Zuri Health is probably the most comprehensive mobile health app on the continent. It is a virtual hospital that gives patients the opportunity to chat with a doctor, buy medication from a pharmacy, book labs and diagnostic tests and have a doctor visit you at home.
"Zuri Health also takes into cognisance Africa’s unique challenges and offers first level doctor consultation via SMS and the cost is slightly higher than an average SMS. This takes care of the over 65% of the population without access to smart devices and the internet.:

Zuri Health was founded during the early stages of worldwide lockdowns due to Covid-19. "It was very difficult building it out during the pandemic. It was hard securing funding, and also our developers in Nigeria had to battle with power and internet outages, which hindered the completion of our first product," says Isiaho.

At the moment, the Kenyan healthtech startup plans to bootstrap their operations to profitability, whilst raising funds via convertible notes for the first year as they work towards a valuation for the business in 2022.

Since the beta launch in November 2020 the company's predicted three year growth plan is to have more than 20,000 registered doctors listed, 250,000 premium users and at least 1,000,000 mobile downloads.

Zuri Health​ can be downloaded from the Google Play Store, Apple Store as well as the Zuri Health website.

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