Streamlining health related payments in Africa

Our mission is to prevent the annual loss of 8 Million lives due to incufficient access to healthcare annually reported by the WHO in 2023. Lack of financial support is a leading cause of death, and we aim to address this gab.
The specific problem within the challenge that COMESO is working to solve is the lack of access to quality healthcare, particularly for medically underserved groups, due to financial barriers. This problem is widespread, affecting billions of people globally, especially under-resourced communities such as women and girls, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and older adults. According to the Challenge Overview, half of the world lacks access to comprehensive health services, and two billion people face financial hardship due to out-of-pocket healthcare costs. These financial barriers prevent individuals from accessing essential healthcare services, leading to poorer health outcomes and exacerbating health inequalities.

With COMESO you can purchase healthcare credits that are linked to a mobile number. The individual associated with that number receives a notification and can redeem the credits at any healthcare institution displaying the COMESO logo. This ensures that the money you send is used only for health related purposes.

What sets us apart is our focus on closing the gap between intended healthcare spending and its actual use. Unlike other remittance tools, we target the segment of senders who genuinely want their money to be spent solely on health. Furthermore, we support healthcare institutions in managing the funds from senders, reducing administrative burdens of health expenses.

COMESO serves two primary groups: healthcare institutions and individuals in need of healthcare services, particularly in underserved communities.Healthcare Institutions:COMESO provides a solution for healthcare institutions, including hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies, to streamline and optimize their payment processes.These institutions often struggle with managing funds designated for medical expenses, leading to inefficiencies and difficulties in ensuring that resources are used effectively.By using COMESO's platform, healthcare institutions can efficiently manage healthcare-related payments, ensuring that funds are allocated for their intended purpose and reducing administrative burdens.This solution enables healthcare institutions to focus more on delivering quality care to patients rather than managing financial transactions.Individuals in Underserved Communities:

The target population includes individuals in underserved communities who face financial barriers to accessing quality healthcare services.These individuals may belong to marginalized groups such as women and girls, ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and older adults.Financial barriers prevent them from seeking timely and appropriate medical care, leading to poorer health outcomes and exacerbating health disparities.

COMESO's solution directly addresses this issue by facilitating secure and efficient transactions for healthcare-related payments.By providing a streamlined payment process, COMESO ensures that individuals in underserved communities can access essential and inclusive healthcare services without facing financial hardships.This solution empowers individuals to prioritize their health and well-being, leading to improved health outcomes and overall quality of life.

I initiated the idea approximately three years ago while at university and have since built a waiting list of 400 people. Since 2024 years, we kicked off local events in partnership with the Western Union Foundation and the German Development Cooperation, attracting a total of 150 guests, establishing ourselves as the largest healthcare platform in Ghana among startups. Our platform provides access to a network of 6,400 healthcare services. We initiated invitations to individuals we knew, and some paid for tickets to access knowledge about our platform, boosting their revenue through COMESO.

Our MVP was launched in November 2022 to validate the idea and gauge user acceptance among healthcare facilities and potential beneficiaries. The response was positive, with healthcare facilities onboarding without our guidance. Within nine days, we identified user acceptance gaps with three pharmacies and completed a transaction volume of converted $600, funded through donations within our community on GoFundMe to facilitate health-related donations for people who were unable to afford healthcare medication through our vouchers. In total, we received around $3000 in donations organically for the support of purpose-driven healthcare donations.

Subsequently, we secured partnerships with two banks after consultations with legal experts from FinTech and discussions with the Bank of Ghana and BAFIN. We are currently undergoing due diligence with Ecobank and the United Bank of Africa, preparing for the pre-live phase of our go-to-market strategy, which involves brand building and hosting more events to promote the purpose of our platform.
We have also updated our e-commerce platform and will go live this month with a Progressive Web App (PWA) version to connect healthcare facilities locally and offer them visibility while we await permission to complete financial services with our partner banks by the end of this year.

Based on the provided information, COMESO's solution is currently in the "Prototype" stage of development. The idea was initiated approximately three years ago, and since then, significant progress has been made, including building a waiting list of 400 people and hosting local events in partnership with organizations like the Western Union Foundation and the German Development Cooperation. These events established COMESO as the largest healthcare platform in Ghana among startups, with a network of 6,400 healthcare services.The Minimum Viable Product (MVP) was launched in November 2022 to validate the idea and gauge user acceptance, resulting in positive feedback from healthcare facilities. Despite initial user acceptance gaps identified with three pharmacies, a transaction volume of converted $600 was achieved within nine days, funded through community donations on GoFundMe.Subsequent partnerships with two banks were secured after consultations with legal experts, and due diligence is currently underway with Ecobank and the United Bank of Africa. COMESO is preparing for the pre-live phase of its go-to-market strategy, which involves brand building and hosting more events to promote the platform's purpose.Additionally, COMESO has updated its e-commerce platform and plans to go live this month with a Progressive Web App (PWA) version to connect healthcare facilities locally and offer them visibility. This will be followed by seeking permission to complete financial services with partner banks by the end of the year.

