For millions across Africa, long hospital queues, high consultation costs, and doctor shortages leave many without timely medical attention. But one Nigerian startup, Prescribly, is determined to change that narrative.
Founded by Bonaventure Joshua Augustine, Prescribly is a health-tech platform designed to simplify access to medical care through technology.
In this edition of Techparley’s DRIVE100, where we spotlight Africa’s most impactful startups, we turn our attention to Prescribly, and how the health-tech startup is transforming how Africans access quality medical care through AI-powered virtual consultations and digital health solutions.
“Unlike typical telemedicine apps, Prescribly combines AI-powered diagnostics, patient engagement, and doctor monetization tools in one integrated ecosystem that makes healthcare both accessible and profitable,” Augustine told Techparley.
What You Should Know
The platform connects patients with licensed doctors for instant virtual consultations, prescriptions, and medical record management, all within one mobile app.
According to the startup, Prescribly offers an integrated digital health ecosystem designed to serve both patients and doctors. Users can instantly consult doctors online, receive electronic prescriptions, and access their medical records securely through the cloud.
Among its standout features are:
- Instant Online Consultation: Connect with certified doctors from anywhere.
- AI-Powered Diagnosis: Advanced AI assists with symptom analysis and drug recommendations.
- Secure Chat & Video Calls: Real-time doctor–patient communication built into the platform.
- Doctor Dashboard: A management hub for appointments, earnings, and patient records.
- Integrated Payments: Seamless Paystack-powered transactions for consultations and prescriptions.
- Electronic Prescriptions: Instant e-prescriptions that can be filled at any registered pharmacy.
The platform’s design ensures convenience, privacy, and accessibility for both urban and rural users, helping reduce waiting times, lower healthcare costs, and improve patient outcomes.
Progress and Early Traction
In just months, the Prescribly team has achieved notable milestones. The team revealed they’ve built and launched a functional MVP (both web and mobile), developed doctor and patient dashboards, integrated payment and backend systems, and even designed an AI diagnosis engine leveraging the RxNorm API.
With over 50 doctors onboarded and 1,000+ early users signed up, Prescribly is gaining traction fast. Strategic discussions with hospitals and caregiving agencies across five Nigerian states are underway, alongside pre-launch partnerships aimed at expanding its reach.
The startup’s official launch campaign and nationwide hackathon are scheduled for January 2026, signalling a strong push toward market penetration and community engagement.
Standing Out in a Crowded Market
Prescribly’s strength lies in its multidisciplinary team of licensed doctors; full-stack developers managing infrastructure, AI integration, and security, and marketing teams responsible for hospital onboarding, brand strategy, and user growth.
While several telemedicine platforms operate in Africa, Prescribly’s innovation lies in its holistic approach. Unlike many of its competitors, including Doctoora, Tremendoc, and HealthConnect, Prescribly combines AI-driven diagnostics, patient engagement tools, and fair revenue sharing for doctors within a single ecosystem.
“Prescribly is the one-stop smart healthcare ecosystem — empowering both patients and doctors through technology, automation, and fair revenue sharing (80% to doctors, 20% to platform),” Augustine explained.
Industry experts say this approach positions Prescribly as one of Africa’s top smart healthcare startups, a solution built around accessibility, efficiency, and mutual benefit.
Overcoming Challenges
Building a digital healthcare startup in Africa comes with no shortage of challenges. Augustine cited payment integration and AI diagnostic complexity as early hurdles, solved through collaboration with expert developers and use of RxNorm’s API.
Other challenges included delays in government partnerships and funding limitations. The team tackled these by pivoting toward independent growth and bootstrapping, a strategy that has kept the project agile and mission-focused.
In the next 6 to 12 months, Prescribly aims to fully launch in Nigeria, onboard over 1,000 doctors, and reach 10,000 users. The team also plans to expand partnerships with hospitals across five states and host a nationwide health-tech hackathon.
Looking ahead to the next two to five years, Prescribly intends to scale operations to Ghana, Uganda, Cameroon, and Morocco. It wants to develop wearable health bands for remote patient monitoring, and build an in-house telehealth AI engine for smarter diagnostics.
Understanding the Market
Despite challenges such as limited funding, infrastructural gaps, and regulatory bottlenecks, Augustine remains confident in Africa’s innovation potential.
“Africa’s youth are the heartbeat of global innovation,” he concluded. “Prescribly is proof that world-class solutions can emerge from local problems — and we’re just getting started.”
In Africa, the digital-health market is gaining serious traction. The market was valued at $ 3.8 billion in 2023, and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 23.4 % through to 2030.
Analysts say these statistics underline the rapid expansion of digital health and tele-medicine in Africa, very much the terrain that Prescribly is entering.
According to industry leaders, with the right track, Prescribly is on the verge of becoming Africa’s largest digital healthcare ecosystem, connecting millions of patients to healthcare professionals instantly and making health access seamless across borders.
Talking Points
It is remarkable that Prescribly is tackling one of Africa’s most pressing challenges; access to quality healthcare, by using technology to connect patients with licensed doctors instantly, without the barriers of distance or cost.
The inclusion of AI-powered diagnosis and secure teleconsultations positions Prescribly as more than just a telemedicine app; it is building an intelligent healthcare ecosystem that bridges efficiency and trust between patients and doctors.
At Techparley, we see how platforms like this can redefine healthcare accessibility, particularly for communities where medical facilities are scarce and consultation costs remain out of reach for many.
By integrating consultations, prescriptions, and health records into one platform, Prescribly ensures that users experience the full spectrum of healthcare, from diagnosis to treatment, without stepping foot in a hospital.
With continued innovation, partnerships, and user education, Prescribly has the potential to become a cornerstone of Africa’s digital health revolution, transforming how millions experience healthcare across the continent.
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