Two years after launching with an unfashionable, but vital, business idea, Lifebank, a Nigerian startup focused on developing a smarter way to deliver blood to Lagos hospitals is getting new funding to expand its service.

The startup has closed a $200,000 seed round to drive its growth for the next 18 months. Investors in the round include EchoVC Partners, a Lagos-based venture capital firm and Fola Laoye, an angel investor with over 20 years of experience in Nigeria’s healthcare industry. The round also saw participation from Co-Creation Hub, Nigeria’s leading tech hub where LifeBank has been incubated since launch, through its Growth Capital fund which targets social innovation startups.

Since its launch, while servicing a sliver of the market which founder Temie Giwa-Tubosun believes exists, LifeBank has moved products valued at $360,000 and has earned revenues of nearly $100,000 from charging a fee for delivery. In total, using WHO-approved equipment, it has moved 9,000 pints of blood. The startup now plans to expand and start off operations in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, and also in Kaduna, a state in Nigeria’s north. Full Story

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