KapFou

The idea is to capitalize on the African diaspora to finance local's purchase of medicines which very often are too expensive compared to local wages, and allow patients to buy their medicines in the legal circuit which guarantees quality and further pushes back the consumption of street medicines which is a scourge in sub-Saharan Africa society. The Cameroonian diaspora represents at least 4 Million people (a sixth of Cameroon’s total population)

Some relevant stats about the Cameroonian economy:

80% of workers earn less than 200.000 XAF (USD400) a month and 40% of the
population lives with less than USD 1.90 a day 

3-day malaria (the most prevalent disease in Cameroon - 40% of people admitted to the hospital have malaria or typhoid fever) treatment costs 5.300 XAF (USD10) 

Government spends less than 5 percent of its budget on health, that is less than 1 percent of the country's GDP. No public healthcare coverage.

In the World, about 35% of medicines in circulation are of questionable quality, the trade in illicit products represents more than €4Bn and every 5 minutes, one person dies in the world due to the consumption of poor quality antimalarial drugs (90% of cases could be avoided by the consumption of pharmacy drugs).

1. The user living in Africa (in Europe, the United States, or any other developed country) downloads

the KapFou mobile app and creates an account.
2. The user selects the medicines they wish to purchase for their medical treatment.
3. The user sends a request to the KapFou profile of his relative (the “Angel”) via the app or text.
4. The Angel can login to his KapFou app or download the app and create an account with his phone
number
5. The user pays for the medicines securely through the KapFou app using a credit card or other FIAT
digital payment methods.
6. Once the payment is confirmed, the user receives a unique code to share with their family member
or caregiver in Africa.
7. The family member or caregiver takes the code to a registered pharmacy in their area, and the
pharmacy uses the code to retrieve the payment and provide the necessary medicines.
8. KapFou then credits the pharmacy's account with the payment for the medicines.

Link to video: KAPFOU DEMONSTRATION.mp4 - Google Drive

Target population - Individual living in a middle to lower income household in Cameroon and Africa, under medical treatment with access to a smartphone and with trusted sponsors abroad (family).

(40% of the population in Cameroon and in sub-Saharan Africa live with less than USD 1.90 a day)

KapFou is an android mobile app with integrated payment system
KapFou serves as a third party to secure the transaction and utilization of the funds.

Step 1: A Doctor makes a prescription to a user
Step 2: A user sends a request to one of his family members in another
country, the Angel.
Step 3: The angel pays the due amount to the pharmacy directly through the app
Step 4: The user collects the already paid medicines at the selected pharmacy

My name is Hugue Nkoutchou, an African personality, a University of Bath graduate and currently based in Cameroon. I had the idea of creating KapFou after visiting my brother at the Logbaba Hospital District in Douala Cameroon where I had an encounter with a sick lady who could not afford medicine after being diagnose with malaria. 

My co-founders are Arthur Perissich a Franco-Italian, a fellow bath graduate in economics and Sarah Lobouet, from Tunisia, a Jurist and No Code Developer. 

We are guided in our works by a dozen of local pharmacists in Cameroon and we are in contact with the association of pharmacists of Cameroon. We have a partnership with AfrikPay, the #1 developer of financial solutions in Cameroon and is helping with API integration of financial modules

Our demo prototype is accessible here: 

KAPFOU DEMONSTRATION.mp4 - Google Drive

Testing will start soon in May 2023. 

We need legal support 

We need financial support to help scale up the business and also pay for Adalo fees and other services we use in the development of the application

We need accounting support

KapFou's solution to the problem of medical remittances is focused on trust and security. We understand that trust is a critical factor in the success of medical remittances, as many families and individuals are hesitant to send money abroad due to concerns about whether the funds will be used as intended. 

