SA’s Vula Mobile secures R1m in seed round

Medical referral startup Vula Mobile has raised R1-million in a seed round after partnering with Cape Town-based investment and advisory firm HAVAÍC.  Founded in 2014, Vula enables health workers — particularly those in underserved remote rural areas — to get patients quick and specialist referrals in ophthalmology, cardiology, and orthopedics.

Dr. Lungi Nyathi, currently the non-executive chair of Vula, and an executive director at Medscheme, said: “Government health departments globally face budget constraints, and we feel it more strongly here in Sub-Saharan African.

“The primary goal of Vula will remain the provision of efficient specialist healthcare access to South Africa’s rural population, and potentially those of other countries.”. 

The seed round was run in partnership investment and advisory firm HAVAÍC, giving existing Vula Mobile partners, users, and stakeholders, and HAVAÍC partners, the chance to invest in the startup for a minimum of ZAR5,000 (US$414) each.