An IT specialist by training, he leverages his skills to improve healthcare access for all Ivorians.

Rory Assandey (photo) is an Ivorian computer engineer and tech entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of La Ruche Health, a startup specializing in health technologies.

Founded in 2022 by Rory Assandey and Benjamin Sasu, La Ruche Health’s mission is to bring quality, affordable, and tailored healthcare closer to Ivorian communities. Among its innovative solutions is Kiko, a generative AI-powered health chatbot accessible via WhatsApp.

By analyzing data from the chatbot, the startup offers personalized healthcare services in collaboration with independent medical practitioners. La Ruche Health has also developed an electronic medical record system for its partner healthcare professionals, allowing them to automate the management of appointments, documentation, billing, and payments.

Through these solutions, the company provides a variety of services, including teleconsultations, home consultations, personalized health advice, and laboratory testing. By October 2024, it had already reached over 160,000 users.

“The main added value we offer is helping the African population (60% of whom are under 25) avoid self-diagnosis and self-medication. We eliminate frustration and provide instant, trustworthy advice, increasing the likelihood of patients seeking professional assistance,” explains the startup’s CEO.

Rory Assandey holds a bachelor’s degree in business computing, earned in 2014 from Dublin City University in Ireland. His professional career began in 2011 at Amazon Ireland, where he worked as a technical support agent for the Kindle app. In 2013, he joined SAP, a U.S.-based tech company, as an intern in Dublin. He became a support engineer in 2014 before being promoted to IT consultant in the United States in 2017, a role he held until 2022, when he dedicated himself fully to La Ruche Health.

In 2022, La Ruche Health was selected alongside 14 other African startups to join the Google for Startups Accelerator program. In 2024, it was also chosen by Ivorian authorities to represent the country at the VivaTech technology fair in Paris.

By Melchior Koba

Editing by Sèna D. B. de Sodji