Egypt-based Reme-D makes diagnostic kits for human and animal diseases that are designed for healthcare providers in under-resourced settings. The tests are fast, low-cost and do not require refrigeration. The female-led startup raised approximately $1.5 million in a pre-Series A round led by Anara Impact Capital, a Middle East and Africa-focused fund that spun out of UK-based Alfanar Venture Philanthropy last year. The Global Innovation Fund, which invested a half-million dollars in Reme-D in April this year, re-upped its commitments in this round. Cape Town-based pre-seed and seed investor Africa Health Ventures also participated.
“Success means that patients in Africa and the Global South are no longer blocked from life-altering disease diagnosis by cost or availability of an advanced molecular test in their area,” said Reme-D’s Salma Tammam. Reme-D also is a portfolio company of Tunisia-based Open Startup, an accelerator-turned-investor backing African deeptech startups.
Diagnostics gap
Diagnostics are the frontline of outbreak prevention. But about half of the approved diagnostic tests for some of the most epidemic-prone diseases, such as ebola and cholera, require clinical laboratory equipment that many primary and community care facilities do not have.
Reme-D has commercialized 30 diagnostic products since 2023 with a focus on tuberculosis, HIV, hepatitis, and human papillomavirus, or HPV. It supplied over half a million diagnostic kits in Egypt, Iraq, Kenya and Sudan. The company employs nearly 50 scientists, half of whom are women. The company is developing genetic testing and cancer detection kits.
