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Women's health innovation, Zambia

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Zambia

Zambia's femtech ecosystem is anchored by Dawa Health, whose AI-enabled DawaMom platform for maternal, postnatal and cervical cancer prevention care grew out of the Lusaka accelerator BongoHive and in 2025 was selected for UNICEF Femtech Ventures. Alongside it sits a strong civil-society layer led by Copper Rose Zambia on menstrual health and SRHR, plus government commitments on reproductive health commodities, free sanitary pads in schools, and nationwide HPV screening. The market is thin on venture capital but supported by gender-lens funds active across Southern Africa and by donor-backed accelerator grants.

Maternal & child health techMenstrual health & SRHRCervical cancer preventionCommunity health workersReproductive health commodities
252 per 100,000

Maternal mortality ratio (2018, down from 398 in 2013/14) zambia.unfpa.org

65.5 per 100,000

Cervical cancer incidence, among the world's highest (2020) afro.who.int

USD 11.4M+

Government funds disbursed for reproductive health commodities, incl. USD 4.3M in 2025 zambia.unfpa.org

800+ mothers

Enrolled on Dawa Health's DawaMom maternal platform with 60+ community health workers digitaltimes.africa

01 of 07

Latest major news

Recent activity clusters around Dawa Health's international recognition and expanding women's health programs.

02 of 07

Policy & strategy

National strategy links digital health, reproductive health financing and menstrual equity.

03 of 07

Latest ecosystem moves

Accelerators, donor programs and NGOs form the backbone of women's health innovation.

04 of 07

Notable funding rounds

Capital into Zambian femtech is early-stage and grant-led rather than venture-scale.

05 of 07

Key players & hubs

A mix of one flagship startup, an accelerator, government agencies and health NGOs.

06 of 07

Active investors

Funding comes from donor programs and Southern Africa gender-lens and impact funds rather than local VC.

07 of 07

White papers & reports

Data and evidence come from national surveys and peer-reviewed studies.

Latest major news

2025-08
DawaMom by Dawa Health (Zambia) named among 11 startups in the first UNICEF Femtech Ventures cohort, from 1,100+ applications across 85 countries.
femtechinsider.com
2025-06
BongoHive's Women in Tech Zambia accelerator (with a HealthTech focus area) ran its cohort, awarding USD 10,000 equity-free grants to five women-led startups.
opportunitydesk.org
2025-11
Zambia's Ministry of Education received sanitary pads and school books to support the free sanitary pad policy for female learners.
lusakatimes.com
2025-11
Preliminary 2024 Zambia Demographic and Health Survey results released, covering contraceptive use, maternal health and gender-based violence.
zamstats.gov.zm
2024-01
Dawa Health's use of AI to analyze ultrasound scans and flag high-risk pregnancies in Zambia profiled by Forbes.
forbes.com

Policy & strategy

2022-01
Zambia's Digital Health Strategy 2022-2026 prioritizes electronic health records, telemedicine and data analytics toward Universal Health Coverage.
dig.watch
2023-02
Government signed a Compact of Commitment with UNFPA to boost domestic funding for family planning and maternal health supplies, since disbursing over USD 11.4M.
zambia.unfpa.org
2024-09
HPV vaccination moved to a routine single-dose schedule as Zambia scales cervical cancer prevention toward WHO 2030 elimination targets.
afro.who.int
2025-01
Government free sanitary pad policy for public schools advanced, with pads supplied and improved female sanitation facilities to keep girls in class.
zambia.unfpa.org

Latest ecosystem moves

â–¸Dawa Health originated at BongoHive, the Lusaka startup accelerator, and now runs DawaMom via web, mobile, SMS and multilingual chatbot with community health workers. forbes.com
â–¸BongoHive's Women in Tech Zambia accelerator supports women-led tech businesses with a dedicated HealthTech challenge and equity-free grants. vc4a.com
â–¸Copper Rose Zambia runs grassroots menstrual health and SRHR programs, having educated over 5,000 adolescents through its Candid Pride and Woman4Her campaigns. copperrosezambia.org
â–¸UNFPA Zambia, with the Ministry of Health and Lifeline/Childline, distributes sanitary pads via mobile health clinics across Eastern, Southern and Western Provinces. zambia.unfpa.org
â–¸World Vision Zambia distributed menstrual hygiene management packs to 750 girls across 16 schools in Manyinga and Mufumbwe districts. wvi.org

Notable funding rounds

Disclosed round size (USD)

