Johannesburg-based Afrishela provides impact-linked loans and revenue-based financing to women-led businesses in East and southern Africa. Its newest portfolio additions include South Africa-based Welo Health, a health concierge service for corporate employees.
The company connects workers to nurses and doctors for in-person and virtual visits, designs employee wellness programs, and offers mental health counseling.
Welo Health secured an undisclosed amount of revenue-based financing to offer its health services to employees of small and medium-sized businesses “typically left out of traditional healthcare arrangements,” said Welo Health’s Zanele Abraham-Matome.
Better logistics
Afrishela also provided an impact-linked loan to Kenya-based TrackRight, a logistics management software that helps companies optimize routes. Better route planning not only improves business efficiency and cuts cost, it reduces transport-related carbon emissions.
Afrishela is a new fund manager that is being incubated by Graça Machel Trust, an advocacy group focused on women and children in Africa. It is aiming to raise $30 million for its first fund to provide flexible financing, underwritten with non-traditional forms of collateral.