COMESO is seeking support on technical front in optimizing our solution and ensuring its scalability to meet the needs of our users. Solve's expertise and resources can help us address technical improvements effectively, ensuring a seamless user experience and robust infrastructure.

Legal barriers, particularly related to regulatory compliance and partnership agreements, too a long time in our past progress. Solve's network of legal experts can provide guidance and support in navigating these complexities, ensuring that we operate within legal frameworks and maintain strong partnerships.

Market Entry. barriers also pose challenges, as we operate in diverse communities with unique needs and preferences and gain experience by doing. Solve's diverse platform of experienced professionals can offer valuable insights and perspectives, helping us understand and address cultural and market-related challenges effectively.

Overall, we hope that Solve's support can help us overcome these barriers and successfully achieve our mission of providing accessible and affordable healthcare payment solutions to make a meaningful impact in improving healthcare access and affordability for underserved communities.

What sets us apart is our focus on closing the gap between intended healthcare spending and its actual use. Unlike other remittance tools, we target the segment of senders who genuinely want their money to be spent solely on health. Furthermore, we support healthcare institutions in managing the funds from senders, reducing administrative burdens of health expenses.

COMESO generates revenue by facilitating streamlined health related payments through our platform, ensuring that the funds are allocated for their intended purpose. We charge transaction fees for processing these remittances and also impose a revenue commission on healthcare institutions for benefiting from the additional payments managed via COMESO. As for the potential revenue, it hinges on factors such as transaction volume, commission rates, and market adoption, but it holds the potential to be significant given the escalating demand for streamlined healthcare payment solutions.

In our entry market of Ghana, we aim to capture a share of the home remittances totaling under $4.1 billion, specifically earmarked for healthcare expenditures. Our research indicates that healthcare ranks among the top three reasons for sending remittances. Our market opportunity lies in bridging the gap between healthcare expenditures and funds not utilized for their intended purpose.

In the first year, we target achieving a transaction volume of $1.8 million, equivalent to approximately 18,000 transactions with an average value of $50, occurring twice a month. A key aspect of our company is our commitment to providing accessible and affordable healthcare payment solutions in Ghana, where private health expenditure amounts to $70 million. We focus on addressing the gap between $70 Million and $2.4 billion in our Serviceable Obtainable Market (SOM), which was spend for healthcare last year, based on market research conducted by GIZ.

To sustain our operations, we expect a revenue share of 0.75% and a 3% commission from healthcare institutions for facilitating health expenditure transfers to Ghana.

I chose this idea because I personally experienced how remittances intended for healthcare expenses were not effectively utilized. Some time ago, I lost a beloved aunt due to lack of healthcare access, and I still wonder if timely and targeted financial support could have saved her life. This event made it clear to me how crucial it is to ensure access to healthcare, especially for people in underserved regions. With my background in finance, insurance, marketing, and e-commerce, I realized the importance of conveying emotional and intangible values. Together with my team, who have diverse backgrounds and experiences with remittances, we have spent the last few years delving into the healthcare space and building a strong plattform of healthcare facilities.We conducted a survey and underwent various testing phases that validated our market. What was particularly intriguing was the relief expressed by healthcare institutions during the testing phase regarding our solution. They found it most beneficial because they often struggle with managing funds received from international senders. With COMESO, we aim to alleviate this administrative burden for them.

We have set ambitious impact goals for COMESO, focusing on improving access to crucial and preventive healthcare services. One of our key impact goals is to enable a total of 350 individuals to access essential healthcare services through our platform by the end of the year. We have facilitated this access by leveraging donations specifically earmarked for healthcare payments. These donations were promoted with the purpose of supporting healthcare payments, ensuring that they are used for their intended purpose. This strategy has helped us secure purpose-driven organic donations for healthcare, furthering our impact in the healthcare sector.To measure our progress towards these impact goals, we are using several indicators:Number of individuals accessing healthcare services through COMESO: This indicator tracks the actual usage of our platform by individuals seeking healthcare services.Transaction volume and frequency: We monitor the number of transactions and their frequency, reflecting the engagement level of users and the utilization of our platform for healthcare payments.Amount of donations received: We track the total amount of donations received for healthcare payments, which reflects community support and interest in our cause.Feedback and testimonials: We collect feedback and testimonials from users and healthcare institutions to gauge their satisfaction levels and the effectiveness of our platform in meeting their needs.Impact on healthcare institutions: We assess how our platform has helped healthcare institutions manage payments effectively, reduce administrative burdens, and improve service delivery.
Payment Gateway: COMESO integrates a secure payment gateway that allows users to make transactions for healthcare services seamlessly. This gateway ensures that financial transactions are encrypted and protected, maintaining the privacy and security of user data.