Within 5 years:

•KapFou drives users to quality medicines: KapFou manages to have a direct
impact on access to medicines in the countries it is present in. KapFou develops to include any type of medical expense.
•KapFou facilitates the growth of medical remittances: Thanks to its User
Experience, KapFou becomes a facilitator of Medical Remittances. KapFou
diversifies in other fields directly linked to remittances.
•KapFou becomes an intelligence hub for medical data in Africa: The rate of
penetration of KapFou becomes large enough to derive insights nationally. We
therefore become a public policy tool. 

•KapFou: Number of KapFous issued

•Inventory management: The development of a professional pharmacy inventory directly on the app. The inventory management system could be accessible from a computer and would eventually be directly linked to a 
central national hub of data collection. The system would forecast demand and infer potential shortages. Number of pharmacies registered on the platform using the inventory system
•Hospital Bills: The development towards a medical mega-app. KapFou works with hospitals and national health systems to allow the payment of any type of medical expense. Number of hospital registered
•Health Insurance: The development of a Health Insurance offering directly manageable via KapFou. The user’s health insurance could be sponsored by an angel. Total value of cover
•Tracking of a User’s health dossier: The development of a “Doctor” user which would be able to access a user’s medical records through the app and upload prescriptions and treatments directly in the app therefore placing KapFou as a Health System. Number of users

KapFou provides a secure mobile platform for users to make payments for medicines, which helps to build trust with users. Our solution ensures that the payment is used specifically for the intended purpose of purchasing the necessary medicines

Technology Overview

•A Low-Code App:
Thanks to an app directly build on Adalo (Low-Code platform) we reduce
development times to market and build for early scalability. Because
operating cost and server costs are directly linked to the number of
operations done through KapFou, this solution allows us to transform what
would otherwise be fixed costs into variable costs in the initial phase.

•A local payment partner:
Our partnership with AfrikPay allows us to receive payments directly in FCFA
and redistribute them at a competitive cost to every major mobile money
provider in Africa. Furthermore, our solution allows pharmacies to create an
AfrikPay account, thus giving them access to a new agile banking solution

Founder & CEO: Hugue Nkoutchou - Cameroonian

Co-Founder & CMO: Arthur Perissich - Franco-Italian

Co-Founder & CTO: Sarah Lobouet - Tunisian 

We have a well diversified team made of two Africans (one from the northern part and one from sub-Saharan Africa) and a European (from France-Italy). Our intention is clear, make sure that all are included in the process. Our approach is simply to hire the best without discrimination by making sure all groups are aware of the opportunities and apply. 

● Accessibility: KapFou's platform enables family members living abroad to easily and securely pay for medical expenses for their loved ones in Cameroon and other sub-Saharan African countries. This helps to

overcome the geographical barriers that often prevent families from accessing healthcare services and obtaining necessary medicines.
● Security: KapFou's platform is designed to ensure that funds are securely transferred to registered pharmacies and used only for their intended purposes. This helps to address the trust issues that often
arise with medical remittances, where there is a risk that the funds may be misused.
● Convenience: By allowing users to make payments and access medical services through a mobile app,KapFou's solution offers a convenient and user-friendly alternative to traditional methods of medical
remittances and accessing healthcare services. This can help to improve the overall patient experience and increase patient engagement with healthcare services.
● Affordability: KapFou's platform provides a transparent and competitive pricing structure for medical services and medicines, helping to ensure that patients and their families receive fair and affordable pricing
for their healthcare needs.
● Social Impact: By increasing access to healthcare services and medicines, KapFou's solution has the potential to make a significant social impact, helping to improve health outcomes and reduce
inequalities in healthcare access as well as fight the poverty trap linked to medical expenditures Cameroon and other sub-Saharan African countries.

Raising capital via investments. We have allocated 20% of the equity for investors

Commissions on each KapFou or payment of medicine via our app. We hope to break even by 50000 users after 1 year of service

We have so far applied to the following (still ongoing):

AWS FinTech Africa Accelerator

POESAM Orange international start-up competition

MIT Solve global challenges