“Some facilities can’t get enough blood, while others have a surplus, and end up discarding what they don’t use because it expires,” explains Temie Giwa-Tubosun, LifeBank’s founder and CEO. “Our system allows us to better coordinate and manage local supply and demand so health care providers have what they need, when they need it, and no blood is wasted.”

LifeBank is being pursued as the first project to receive support through The MOMs Initiative. Formed in June 2019, the initiative includes Merck for Mothers, The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation, USAID and Credit Suisse and has committed to spending $50 million to support promising health innovators in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where 86% of all maternal deaths occur.

The MOMs Initiative (short for Maternal Outcomes Matters) takes a catalytic financing approach, providing capital that small businesses need to grow and have a greater impact. Within this approach, Merck for Mothers offers grant financing and uses its expertise in maternal health to identify the businesses and promising solutions to invest in.

With financing, LifeBank has a better chance at getting the right type of capital it needs to expand access to its lifesaving medical products for mothers in Africa. It can use the grant capital from Merck for Mothers to de-risk a larger loan, opening the door to other investors.

Giwa-Tubosun’s five-year plan is to expand LifeBank’s footprint across Nigeria and to launch services in Ethiopia and Kenya. She is also working to set up a government subscription service so that costs are automatically covered for low-income patients.

They’ve already created a digital platform for tracking inventory and matching supply with demand. In 2018, the company began delivering oxygen too; expanded services to two more states; and added boats to its delivery fleet in order to reach clinics on two islands off the Lagos coast. In November 2019, LifeBank added delivery by drone — and became the first African-led company to deploy beyond visual line of sight flights for healthcare logistics.

By creating this mechanism for investing in promising enterprises like LifeBank, Merck for Mothers is providing a financial catapult to health innovators to keep innovating and scaling, contributing toward sustainable progress for women and overall health system strengthening.