ADHN Unveils Its 20 Startup Watchlist at Africa Health Tech Summit 2026 in Kigali

The second edition of the ADHN Top 20 Startup Watchlist spotlights ventures advancing digital health, diagnostics, patient access and healthcare delivery across Africa.

Africa’s healthtech ecosystem is moving from promise to progress, with startups developing practical solutions to some of the continent’s most pressing healthcare challenges. At the Africa Health Tech Summit (AHTS) 2026 in Kigali, Rwanda, on 2 October, ADHN unveiled its second Top 20 Startup Watchlist, spotlighting innovators advancing access to care, diagnostics, digital health, chronic disease management and more.

More than a list, the Watchlist celebrates the ventures shaping African healthcare’s future while creating opportunities for greater visibility, collaboration and growth.

Meet the ADHN Top 20 Startup Watchlist

From AI-assisted screening to digital pharmacies and community-based primary care, this year’s watchlist reflects the breadth of health innovation emerging across Africa.

1. Africa Healthy Living (AHL) / E-SelfCare Clinic — Rwanda

Africa Healthy Living combines digital tools, AI-supported screening and preventive healthcare to help people identify health risks earlier and access appropriate support. Through its E-SelfCare Clinic model, the venture focuses on non-communicable diseases, mental health and healthier lifestyles, connecting screening with referrals and ongoing care.

2. AYOT Health Solutions Limited — Kenya

AYOT Health Solutions is bringing a more structured, data-driven approach to athlete health through SafeSport. Its model supports health screening, injury surveillance and clinical monitoring for schools, sports academies and clubs, helping sports organisations make better-informed decisions about athlete wellbeing and injury prevention.

3. Diabetes and Ortho Care Pharmaceutical Specialists Limited (DOP) — Kenya

DOP expands access to diabetes technologies, including continuous glucose monitors and insulin pumps, while helping healthcare professionals use patient data to guide treatment. Its work combines technology access with provider training, patient onboarding and ongoing support for people living with diabetes.

4. DrugstoreNg — Nigeria

DrugstoreNg is digitising pharmacy operations and medicine access through its Virtualrx pharmacy management platform and Drugstore.ng fulfilment network. By connecting pharmacies with health maintenance organisations, clinics and consumers, the company aims to make pharmacy operations more efficient and medicine fulfilment more connected.

5. Dynasoft Ltd (Medisoft) — Rwanda

Dynasoft’s Medisoft platform helps healthcare facilities digitise the patient journey, linking clinical consultations with laboratory services, maternity care, family planning, pharmacy, insurance and payments. With deployments across more than 110 health centres, the company is also developing tools to support non-communicable disease management and clinical decision-making.

6. FriendnPal — Nigeria, South Africa and Rwanda

FriendnPal is building digital behavioural health infrastructure for individuals and institutions. Its platform combines mental health assessments, ongoing monitoring and AI-supported insights across multiple languages and communication channels, with the aim of making psychological support more accessible and helping organisations respond to emerging needs.

7. Health-Hub Africa

Health-Hub Africa is building an integrated digital-health ecosystem designed to make healthcare more accessible, connected and preventive. Its MyHealth Vault+™ platform enables patients to maintain secure digital health records, access TeleCare™, receive preventive-health guidance, and share relevant information with authorised providers. By connecting telemedicine, diagnostics, referrals and partner services, the company aims to improve continuity of care, reduce fragmentation and support more informed clinical decisions. Having moved from concept to real-world deployment in Nigeria, Health-Hub Africa plans to expand its provider network and reach at least 10,000 patients over the next 12–24 months.

8. Landsat ICT Solutions — Uganda and other African markets

Landsat ICT Solutions develops digital infrastructure for laboratories and public health programmes. Its portfolio includes laboratory information management, tuberculosis laboratory information systems, biobanking and equipment management tools, supporting the collection, management and use of health data across multiple African countries.

9. MariTest (U) Ltd — Uganda

MariTest is developing a portable, bloodless malaria screening device intended for use by community health workers and clinics. The technology combines magnetic sensing of malaria-associated hemozoin with optical signals and AI-supported analysis, with the goal of delivering a result in under three minutes. Clinical validation remains an important next step.

10. Medanit Digital Health — Ethiopia

Medanit helps people find healthcare providers, book appointments, access teleconsultations and arrange medication delivery through its digital platforms, Telegram bot and multilingual call centre. By bringing several steps of the care journey into one service, the company is working to make healthcare easier to navigate for patients and providers.

