Kenyan medical care chain Penda acquires impact startup Grace Health to bolster its on-demand telemedicine offering
Today, Swedish health tech startup Grace Health announces the strategic acquisition of its digital women’s health services to Penda Health, Kenya’s top three largest outpatient primary healthcare chain,
Through this acquisition, Grace Health and Penda come together to forge an unprecedented alliance in the African health space. With Grace Health’s strong user engagement and commitment to ensuring accessible health information for ALL there is an opportunity to close the value chain to link our users to affordable health services to Kenya and beyond. “We are delighted to hand over the reins of the Grace Health App to Penda Health. This acquisition marks a significant milestone for us, as we entrust the app to a trusted healthcare leader”, says Therese Mannheimer, founder of Grace Health.
Since its inception in Ghana five years ago, Grace Health has reached over 1.3 million users and have since strengthened their foothold and expanded to Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. In 2020, the all-female founded company Grace Health launched its light-weight app, addressing the low data storage environment on the African continent and is providing tailored and personalized messaging built for emotional response. The app focuses on giving women support throughout her reproductive health journey through automated chat, health assessments, tracking and education.
Grace Health and Penda Health first entered into a strategic partnership to secure instant access to health services in Kenya in 2022. “We have always known that we wanted to offer our users support all the way, from information to access,” says Estelle Westling, founder of Grace Health. The acquisition allows all users to get uninterrupted service and support. Under the leadership of Penda, the platform will continue the mission to serve the African community with information, education and support within reproductive and general health.
About Grace Health
Grace Health is the first women’s health platform designed for emerging markets and was founded in 2018 by Swedish entrepreneurs Estelle Westling and Thérèse Mannheimer. The app creates a safe environment for health information for women with low health literacy and low digital literacy. It has been awarded by Fast Company and Wired as the top innovations in the Nordics. The Grace Health platform has over 1.3 million registered users in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa.
About Penda Health
Penda Health is Kenya’s 3rd largest outpatient primary healthcare chain, serving the Kenyan middle class with an extensive network of clinics, a telemedicine call centre, medicine delivery, and home-based services. Penda Health is committed to providing patient-centric, high-quality, and affordable healthcare services to improve the lives of its patients.
