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Women's health innovation, Cameroon

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Cameroon

Cameroon is the strongest health-tech node in Francophone Africa, hosting the largest share of the region's healthtech innovators. Its women's health story runs from GiftedMom, the pioneering maternal-health SMS platform, through GICMED's smartphone-based cervical and breast cancer screening, to a cluster of made-in-Cameroon menstrual health social enterprises. Live 2024-2026 activity centers on accelerator and competition programs and on landmark public health rollouts, notably the nationwide extension of the Cheque Sante maternal health voucher, rather than large femtech equity rounds.

Maternal & neonatal healthCervical & breast cancer screeningMenstrual healthTelemedicine & digital healthFamily planning access
438 per 100,000

Maternal mortality ratio (2023, modeled estimate) data.worldbank.org

~19%

Modern contraceptive prevalence rate, married women nature.com

36%

HPV vaccine coverage of target population (2024, WUENIC) uicc.org

28%

Cameroon's share of Francophone Africa healthtech innovators (largest) salientadvisory.com

01 of 07

Latest major news

Recent momentum sits in public health rollouts, competitions, and women-entrepreneurship programs more than in venture rounds.

02 of 07

Policy & strategy

National strategy combines a digital health plan with major maternal-health financing and cervical cancer prevention.

03 of 07

Latest ecosystem moves

Women-focused activity clusters in accelerators, competitions, and entrepreneurship programs.

04 of 07

Notable funding rounds

Women's health funding in Cameroon is mostly grants and awards; the largest e-health equity rounds sit in adjacent general telemedicine.

05 of 07

Key players & hubs

The ecosystem spans women's health startups, menstrual-health social enterprises, general telemedicine, and Buea's Silicon Mountain hubs.

06 of 07

Active investors

Backers of Cameroon women's-health and adjacent e-health ventures span accelerators, impact funds, and telecom-linked investors.

07 of 07

White papers & reports

Salient Advisory's Francophone Africa work is the richest source of Cameroon healthtech and women-led data.

Latest major news

2025-09
Cheque Sante maternal health voucher completes rollout to all ten regions of Cameroon, covering pregnancy and newborn care.
minsante.cm
2025-03
40 women entrepreneurs from Wonder Cameroun cohorts 2-3 graduate in Douala after AfDB/AFAWA-backed acceleration.
agenceecofin.com
2025-02
Cameroon's Leevlong wins third place in the Orange Summer Challenge with a real-time vital-signs monitoring device.
disruptafrica.com
2024-08
Cheque Sante maternal health voucher officially launches in the North-West and South-West regions.
minsante.cm
2023-11
Waspito closes a USD 2.5M seed extension led by DP World, bringing total funding to USD 5.2M.
techcrunch.com

Policy & strategy

2020-01
Cameroon adopts its National Digital Health Strategic Plan 2020-2024, led by MINSANTE, to advance universal health coverage through digital tools.
minsante.cm
2020-01
HPV vaccine introduced into the national Expanded Programme on Immunization to prevent cervical cancer.
gco.iarc.who.int
2024-08
Cheque Sante health voucher scheme extended to conflict-affected North-West and South-West regions.
minsante.cm
2025-09
Cheque Sante maternal and neonatal voucher scheme reaches nationwide coverage across all ten regions.
minsante.cm

Latest ecosystem moves

â–¸US Embassy Cameroon runs the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) 2025 implementation competition. cm.usembassy.gov
â–¸AfDB/AFAWA Wonder Cameroun (WEEP) program accelerates 500+ Cameroonian women entrepreneurs, run by E4Impact. afdb.org
â–¸Villgro Africa opens women-led African healthtech calls (2024 cohort with J&J Foundation and Boehringer Ingelheim), open to Cameroon. disruptafrica.com
â–¸Disrupt Africa Diversity Dividend reports Cameroon among countries where the share of startups with a female co-founder or CEO decreased over the last two years. disruptafrica.com
â–¸GICMED / GIC Space secures USD 30,000 from HealthTech Hub Africa to scale smartphone-based cervical and breast cancer screening. thehealthtech.org

Notable funding rounds

Disclosed round size (USD)

