African Pre-seed Podcast S2 Ep2: Egypt Healthtech VibeCheck
This month's #APSVibecheck Podcast episode features Ahmed Kadous, the co-founder and CEO of Pharmacy Marts, a healthtech startup based in Egypt.
While healthcare is a critical need across the continent, it can sometimes feel like healthtech doesn’t get much attention compared to fintech, e-commerce or energytech. This conversation with Kadous is filled with gems that may get you itching to get into the healthtech space. One of the things Kadous shares early in the conversation is that for healthtech startups, the focus is not only on solving the key problem that has been identified. Many times, there has been a need to actively work to change customer behaviour. For Pharmacy Marts, a B2B startup that wants to improve patient access to medication by fixing a dated supply chain, that means not only digitising the existing process but changing how the market thinks. 💡
While healthcare is a critical need across the continent, it can sometimes feel like healthtech doesn’t get much attention compared to fintech, e-commerce or energytech. This conversation with Kadous is filled with gems that may get you itching to get into the healthtech space. One of the things Kadous shares early in the conversation is that for healthtech startups, the focus is not only on solving the key problem that has been identified. Many times, there has been a need to actively work to change customer behaviour. For Pharmacy Marts, a B2B startup that wants to improve patient access to medication by fixing a dated supply chain, that means not only digitising the existing process but changing how the market thinks. 💡
Kadous goes further to point out that anyone looking to establish a startup in Cairo needs to know that that kind of expansion requires unlearning a few things. For instance, he says that simply replicating a model that has worked elsewhere may not be the best strategy. According to him, “You need to be agile and adapt to customer needs. For example, the geography is huge so you need to build a supply chain zone to ensure same-day delivery. The customer behaviour is somehow different; in purchasing behaviour, they bulk order so you have to give them the option to bulk order to improve their user experience.”
🚀 With great insights into Egypt’s healthtech market, one of the most astounding things about Kadous is his breadth of experience. He has worked in some of Egypt’s largest pharmaceutical companies, and which influenced his understanding of the problem that needs to be solved. But he’s also clear that this experience taught him critical soft skills.
Something to definitely look out for in this conversation is around the 6-minute mark, where he discusses some of the big misconceptions investors and founders have about Egypt’s healthtech scene. “One of the big misconceptions is that the market size is small. There is potential to have a huge share of this market,” Kadous said.
💡 Top 5 insights unpacked in the episode:
- Ahmed's Pharmacy Marts startup journey [0:12]
- Lessons Ahmed learned from his previous work experience [1:42]
- How Pharmacy Marts solves its customer's most pressing challenges [3:18]
- Pharmacy Marts' current positioning in Egypt's healthtech sector [4:35]
- Common oversimplifications about Egypt's healthtech sector [6:30]
- Managing co-founder relationships and decision-making at Pharmacy Marts [7:39]
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ARTICLE: Ahmed Kadous connects medical suppliers to pharmacies, through Pharmacy Marts by WeAreTech Africa.