11. Nivi (AskNivi Limited) — Kenya, Nigeria and other markets

Nivi uses digital conversations and personalised health journeys to help people access trusted information and navigate health decisions. Through channels including WhatsApp, its services cover areas such as contraception, maternal health and HPV vaccination, connecting users with relevant guidance in accessible formats.

12. Qareplus (Qare+) — Kenya

Qareplus combines virtual consultations and home-based care with a network of verified healthcare professionals and connections to hospitals. Its digital medical records, AI-enabled clinical documentation and QPulse remote-monitoring offering aim to support more convenient care and better continuity between patients and providers.

13. QualCare Nexus Africa (QNA) — Kenya and pan-African markets

QualCare Nexus Africa focuses on strengthening the infrastructure that connects communities to healthcare. Its approach brings together last-mile access, diagnostics, interoperability, quality improvement, workforce support and digital tools to help health systems deliver more coordinated and reliable services.

14. Smart Health Kiosk/ATM — Rwanda

Smart Health Kiosk/ATM is developing connected, AI-enabled kiosks designed to bring basic health screening and selected services closer to communities. The model aims to reduce barriers to initial access, particularly for underserved populations, by creating additional points where people can engage with health services.

15. SpeedAid — Ghana

SpeedAid is developing a digital platform that connects people seeking urgent medical assistance with emergency responders, ambulances, hospitals and verified healthcare professionals. Using real-time location information, the service aims to improve coordination and help people find appropriate emergency and home-based care more efficiently.

16. Synchora Health — Ghana

Synchora Health helps clinics follow up with patients and improve continuity of care through SMS, WhatsApp and local-language voice reminders. Its tools support appointment tracking, identification of missed visits and patient follow-up across outpatient, chronic disease, maternal and child health services, and immunisation programmes.

17. Talamus Health Limited — Nigeria

Talamus Health develops digital tools to support primary healthcare delivery and connect patients, providers and suppliers. Its work includes digitising primary healthcare facilities and supporting health-system programmes, helping frontline providers improve access to patient information and coordinate services at scale.

18. TruScreen / Biotech Medical Supply Ltd — Rwanda expansion

TruScreen is associated with a non-invasive, device-based approach to cervical cancer screening that uses electronic sensing and computer-assisted analysis. The technology is intended to support screening without the conventional laboratory sample workflow. Its regulatory status, clinical evidence and local deployment arrangements should be confirmed against official documentation before publication.

19. U-von Health (UVON Health) — Kenya

U-von Health is developing EsidAI, an AI-supported tool designed to analyse ultrasound information and help identify risk of cephalopelvic disproportion during pregnancy. The aim is to give healthcare providers an additional source of decision support when assessing delivery risks. Clinical validation and planned pilot work remain important milestones.

20. ZimSmart Villages — Zimbabwe

ZimSmart Villages combines physical community access points with digital health services to bring primary care closer to people who may otherwise face barriers to treatment. Its model includes telehealth kiosks, community health promoters, consultations, diagnostics, medicines and eye care, linking local access with wider clinical support.

Why this watchlist matters

The ventures on the ADHN Top 20 Startup Watchlist are working on different parts of the healthcare system, but several themes connect their efforts.

First, access remains central. Digital pharmacies, telehealth services, community kiosks and home-based care models are exploring ways to bring services closer to patients and reduce the friction involved in seeking care.

Second, better data can strengthen healthcare delivery. Electronic health records, laboratory information systems, patient follow-up tools and remote monitoring platforms can help providers make more informed decisions and improve continuity of care.

Third, prevention and earlier intervention are gaining attention. From diabetes technology and mental health support to emerging malaria and cervical cancer screening approaches, innovators are looking for ways to identify risks earlier and connect people to appropriate care.

Finally, the watchlist highlights the importance of implementation. A promising technology is only part of the journey. Sustainable impact also depends on clinical evidence, affordability, regulation, integration with health systems, trusted partnerships and business models that can endure beyond a pilot.

From visibility to opportunity

Being featured on a startup watchlist is not an endpoint. It is an opportunity to bring innovators, health providers, policymakers, investors and implementation partners into closer conversation.

For startups, greater visibility can help open doors to partnerships, technical support, new markets and funding conversations. For the wider ecosystem, the watchlist offers a way to discover solutions being built around African healthcare priorities — and to consider what it would take to help them grow responsibly.

As ADHN unveiled its Top 20 at AHTS 2026 in Kigali, the message was clear: Africa’s healthtech story is not only about the next breakthrough. It is also about the teams building the systems, services and partnerships that can turn innovation into accessible, dependable healthcare.

The next chapter will be shaped by what happens after the spotlight: which solutions demonstrate impact, earn the trust of health systems and communities, and scale to meet the needs of more people across the continent