Tibu Health secures new funding to expand pharmacy-based clinics in Kenya

Most healthcare systems ask patients to come to them. Tibu Health flipped that logic — and investors are starting to take notice.

The Kenyan healthtech startup has secured fresh financing from Proparco, the French development finance institution, through the Bridge Fund by Digital Africa facility. The money goes straight toward expanding its growing network of embedded clinics across Kenya.

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So What Does Tibu Health Actually Do?

When Jason Carmichael founded the company in 2020, the pitch was straightforward: stop asking underserved communities to travel to healthcare — bring healthcare to where they already shop, run errands, and pick up medicine.

The result is a network of Minute Clinics tucked inside pharmacies and supermarkets, connected to a central hub that handles the heavier stuff — medical imaging, pediatrics, gynecology, lab testing, and telemedicine. No long commutes. No intimidating hospital queues. Just care, close to home.

It also quietly addresses something rarely talked about in policy circles — the habit of self-medication that spreads across Sub-Saharan Africa when formal care feels out of reach.

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The Numbers Tell a Real Story

Since launching, Tibu Health has:

• Opened 10 Minute Clinics across 4 Kenyan counties, including Nairobi
• Delivered over 45,000 diagnoses
• Administered 2,500 vaccines

Not bad for a startup that's still in growth mode.

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What the People Behind It Are Saying

Djalal Khimdjee, Deputy CEO of Proparco, put it plainly — this is about reaching the patients that formal healthcare has historically walked past:

> "By combining mini-clinics embedded within pharmacies with a centralized medical hub, Tibu Health enables thousands of patients — particularly among middle- and lower-income populations — to access essential, high-quality healthcare services."

Founder Jason Carmichael sees the Proparco deal as more than just capital — it's proof of concept:

> "Expanding access to primary healthcare at scale requires embedding care within the infrastructure people already use. Proparco's support enables us to accelerate that expansion and demonstrates the viability of this model for emerging markets."

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Why This Matters Beyond Kenya

There's a bigger conversation happening here. Across Africa, the gap between healthcare infrastructure and population need is still vast. Tibu Health isn't waiting for that gap to close on its own — it's building around it.

With fresh funding, 10 clinics already running, and a model that's proven it can deliver real results, the next chapter for Tibu Health is less about survival and more about scale. Watch this space.