Nigeria’s healthtech ecosystem recorded the addition of 65 startups between 2020 and 2025, reflecting a major expansion driven largely by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the State of Healthtech in Nigeria 2026 report released by TechCabal Insights, Digital Health Nigeria and the Clinton Health Access Initiative. The report noted that the figure represents about 65 per cent growth compared to the 103 startups launched in the 15 years before the pandemic, with Nigeria now hosting 128 active healthtech startups operating across telehealth, e pharmacy, healthcare financing, digital supply chains and healthcare analytics.
The report revealed that 2020 recorded the highest number of healthtech launches in a single year, with 17 startups emerging as the pandemic accelerated digital healthcare adoption across the country. Industry players said COVID-19 transformed healthtech from a niche concept into an essential service as lockdowns, fear of physical contact and restricted hospital visits increased demand for remote consultations, digital prescriptions and medicine delivery services. Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mobihealth, Funmi Adewara, said early founders had to spend years educating patients, regulators and healthcare professionals about the viability of digital healthcare before the pandemic accelerated acceptance.
Despite the rapid growth, the report showed that long term sustainability remains a major challenge for the sector. Nigeria’s healthtech ecosystem currently has 40 inactive startups, with 97 per cent of them founded before the pandemic. Several startups, including 54gene and Healthlane, shut down after struggling with infrastructure problems, weak monetisation, low insurance penetration and slowing investor funding. Funding into the sector rose sharply from about $5.5 million in 2019 to nearly $55 million in 2023 before dropping significantly to approximately $18 million in 2024 and about $3 million in 2025 as investor enthusiasm weakened after the pandemic.
Founding Partner at Ventures Platform, Kola Aina, said investors are now prioritising startups capable of demonstrating sustainable growth and clear monetisation strategies within Nigeria’s difficult healthcare environment. According to him, although telehealth attracted strong interest during the pandemic, challenges such as poor internet connectivity, high data costs and affordability constraints have limited large scale adoption across rural and peri urban communities. The report concluded that Nigeria’s healthtech sector is now entering a defining phase where only startups capable of surviving difficult market realities and delivering measurable impact may remain competitive in the years ahead.