After completing an acceleration program at EtriLabs, the healthtech company launched into the African market and quickly distinguished itself on the continental tech scene. The company continues to steadily progress and harbors big dreams for the future
Rema, an e-health solution developed by a Beninese startup, enables doctors and medical students to collaborate remotely and receive continuous training. Based in Cotonou, the startup has been led by Sedric Degbo since 2019. Its mission is to improve the quality of healthcare decisions in Africa by ensuring the reliable and rapid transfer of medical and scientific knowledge and data among individual and organizational healthcare stakeholders.
The mobile application is available on both iOS and Android and has been downloaded over 10,000 times from Play Store. After downloading, users create an account by filling out a registration form and providing proof of their professional or student status. The registration is manually verified, as account creation is restricted to doctors and medical students (at least in their second year of study).
Once registered, users can access various services offered by the startup. These include Rema Learning, which allows users to attend live or recorded interactive medical conferences hosted by international experts and explore clinical cases shared by peers; Rema Jobs, which curates job opportunities for healthcare professionals in Africa; Rema Business, which enables targeting and engaging a specific audience within the community for various purposes (medical surveys, brand awareness, influencer campaigns, etc.); and Rema Pharma, a service for non-community members needing confidential consultations with a pharmacist for tailored advice. This service requires users to save the start-up's number and contact it via WhatsApp. The telepharmaceutical consultations often involve recommendations for preventive health practices, over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, or health center referrals.
Rema also functions as an online community and social network for medical professionals. Users can make posts to seek opinions from other doctors. "There are two posting modes on REMA: 'Quick Post' and 'Clinical Case'. In 'Quick Post' mode, you access a publishing interface with a text field and an image upload button. In 'Clinical Case' mode, the interface includes fields to describe your case, add images, and select specialty and anatomical tags to identify your case," explains the e-health platform.
With additional offices in Nouakchott, Mauritania; Dakar, Senegal; Lomé, Togo; and Douala, Cameroon, Rema aims to establish itself as the leading community for doctors and medical students on the continent. The start-up has garnered multiple awards, including the first prize for best start-up at inwiDays 2019 in Casablanca, Morocco; best digital start-up at FIDEA 2019; second prize for best African start-up at the AfricUp Pitch Challenge 2019 in Tunis, Tunisia; and an award for the best solutions from La Francophonie with the most impact during the peak of the health crisis in 2020.
Adoni Conrad Quenum
