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Women's health innovation, Uganda

🇺🇬

Uganda

Uganda's femtech and women's health innovation scene is anchored in maternal and reproductive health, driven by high maternal mortality and low contraceptive access. Homegrown ventures like M-SCAN (portable ultrasound), CHIL AI Lab (AI cervical and breast cancer screening) and Rocket Health (telemedicine) sit alongside regional e-commerce player Kasha, which serves Uganda among several African markets. Government policy through the RMNCAH Sharpened Plan II and FP2030 commitments, plus accelerators like DSW's POWER programme and UNICEF Femtech Ventures, shape a growing but still grant-dependent ecosystem centred on Kampala.

Maternal & prenatal health techReproductive health & family planningCervical & breast cancer screening (AI)Menstrual healthWomen's health e-commerce
189 per 100,000

Maternal mortality ratio (2022), down from 336 in 2016 library.health.go.ug

32 startups

Women-led SRHR startups targeted by DSW POWER Accelerator by 2025 dsw.org

30% to 40%

Modern contraceptive prevalence rate target for all women, 2020 to 2025 (FP2030 commitment) fp2030.org

9,400+ scans

Ultrasound scans by M-SCAN, detecting 800+ complications medium.com

01 of 07

Latest major news

Recent milestones span product launches, accelerator cohorts and investor moves relevant to Ugandan women's health founders.

02 of 07

Policy & strategy

National policy centres on cutting maternal deaths and lifting contraceptive access, providing the frame for women's health innovation.

03 of 07

Latest ecosystem moves

Accelerators, hubs and dedicated women's workspaces are building support infrastructure around Kampala.

04 of 07

Notable funding rounds

Funding for Ugandan women's health ventures is a mix of e-commerce equity rounds, telemedicine Series A, and impact grants.

05 of 07

Key players & hubs

A mix of homegrown startups, hubs, government and NGOs make up Uganda's women's health innovation landscape.

06 of 07

Active investors

Funding comes largely from development finance institutions, gender-lens VCs and philanthropic accelerators rather than local capital.

07 of 07

White papers & reports

Key strategy documents and analyses framing Uganda's women's health innovation.

Latest major news

2025-12
Five35 Ventures, a pan-African female-focused VC and a Kasha investor, secured an anchor commitment from the Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund to expand gender-lens investing across Africa.
empowerafrica.com
2025-06
UNICEF launched Femtech Ventures with a first cohort of 11 frontier-tech startups across Africa and Asia, selected from over 1,100 applications, more than half from Africa.
femtechinsider.com
2024-09
DSW and Action 4 Health Uganda launched the POWER Accelerator 2024-25 cohort to grow women-led family planning and SRHR startups to 32 total by 2025.
dsw.org
2024-04
CHIL Femtech Center unveiled a new AI feature to address medical challenges in Africa, extending its tele-oncology and self-collection cervical cancer screening.
pmldaily.com
2024-01
NeoSave, a Ugandan neonatal-care healthtech, was named among African finalists in the 2024 ASME ISHOW global hardware innovation accelerator.
jnj.com
2023-09
Three Uganda female-led health startups (CHIL AI Lab, Peleyta Health, Mama Ope Medicals) were selected for WiNFUND funding.
pmldaily.com

Policy & strategy

2022-01
RMNCAH Sharpened Plan II (2022/23-2026/27) set interventions to expand family planning, strengthen emergency obstetric and newborn care, and institutionalize maternal and perinatal death surveillance.
library.health.go.ug
2021-11
Uganda renewed FP2030 commitments, pledging to raise modern contraceptive prevalence to 39.6% and cut unmet need to 15% by 2025.
fp2030.org
2020-01
National Development Plan III set a target to reduce the maternal mortality ratio from 311 to 211 by 2025.
library.health.go.ug

Latest ecosystem moves

â–¸DSW established a Women's Business Hub at its Bonita Training Centre as a training space and workspace for new female-led SRHR startups. dsw.org
â–¸UNICEF Femtech Ventures (2025-2030) offers up to USD 100,000 equity-free per startup for AI, data science and blockchain solutions in maternal and reproductive health, backed by Sweden and Temasek Foundation. unicef.org
â–¸POWER pilot's first phase produced startups offering contraceptive information, HIV self-testing kits, period wellness products and mental health support via ICT platforms. dsw.org
â–¸Innovation Village and Outbox Hub anchor Kampala's tech ecosystem, offering incubation across sectors including e-health tech. startupuniversal.com

Notable funding rounds

Disclosed round size (USD)

Kasha USD 21M
Series B · 2023-07 · Knife Capital (with Finnfund, DFC, Beyond Capital Ventures, Five35 Ventures) technext24.com
Kasha USD 1M
Equity · 2021-01 · US DFC dfc.gov
Rocket Health USD 5M
Series A · 2022-03 · Creadev (with Grenfell Holdings, LoftyInc Capital) disruptafrica.com
WinSenga USD 50,000
Grant · 2013-01 · Social Innovation Summit news.microsoft.com
CHIL AI Lab Group undisclosed
Grant · 2023-09 · WiNFUND chimpreports.com

