PBR Life Sciences, a Techstars-backed healthcare data analytics company, has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding. The company will use part of the funds to invest in AI infrastructure and expand into Ghana and Kenya.
The funding was raised from Launch Africa, Microtraction, Kaleo Ventures, Octerra Capital, Marula Square, XA Africa, ARM Labs, and Techstars.
Founded in 2015 by Ayodeji Alaran, PBR pivoted into big data and analytics in 2021, providing multinational pharmacy groups like Sanofi with data and insights to make informed decisions—like product pricing, forecasting, and new product development—in the African markets they operate.
These pharmaceutical companies often struggle with excessive production volumes due to a lack of understanding of actual market demand. PBR gathers anonymised data—drug quantity, prices, and how frequently they are purchased—from various pharmacies to enable pharmaceutical companies to better match production with actual market demand.
PBR provides pharmaceutical companies, consulting firms, NGOs, and multilateral agencies with access to this data through pre-built AI-powered analytics dashboards. These dashboards allow users to see market shares, product consumption patterns, and other insights across Nigeria and Ghana. PBS also offers a generative AI feature where users can ask questions and automatically generate analytics.
As traditional drug discovery methods shift towards AI, there is a risk of excluding patients from Africa due to a lack of local data from the continent. PBS is solving this problem by gathering and providing unique data points about people on the continent. The company plans to use AI for drug discovery by working closely with patients in clinical trials. PBS will also explore the use of blockchain for anonymization and randomization of healthcare data in the future and expand into 10 more African countries.
“Being backed by some of the most reputable venture capital investors and angels in Africa not only inspires us as a team to do more but further validates the vital need to close the gap of inadequate real-world, healthcare big data that will power AI and innovation for the sector whilst unlocking global life sciences growth that will be powered by the region,” said Alaran.
PBR, which was one of the twelve (12) startups in the second cohort of the ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator programme, serves companies like Sanofi, Emzor, Roche, International Finance Corporation, and Mercs.
The company claims to have grown its revenue by 200% since 2023 but declined to share specific figures. PBS competes with companies like IQVIA and Sanisphere which offer similar services. PBR makes money through subscriptions, sale of independent reports, and consultation fees.