Mobile App and Web Platform: COMESO offers both a mobile application and a web-based platform to cater to users' preferences and accessibility. The user-friendly interfaces enable individuals to access healthcare services, make payments, and manage their accounts conveniently.By regularly analyzing these indicators and collecting relevant data, we can assess our progress, make data-driven decisions, and continuously improve our platform to maximize our impact in improving healthcare access and affordability.

COMESO's core technology also includes USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) and SMS (Short Message Service) capabilities to enable inclusive payment options without requiring internet access. This feature is particularly advantageous for expanding into urban areas where access to healthcare is crucial but internet connectivity may be limited or unreliable.USSD Integration: COMESO's USSD integration allows users to access the platform and make payments using simple menu-based interactions on their mobile devices. This technology is accessible on basic feature phones without the need for smartphones or internet connectivity. It caters to a wide demographic, including individuals in rural or low-resource areas where internet penetration may be limited.SMS Notifications and Transactions: COMESO leverages SMS functionalities to send notifications, updates, and transaction confirmations to users' mobile phones. This ensures timely communication and transparency regarding payment activities, enhancing user trust and engagement. Users can also initiate payment transactions through SMS commands, further simplifying the payment process.By incorporating USSD and SMS capabilities, COMESO enhances financial inclusion by providing accessible payment solutions to individuals across diverse socioeconomic backgrounds and geographical locations. This inclusive approach aligns with our goal to expand into urban areas where access to healthcare is crucial, ensuring that more people can benefit from convenient and secure healthcare payment services.

Our solution team consists of six individuals, including three co-founders and three developers. All software development is handled internally by the COMESO team.Specifically:Full-time staff: 3 (including co-founders and lead developer)Part-time staff: 2 (Vela and Sinit)Contractors or other workers: 1 (Emmanuel)Additionally, our development team, which is led by me, includes Dalington, Kweku, and Emmanuel, who contribute to the technical aspects of our solution.

We also have 2 marketing Interns and 2 Data Research Volunteers.

Vela and Sinit have worked on COMESO part-time for 2 years. I joined in May 2021 during university, dedicating time during breaks and weekends. We've built a network of virtual connections with healthcare institutions. I spent five months in Ghana, forging connections with institutions and financial departments, a key part of our strategy. We met the Head of Remittance at Ecobank, showcasing remittance potential. In January 2024, Sinit joined me during her vacation, enabling a successful event with 150 guests over two days. Together, we've built a team and crafted an agenda, establishing COMESO in the healthcare sector.

At COMESO, we are committed to fostering diversity, minimizing barriers to opportunity, and creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for all team members. We actively engage interns and students, providing them with valuable experiences and support to develop their skills and knowledge. We believe that diversity in expertise and backgrounds, whether from Africa, Europe, or America, is essential for driving innovation forward. Through this collaborative exchange, we advance our platform and solutions to benefit everyone. Our inclusive culture is enhanced by our remote communication, allowing us to strengthen our sense of cohesion and camaraderie despite geographical distances. We value inclusivity as a core principle, ensuring that every team member can contribute and thrive in our dynamic work environment.

Our MVP was launched in November 2022 to validate the idea and gauge user acceptance among healthcare facilities and potential beneficiaries. The response was positive, with healthcare facilities onboarding without our guidance. Within nine days, we identified user acceptance gaps with three pharmacies and completed a transaction volume of converted $600, funded through donations within our community on GoFundMe to facilitate health-related donations for people who were unable to afford healthcare medication through our vouchers. In total, we received around $3000 in donations organically for the support of purpose-driven healthcare donations.

Subsequently, we secured partnerships with two banks after consultations with legal experts from FinTech and discussions with the Bank of Ghana and BAFIN. We are currently undergoing due diligence with Ecobank and the United Bank of Africa, preparing for the pre-live phase of our go-to-market strategy, which involves brand building and hosting more events to promote the purpose of our platform.
We have also updated our e-commerce platform and will go live this month with a Progressive Web App (PWA) version to connect healthcare facilities locally and offer them visibility while we await permission to complete financial services with our partner banks by the end of this year.