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ALMA Clinics (ALMA), a Nurse-Led tech-enabled private primary healthcare clinic (PHC) established in July 2020 by CEO Sibongile Manganyi Rath, is proud to announce that the health-tech start up has secured $2.8m (+R51m) from IDF Capital through its Alitheia IDF Fund (AIF), to fund its expansion drive. ALMA was established at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns, with the opening of oneclinic in Protea Soweto, a previou sly disadvantaged and underserved township. ALMA currently has 6 fully operating clinics servicing more than 4000 patients a month with a drive to expand to 35 locationsacross South Africa to service more than 300 000 patients annually in the next four years.
ALMA Clinics (ALMA), a Nurse-Led tech-enabled private primary healthcare clinic (PHC) established in July 2020 by CEO Sibongile Manganyi Rath,is proud to announce that the health-tech start up has secured $2.8m (+R51m) from IDF Capital through its Alitheia IDF Fund (AIF), to fund its expansion drive.ALMA was established at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns, with the opening of one
clinic in Protea Soweto, a previously disadvantaged and underserved township. ALMA currently has 6
fully operating clinics servicing more than 4000 patients a month with a drive to expand to 35 locations
across South Africa to service more than 300 000 patients annually in the next four years.
The impact of ALMA has been remarkable. The business model is designed to offer integrated healthcare in a beautiful environment that is caring and professional. This is done at affordable price points for lower-income groups to draw sufficient patients from the free overstretched public health facilities and highly priced traditional on-site GP establishments. CEO Sibongile Manganyi-Rath, who invested her time and funds into developing ALMA CLINICS and its supporting digital platform (Alma e-Health), is a seasoned passionate award-winning entrepreneur driven by the vision of making quality healthcare more accessible, affordable, and reliable for millions of African people through innovative technologies. IDF Capital saw the potential impact of ALMA and realised the immense benefits its funding of the expansion would contribute towards bringing relief to the over-stretched South African public health sector as well as creating employment.
Alma Clinics will employ at least 8 staff members per clinic. For the 29 additional clinics, 232 directpermanent formal employment opportunities will be created. The employment covers a wide spectrum for mostly those with tertiary qualifications and some low-skilled staff and with a bias towards female
employment at about 70% of the staff complement. During the construction of the clinics, wider temporary work will be created.
The funding will see the clinics grow from 6 to 35 within in the next 1.5 to 3 years and increase the annual patient visits from 32,000 in 2023 to 300,000 by 2028. Many qualified nurses will find employment in a financially and professionally rewarding environment, and newly found patients will get quality healthcare at an affordable cost. Alma is well positioned as a best-in-class model for NHI delivery on high quality, affordable delivery while ensuring equitable healthcare service to all despite economic status.
Polo Leteka, CEO and Founder of IDF Capital, and a co-managing Partner of Alitheia IDF Fund, will be joining the board of ALMA and provide valuable insights into managing a company when it embarks on a fast growth track as is envisaged.
“IDF Capital is pleased to announce its recent investment in ALMA Clinics through the AIF Fund. This investment is a significant addition to its diverse portfolio and underscores its commitment as an early-stage Gender Lens Private Equity investor to identifying innovative and dynamic tech-enabled businesses with immense growth potential and significant social impact”.
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