The near death experience of a family friend during childbirth has inspired Rest Essence to build Medwaka, a technology driven emergency response platform aimed at improving access to urgent medical care in Nigeria. The woman reportedly went into labour around 1 a.m. and was moved between three hospitals before undergoing a caesarean section under torchlight at a facility without electricity. She later suffered severe bleeding but survived, an experience Essence said exposed the urgent need for a functional emergency response system in Nigeria.
Essence, who was searching for a major problem to solve in Africa at the time, teamed up with Dr Muyiwa Oluwatobi, Dr Glennise Ayuk and Abakar Mahamat through the Fishbowl Challenge to develop a solution. Medwaka evolved from an earlier initiative by Oluwatobi that connected pregnant women with blood donors during emergencies in Ondo State. The founders later expanded the idea into a platform designed to connect people experiencing medical emergencies with nearby hospitals, ambulances and trained first responders.
Medwaka initially piloted its emergency response model in Ondo State in 2024, training first responders and partnering with hospitals. However, the founders soon encountered major challenges, including limited public awareness, inadequate ambulance infrastructure and difficulty maintaining a reliable emergency response network. By the end of 2024, the company had trained 10 first responders and onboarded five hospitals, but the lack of ambulances made it difficult to operate the 911 style model the founders had initially envisioned.
The company subsequently shifted towards partnerships with private hospitals, health maintenance organisations, government agencies, non governmental organisations and community groups, focusing on strengthening existing emergency response systems rather than building an independent ambulance fleet. Medwaka says it now has a team of 20, has trained 11 first responders and facilitated more than 550 emergency requests through its platform and partner network. Essence said the company’s long term ambition remains to build an integrated emergency response ecosystem connecting patients, healthcare providers, first responders and public health institutions through technology.