Accelerating Cancer Care Through Research- Why we Invested in Yemaachi

At V8 Capital, we invest in innovative solutions solving Africa’s biggest problems, especially using data on an enterprise level to deliver better services and/or create new markets. Yemaachi, a life sciences portfolio company of ours is addressing the burden of cancer with the African genomic dataset which is extremely valuable. There is a large gap in healthcare outcomes between Africa and the rest of the world. However, cancer is 4x deadlier in Africa than in the rest of the world and accounts for a loss of up to 0.5% of the continent’s GDP.

Technological innovations in gene editing and artificial intelligence have led to breakthroughs in how we detect, visualise, understand, and manage complex diseases. However, the lack of genomic diversity and exclusion of African datasets has led to missed opportunities. Africa’s genomes are not only humanity’s oldest but also our most diverse, and this diversity holds the key to huge advances in medicine and healthcare. Yemaachi aims to use this diversity with new data science to improve cancer outcomes.

Our investment in Yemaachi is based on a vision of the future with new and diverse datasets enabling better cancer prevention, early detection, and improved survival outcomes both for Africans and the world. Imagine a world where the over $1 billion spent on medical tourism were reinvested into the continent and there are significant cost savings achieved by all economies due to the outcomes of Yemaachi’s research. We see a future where advances in technology using African datasets creates valuable jobs for the youngest population on Earth.

Yemaachi has started practically actualizing this vision by initiating a number of cancer research projects and exploring innovative approaches for targeted therapies across a number of cancers. Working with several global pharmaceuticals, they are building an extensive knowledge base of genomic data across several African countries to improve the efficacy of new and existing drugs. Yemaachi has started making molecular diagnostics more accessible through its Sheba campaign, a screening platform that supports the detection of human papilloma virus (HPV), which is responsible for cervical cancer, the second most common type of cancer amongst African women.

As enterprise-level data-driven investors, we are well-placed to support and help accelerate Yemaachi's growth. We believe our extensive network across the continent will help the team unlock a significant pipeline of relevant and valuable data sets and research partnerships. Yemaachi is already unlocking these data sets in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Zimbabwe, and Tunisia. The company is actively looking for experienced researchers to join their team to help create African intellectual property with outsized impact. As an investment, Yemaachi presents the opportunity to create real commercial value and significant human impact. We believe the Founders, Yaw Bediako, Yaw Attua - Afari, Joyce Ngoi, and David Hutchful have an incredible mix of skills to bring this vision to reality and we are excited to support them in the journey ahead.

If you are interested in learning more about Yemaachi or partnering with us and learning more about what we do, kindly email us at [email protected].