Dawa Health (DawaMom) up to USD 100,000
Grant / equity-free · 2025-08 · UNICEF Femtech Ventures (Sweden & Temasek Foundation) femtechinsider.com
Dawa Health USD 158K
Seed / early · 2021-09 · MIT Solve, Johnson & Johnson, Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Startupbootcamp disruptafrica.com
Women in Tech Zambia startups (5) USD 10,000 each
Grant / equity-free · 2025-06 · BongoHive Innovations globalsouthopportunities.com

Rounds by type

3 rounds
Grant / equity-free2
Seed / early1

Key players & hubs

Ecosystem by organisation type

8 orgs
NGO3
Govt3
Startup1
Hub1
Dawa Health / DawaMom
Startup

Lusaka-based AI maternal, postnatal and cervical cancer prevention platform; founder Tafadzwa Kalisto Munzwa digitaltimes.africa

Copper Rose Zambia
NGO

Youth-led SRHR and menstrual health organization; co-founded 2015 by Dr Natasha Salifyanji Kaoma copperrosezambia.org

BongoHive
Hub

Lusaka startup accelerator; runs Women in Tech Zambia and the Launch accelerator bongohive.co.zm

UNFPA Zambia
NGO

UN agency backing reproductive health commodities, family planning and menstrual health distribution zambia.unfpa.org

Ministry of Health (Zambia)
Govt

Owns Digital Health Strategy 2022-2026 and cervical cancer / HPV screening scale-up afro.who.int

Zambia Medicines and Medical Supplies Agency (ZAMMSA)
Govt

Procures and distributes reproductive health commodities under the UNFPA compact zambia.unfpa.org

World Vision Zambia
NGO

Distributes menstrual hygiene management packs to schoolgirls in rural districts wvi.org

Zambia Statistics Agency (ZamStats)
Govt

Publishes the Demographic and Health Survey (2024) on maternal health, contraception and GBV zamstats.gov.zm

Active investors

Active investors by headquarters

USA 2
Global 1
Sweden 1
Singapore 1
Nigeria / South Africa 1
Pan-African 1
Zambia 1
UNICEF Femtech Ventures
Equity-free capital and technical assistance to DawaMom unicef.org
Global
Government of Sweden
Founding partner of UNICEF Femtech Ventures femtechinsider.com
Sweden
Temasek Foundation
Founding partner of UNICEF Femtech Ventures femtechinsider.com
Singapore
MIT Solve
Backed Dawa Health, recognized DawaMom in its Caring Economy category solve.mit.edu
USA
Patrick J. McGovern Foundation
Investor in Dawa Health crunchbase.com
USA
Alitheia IDF
Gender-lens private equity fund investing in women-led growth companies incl. Zambia furtherafrica.com
Nigeria / South Africa
Afrishela Investment Fund (Graca Machel Trust)
USD 30M gender and climate lens fund targeting women-owned businesses in East and Southern Africa incl. Zambia gracamacheltrust.org
Pan-African
BongoHive Innovations
Provides equity-free grants to women-led and HealthTech startups vc4a.com
Zambia

White papers & reports

â–¸Zambia Demographic and Health Survey 2024, Key Indicators Report (ZamStats / DHS Program) dhsprogram.com
â–¸A comparative study of menstrual poverty among urban and rural female learners in government schools of Zambia (BMC Women's Health) bmcwomenshealth.biomedcentral.com
â–¸Challenges of AI in Maternal Healthcare: Lessons from Zambia (Mozilla Foundation) mozillafoundation.org

Sources and references

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

UNICEF Femtech Ventures press releaseunicef.orgFemtech Insider, UNICEF cohortfemtechinsider.comDigital Times, DawaMomdigitaltimes.africaForbes, AI for pregnant women in Zambiaforbes.comDisrupt Africa, Dawa Health expansiondisruptafrica.comMIT Solve, Dawa Healthsolve.mit.eduZambia Digital Health Strategy 2022-2026dig.watchUNFPA, Zambia reproductive health compactzambia.unfpa.orgUNFPA, Menstrual health human rightszambia.unfpa.orgWHO Afro, HPV cervical cancer screeningafro.who.intCopper Rose Zambia, teamcopperrosezambia.orgBongoHive Women in Tech Zambiavc4a.comWorld Vision Zambia, MHM packswvi.orgZambia DHS 2024 (ZamStats)zamstats.gov.zmFurtherAfrica, gender-lens investingfurtherafrica.com

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