Nigeria’s Healthtech Boom Faces Reality Test as Funding Slows, Survival Becomes New Benchmark

By Francisca Anuforo,

Nigeria’s healthtech ecosystem is entering a defining phase where survival, infrastructure resilience and sustainable business models may matter more than rapid startup creation, according to the newly released State of Healthtech in Nigeria 2026 report.

The report, produced by TechCabal Insights, Digital Health Nigeria and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), revealed that Nigeria added 65 healthtech startups between 2020 and 2025 — representing roughly 65 per cent growth compared to the 103 startups launched during the 15 years before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The surge reflects how the pandemic accelerated digital healthcare adoption and transformed a once-niche sector into one of Nigeria’s fastest-growing innovation spaces.

Yet beneath the expansion lies a more complex story.

While COVID-19 created unprecedented demand for remote healthcare services, investors and founders now face tougher questions around sustainability, infrastructure limitations and long-term commercial viability.

The report shows that Nigeria currently has 128 active healthtech startups operating across telemedicine, digital financing, healthcare analytics, e-pharmacy, supply-chain management and other digital health segments.

Startup activity peaked in 2020, when 17 new healthtech companies launched — the highest recorded in a single year.

However, the ecosystem’s rapid growth has also been accompanied by significant attrition.

According to the report, 40 Nigerian healthtech startups are currently inactive, with nearly 97 per cent of those failed ventures founded before the pandemic.

Periods of elevated closures were recorded in 2018, 2019 and 2023, when 13 startups shut down.

Among the most notable casualties were Healthlane and genomics company 54gene, which reportedly raised about $45 million before ceasing operations in 2023.

The report does not attribute closures to any single cause, but founders and investors cited infrastructure challenges, monetisation pressures, market saturation and slowing capital flows as recurring obstacles.

For early founders, the challenge was often more fundamental — convincing Nigerians that healthcare services could be delivered digitally.

“When we started in 2017, telemedicine was still poorly understood, infrastructure was limited, there were no cohesive policies or guidelines, and trust in digital healthcare was low,” said Funmi Adewara, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mobihealth.

“We had to educate patients, regulators, partners and even healthcare professionals.”

Before the pandemic, digital health adoption faced resistance driven by poor internet access, weak infrastructure, low digital literacy and affordability concerns.

Many startups struggled to persuade users to download standalone healthcare applications or trust remote consultations.

COVID-19 altered that equation dramatically.

As lockdowns restricted physical movement and healthcare facilities became harder to access, digital consultations, medicine delivery, electronic prescriptions and home testing gained relevance almost overnight.

For many founders, the pandemic represented the tipping point.

“Before COVID, healthtech was a nice-to-have,” said Rest Essence, co-founder of MedWaka.

“But post-COVID, it became a must-have. You could no longer step outside. So, the ecosystem completely changed.”

That urgency translated into stronger investor appetite.

Funding into Nigeria’s healthtech ecosystem rose from approximately $5.5 million in 2019 to $47.3 million in 2021, before peaking at nearly $55 million in 2023, according to the report.

However, the funding cycle has since reversed sharply.

Capital inflows fell by more than 67 per cent, dropping to roughly $18 million in 2024 and approximately $3 million in 2025.

The decline signals a broader reset across venture markets, where investors are increasingly prioritising profitability, operational efficiency and measurable impact over growth narratives.

Abiodun Adereni, founder of maternal health startup HelpMum, said many founders initially believed pandemic-driven adoption would continue at the same pace.

But reopening economies exposed deeper structural challenges.

The slowdown has also revealed uneven investor confidence across healthtech segments.

While telehealth currently hosts the largest number of startups in Nigeria’s healthtech ecosystem, it ranks only sixth in total funding attracted.

According to Kola Aina, founding partner at Ventures Platform, startup numbers alone do not determine where capital flows.

“But capital doesn’t just follow the number of startups,” Aina said.

“It follows the depth of the problem being solved and the defensibility of the solution.”

He noted that early optimism around telehealth encountered practical barriers tied to Nigeria’s infrastructure realities.

“On the telehealth side, there was a period when many believed it would transform access across the continent. The reality is more complicated,” he explained.

Poor connectivity, expensive mobile data and weak digital infrastructure, particularly outside urban centres, have limited the scale many telemedicine businesses can achieve.

“There are more enablers emerging now, but the infrastructure constraints mean telehealth hasn’t scaled in the way the early enthusiasm suggested it would,” Aina added.

Investor confidence, he argued, will increasingly depend on founders demonstrating sustainable monetisation and operational resilience in a healthcare environment shaped by low insurance penetration and affordability pressures.

“If more founders can show that combination, investor confidence will follow,” he said.

The State of Healthtech in Nigeria 2026 report suggests that the next chapter for Nigeria’s digital health ecosystem may no longer be defined by how many startups launch, but by which companies can successfully adapt to Nigeria’s healthcare realities and build businesses capable of enduring beyond crisis-driven demand.

For a sector accelerated by emergency conditions, the coming years may prove whether Nigeria’s healthtech boom was merely pandemic momentum — or the foundation of a lasting healthcare transformation.