Rounds by type

5 rounds
Grant2
Series B1
Equity1
Series A1

Key players & hubs

Ecosystem by organisation type

14 orgs
Startup8
Hub3
NGO2
Govt1
M-SCAN
Startup

Low-cost USB portable ultrasound for prenatal care in rural and peri-urban areas; 9,400+ scans performed mscanug.com

CHIL AI Lab / CHIL Femtech Center
Startup

AI tele-oncology platform for self-collection cervical and breast cancer screening; founded by Shamim Nabuuma Kaliisa techpoint.africa

Rocket Health
Startup

Kampala telemedicine and last-mile care with 24/7 teleconsults, medicine delivery and diagnostics startuplist.africa

WinSenga
Startup

Smartphone-based fetal heart-rate monitor from Makerere University students (Cipher256) winsenga.wordpress.com

Kasha
Startup

Women's health, hygiene and self-care e-commerce operating in Uganda among several African markets finnfund.fi

NeoSave Technologies
Startup

Neonatal-care healthtech; 2024 ASME ISHOW finalist and women-led health innovation cohort member jnj.com

Peleyta Health
Startup

Digital healthcare micro-savings and lending fintech for low-income earners; WiNFUND selectee pmldaily.com

Mama Ope Medicals
Startup

Health-device startup selected in 2023 WiNFUND cohort of female-led Ugandan health ventures pmldaily.com

Uganda Ministry of Health
Govt

Coordinates the national digital health ecosystem and RMNCAH / family planning strategy uncdf.org

DSW / Action 4 Health Uganda
NGO

Run the POWER Accelerator and Women's Business Hub for SRHR women entrepreneurs dsw.org

The Innovation Village
Hub

National ICT innovation hub with multi-city branches supporting Ugandan startups innovationvillage.africa

Outbox Hub
Hub

Kampala incubator supporting startups in fintech, e-health tech and agriculture startupuniversal.com

Days for Girls Uganda
NGO

Menstrual health products and education; reached 13,246 people in 2024 globalgiving.org

HealthTech Hub Africa
Hub

Pan-African accelerator profiling and supporting Ugandan healthtech ventures including M-SCAN thehealthtech.org

Active investors

Active investors by headquarters

Global 2
Mauritius 1
South Africa 1
USA 1
Finland 1
France 1
Nigeria 1
Rwanda 1
Five35 Ventures
Gender-lens VC; participated in Kasha's USD 21M Series B; anchored by Mastercard Foundation empowerafrica.com
Mauritius
Knife Capital
Led Kasha's USD 21M Series B round technext24.com
South Africa
US DFC
USD 1M equity in Kasha and later Series B participant for women's health e-commerce dfc.gov
USA
Finnfund
Invested in Kasha to improve women's access to health products in East Africa finnfund.fi
Finland
Creadev
Led Rocket Health's USD 5M Series A telemedicine round disruptafrica.com
France
LoftyInc Capital Management
Early-stage investor in Rocket Health disruptafrica.com
Nigeria
UNICEF Femtech Ventures
Up to USD 100,000 equity-free per femtech startup in maternal and reproductive health unicef.org
Global
Mastercard Foundation Africa Growth Fund
Anchor investor in Five35 Ventures to expand gender-lens investing africagrowthfund.org
Rwanda
WiNFUND
Grant funder of female-led Ugandan health startups (CHIL, Peleyta, Mama Ope) chimpreports.com
Global

White papers & reports

â–¸RMNCAH Sharpened Plan II 2022/23-2026/27, Uganda Ministry of Health library.health.go.ug
â–¸Uganda Family Planning Costed Implementation Plan (FP2030), FP2030 fp2030.org
â–¸The Steep Climb of Female Founders in Tech in Uganda, UN Capital Development Fund uncdf.org
â–¸What You Should Know About Femtech and Why, UNICEF Office of Innovation unicef.org

Sources and references

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

DSW POWER Acceleratordsw.orgKasha Series B (Technext)technext24.comDFC Kasha investmentdfc.govM-SCAN (Innovate4Health)medium.comM-SCAN official sitemscanug.comWinSenga (Microsoft)news.microsoft.comCHIL AI Lab (Techpoint Africa)techpoint.africaCHIL WiNFUND finalist (ChimpReports)chimpreports.comRocket Health Series A (Disrupt Africa)disruptafrica.comFive35 Ventures / Mastercard Foundationempowerafrica.comUNICEF Femtech Venturesunicef.orgUNICEF Femtech cohort launch (Femtech Insider)femtechinsider.comRMNCAH Sharpened Plan IIlibrary.health.go.ugUganda FP2030 CIPfp2030.orgUNCDF female founders Ugandauncdf.org

Related country reports

Nigeria Africa's densest women's-health-tech ecosystem: strong on policy, starved of dedicated venture capital. Kenya One of the continent's deepest ecosystems, home to Kasha and Jacaranda Health's 2.9M-mother PROMPTS. South Africa Mature health-tech and SRH market anchored by MomConnect, with a small but fast-growing femtech scene. Cameroon Francophone Africa's strongest healthtech node: GiftedMom's birthplace and GICMED cancer screening.