Healthlane (GiftedMom successor) USD 2.4M
Seed · 2020-09 · Digital Horizon disrupt-africa.com
GICMED / GIC Space USD 30,000
Grant · 2022-01 · HealthTech Hub Africa thehealthtech.org
GICMED / GIC Space First prize (USD 75,000 pool)
Award · 2021-01 · IFPMA & Speak Up Africa (Africa Young Innovators for Health Award) speakupafrica.org
GiftedMom USD 25,000
Prize · 2014-01 · Anzisha Prize anzisha.org
Waspito (general e-health, adjacent) USD 2.5M
Seed extension · 2023-11 · DP World techcrunch.com

Rounds by type

5 rounds
Seed1
Grant1
Award1
Prize1
Seed extension1

Key players & hubs

Ecosystem by organisation type

12 orgs
Startup4
Hub4
NGO3
Govt1
GICMED / GIC Space
Startup

Dr Conrad Tankou's smartphone microscope, smart speculum and telemedicine suite for cervical and breast cancer screening; 15,000+ women screened healthpolicy-watch.news

GiftedMom
Startup

Pioneering maternal-health SMS/mobile platform (founded 2013, Yaounde) reaching 500,000+ mothers; later pivoted into Healthlane tracxn.com

Healthlane
Startup

GiftedMom pivot into preventive/precision health app and clinics; YC W2020, reportedly struggling since 2022 techcabal.com

Kmerpad
NGO

Olivia Mvondo's social enterprise making reusable washable pads and running menstrual-hygiene education; 300,000+ pads distributed since 2012 aa.com.tr

KujaEcoPads
NGO

Marie-Claire Kuja's biodegradable banana-fiber sanitary pads and One Million Girls anti-period-poverty campaign borgenproject.org

PridePads Africa
NGO

Biodegradable menstrual pad manufacturing in Ngaoundere plus menstrual education, founded 2019 pridepads.org

Waspito
Startup

All-in-one telemedicine platform (video consults, labs, medication delivery); general e-health, adjacent to femtech forbesafrique.com

ActivSpaces
Hub

Tech hub and startup incubator (Buea, Douala, Bangangte), anchor of Buea's Silicon Mountain, founded 2010 vc4a.com

Silicon Mountain (Buea)
Hub

Anglophone tech cluster community around Buea hosting many startups en.wikipedia.org

Jokkolabs Douala
Hub

Coworking and innovation hub, part of the pan-African Jokkolabs network and AfriLabs member afrilabs.com

Orange Digital Center Cameroon / Orange Fab
Hub

Accelerator with coding school, FabLab, Orange Fab and Orange Ventures for high-potential startups engageforchange.orange.com

MINSANTE (Ministry of Public Health)
Govt

Runs the National Digital Health Strategic Plan, HPV vaccination, and the Cheque Sante maternal voucher scheme minsante.cm

Active investors

Active investors by headquarters

UK 2
USA 1
Rwanda 1
Kenya 1
Cote d'Ivoire 1
France 1
Mauritius 1
Y Combinator
Accelerated GiftedMom/Healthlane (W2020, ~USD 150K for 7%) howwemadeitinafrica.com
USA
GSMA (Ecosystem Accelerator / Innovation Fund)
Grant to GiftedMom for remote maternal-healthcare mobile solution; portfolio case study gsma.com
UK
Digital Horizon
Led Healthlane's USD 2.4M round digitalhorizon.com
UK
HealthTech Hub Africa
Funded GICMED with USD 30,000 for cancer-screening scale-up thehealthtech.org
Rwanda
Villgro Africa
Healthcare incubator/impact investor running women-led African healthtech calls open to Cameroon disruptafrica.com
Kenya
African Development Bank (AFAWA)
Backed Wonder Cameroun women's entrepreneurship acceleration afdb.org
Cote d'Ivoire
Orange Ventures / Orange Digital Ventures Africa
Backed Waspito seed round and Orange Fab Cameroon startups itweb.africa
France
Launch Africa Ventures
Co-invested in Waspito's USD 2.7M seed round techmoran.com
Mauritius

White papers & reports

â–¸What's happening in Francophone Africa healthtech? Salient Advisory (2024), landscaping 74 innovators with Cameroon the largest share at 28% salientadvisory.com
â–¸2023 Roundup: Investments in African Healthtech, Salient Advisory (Feb 2024), women-led healthtech raised USD 52M in 2023 salientadvisory.com
â–¸Leading Innovations Enabling Health Product Access in Africa, 2024 Ecosystem Report, Salient Advisory (43% women-led, 20% Francophone-led ventures) salientadvisory.com

Sources and references

Every figure and claim above links back to a public source. 15 references, updated 2026-08.