Q&A with Wilfred Chege - Discussing Zendawa and Their Telehealth Solutions

By David Armaah

Wilfred Chege is the Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Zendawa with 8 years of experience in Business and Information Technology.  

This Q&A session dives into his startup Zendawa in Nakuru, Kenya – learning about their impact-driven technological solutions to age-old African woes (i.e access to essential medicines) 

The FutureList: Can you tell us about the inspiration behind Zendawa and what drove you to create a telehealth marketplace app? 

Wilfred Chege: Co-Founder of Zendawa, Dr. Victor Achoka has been running a neighbourhood pharmacy and was experiencing challenges with last-mile delivery resulting in the use of freelance motorcycle riders. He approached me to procure marketplace software from my previous start-up. Upon further research, I discovered the underlying issues with neighbourhood pharmacies and countered his offer by proposing to start Zendawa to address the challenges. Growing up in a home where mental health was a challenge, I also witnessed firsthand how refilling medication was a hassle and costly endeavour. These were the triggers for our development for Zendawa. 

The FutureList: Can you explain how Zendawa’s marketplace platform works and benefits both users and pharmacies?

Wilfred Chege: For end-users, they get to have timely delivery of their medication at the same price as walking into a pharmacy. In addition to this, they are assured that their medication is handled professionally reducing the risk of contamination. Zendawa digitizes pharmacies thus enabling them to sell online and access collateral free credit for stocking up which was previously unavailable to them due to lack of historical transaction data for credit scoring. 

The FutureList: What has been your market impact so far – in terms of numbers & storytelling?

Wilfred Chege: We currently work with a network of 570 neighbourhood pharmacies across Kenya, ensuring that our customers have easy and reliable access to our services no matter where they are located. Since we began operations, we have successfully processed over 25,000 orders, demonstrating our capability to efficiently meet the healthcare needs of our growing customer base

The FutureList: Could you discuss any challenges or obstacles Zendawa has faced in implementing telehealth services, and how the company has worked to overcome them? 

Wilfred Chege: Penetration into rural areas remains a key challenge for us, primarily because many residents do not have smartphones to access our platform. To address this issue, we are actively developing a USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) solution that will allow users to access our services without needing an internet connection or a smartphone. This approach will enable us to serve this important segment of our market, ensuring that even those in the very remote areas can benefit from our healthcare products and services.

The FutureList: Can you share any success stories or case studies that highlight the impact Zendawa has had on improving access to quality healthcare?

Wilfred Chege: When we first approached one of our partner pharmacies, they were operating entirely on pen and paper, with a monthly recurring revenue of less than $2,000. Since partnering with us, they have successfully digitized their operations, streamlining their processes and improving efficiency. As a result, their monthly revenues have increased by 30%, highlighting the impact of our digital solutions on their business. There are many more successful stories as well. 

The FutureList: What technological innovations have been most crucial in developing Zendawa’s services?

Wilfred Chege: Our matching Algorithm. This has enabled us to pair each order with the neighbourhood pharmacy with the closest proximity to the end-user thus resulting in huge savings on delivery fees as well as cutting down on delivery time.

The FutureList: What future developments or expansions are you planning for Zendawa, and how do you intend to further improve healthcare accessibility and efficiency in the next 5 years?

Wilfred Chege: We are working on a revolutionary AI called Zental – in collaboration with Microsoft through FAST Accelerator to eradicate “worktax” in the healthcare sector. Zental.AI will enable our pharmacies to access advanced data analytics to forecast demand, streamline supply chain management by harnessing the power of computer vision and access to an AI-powered credit scoring system.

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