In Nigeria, where many families must pay for healthcare before receiving treatment, entrepreneur Kemi Olakunle is building a solution aimed at helping women prepare financially for pregnancy and childbirth.
Her startup, HealthVest, developed PreggiCare, a maternal health savings platform that allows women to gradually save for antenatal care, delivery, emergency procedures, and postnatal treatment before they need them.
The idea gained greater urgency in 2025 after two widely shared stories highlighted the devastating impact of unaffordable maternal healthcare. One involved a pregnant woman who reportedly died after a private hospital demanded an upfront payment of ₦500,000 before treatment could begin. In another case, a woman pregnant with twins was unable to raise ₦28,000 for emergency care in time, and both babies died before treatment was received.
While the specific circumstances of the cases were widely reported but not independently verified, they reignited concerns about Nigeria’s maternal health crisis. According to the United Nations Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter Agency Group, using 2023 estimates, Nigeria accounts for 29% of global maternal deaths, with one woman dying approximately every seven minutes from pregnancy related causes.
For Olakunle, the stories reinforced a question that had shaped her work for years: could helping women save for healthcare before childbirth prevent some of these tragedies?
Her interest in healthcare financing began during her postgraduate studies and was strengthened during her National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) year in Edo State, where she worked as a doctor’s assistant and regularly saw patients delay treatment because they could not afford medical bills.
“I told my parents that the money they want to give me for medicine, they should keep it. I want to find the answer to unaffordable healthcare in Nigeria,” Olakunle recalled.
She initially launched Health4Moni, a pilot programme backed by the Bayer Foundation that encouraged market traders in Ibadan to save small amounts for healthcare using a model inspired by Nigeria’s traditional ajo savings system. The programme enrolled more than 1,000 participants and uncovered high rates of undiagnosed hypertension and diabetes.
However, one encounter changed the company’s direction. A pregnant woman hoping to save for antenatal care was turned away because the programme did not cover maternal healthcare. That experience inspired Olakunle to create PreggiCare.
Launched in December 2025, the platform allows users to save as little as ₦200 at a time into a digital wallet that earns 10% annual interest. Users can also access discounts of up to 30% across more than 50 partner hospitals, laboratories, and pharmacies.
“We want women to save little by little towards their maternal healthcare before and during pregnancy,” Olakunle said.
Beyond maternal care, HealthVest now offers health savings wallets for people living with hypertension, diabetes, and sickle cell disease, alongside virtual doctor consultations and medication delivery services.
The startup has since been recognised by the African Union as an AU Youth Startup and secured grant funding at the African Startup Conference to support its goal of onboarding 10,000 pregnant women by the end of 2026.
“If I can solve health financing,” Olakunle said, “then I can unlock healthcare access for millions of Nigerians.”
For HealthVest, the mission is simple: help women prepare financially before childbirth so that when emergencies arise, access to care is determined by medical need not the ability to pay.
