In a continent where millions still navigate healthcare systems without reliable identity records, Cura ID is positioning itself as the infrastructure that will finally unify Africa’s fragmented health data.
Founded by Oliver Samuel, the startup is building a blockchain-powered digital health passport designed to give every African a secure, portable, and verifiable health identity, accessible anytime, anywhere.
In this edition of Techparley’s DRIVE100, where we spotlight Africa’s most promising startups, we turn our attention to Cura ID, a company building universal digital health passports and redefining how millions access secure, portable, and interoperable healthcare records.
“We solve the fragmented healthcare identity and records problem in Africa. Millions of Africans lack unified, portable health identities, leading to repetitive tests, poor diagnostics, and limited access to essential health services, especially in remote or low-connectivity regions,” Samuel told Techparley.
Why Africa Needs a Digital Health Passport
Across African countries, patients often move between clinics and hospitals with paper cards, missing files, or, in many cases, no medical history at all. This fragmentation leads to repetitive tests, misdiagnoses, poor continuity of care, and delayed emergency response.
For many living in remote or low-connectivity regions, the situation is even worse, their medical data simply does not exist in any digital form. Oliver Samuel describes the pain points succinctly:
- No interoperable health records across hospitals and borders
- Lack of secure, personal health identities
- Slow emergency response due to inaccessible medical information
- Limited access to affordable digital health verification
Cura ID, he says, was built to solve these very issues.
What You Should Know
Cura ID operates as a patient-centred health identity and record management platform. Instead of hospitals owning and siloing records, the user becomes the rightful custodian of their health data.
At its core is the Digital Health Passport, a universal Cura ID containing verified medical information that can be accessed securely with user consent.
Key Features Driving the Platform
1. Digital Health Passport: A single, unified identity that stores verified health data and travels with the user.
2. AI-Driven Insights: Predictive analytics offering early health alerts, recommended care actions, and hospital mapping.
3. Offline and USSD Access: A critical tool for rural populations where internet access is unreliable.
4. Interoperability Layer: Seamless integration with hospitals, insurers, NGOs, and government health systems.
5. Emergency Health Access: Instant retrieval of vital information during emergencies.
6. Robust Security Architecture: End-to-end encryption and blockchain-backed authentication ensure trust and data integrity.
How Cura ID Stands Out
The African healthtech space has seen rapid growth, with innovators like Helium Health, mPharma, and Remedial Health digitising hospitals, drug supply chains, and pharmaceutical logistics. However, these solutions remain largely institution-facing.
Cura ID says it differentiates itself by placing ownership firmly in the hands of the individual.
“Most existing systems prioritise hospitals or supply chains,” Samuel explains. “We prioritise the person — their identity, their movement across borders, and their right to carry their health data with them.”
This individual-centred interoperability, supported by blockchain security, AI insights, and USSD accessibility forms Cura ID’s unique value proposition.
Though still in its early stages, Cura ID is building momentum. The startup has achieved more than 200 early sign-ups across Nigeria, 200+ users on the waitlist, and Beta tested with a clinic for real patient onboarding.
Meet the Team
Oliver Samuel – Founder & Product Lead
A full-stack engineer with eight years of experience building healthtech systems. His background includes serving as CTO at Newwave Digital Solutions and Supernar Fitness LTD.
Dollars Ita – Co-Founder & Chief Strategy and Partnership Officer
Leads strategic development and institutional partnerships.
Ifeoma Nwafor – Digital Health Advisor
A pharmacy professional with experience in digital health interventions and public health.
Precious Nnamoko – Project Manager
Supports product execution, coordination, and pilot programme delivery.
Navigating Challenges in a Complex Health Landscape
Like any health-focused startup on the continent, Cura ID says it has faced tough obstacles. Despite these challenges, the team has continued to make steady progress.
Samuel believes the government can accelerate growth by:
- Simplifying regulatory frameworks
- Providing open-access digital infrastructure
- Supporting innovation partnerships with startups
“If I were the minister,” he says, “I would prioritise Digital Identity and Health Interoperability Acts that make it easier for solutions like ours to scale responsibly and securely.”
Building the Future of Health Identity in Africa
Cura ID has ambitious goals, and Samuel lays them out clearly. The startup wants to launch its MVP, onboard 5,000 verified users, and partner with 10 hospitals and two insurers.
It also wants to scale into five African countries, grow to 500,000 active users, expand AI-driven preventive care systems, and become the continent’s leading health identity infrastructure.
Experts say Cura ID is more than a startup, it is a foundational infrastructure project aiming to give millions of Africans a digital health identity that transcends borders, hospitals, and silos.
With a strong technical backbone, a mission-driven team, and a product built for inclusivity, the company is taking on one of the continent’s most entrenched challenges. If successful, industry leaders say Cura ID could become the backbone of Africa’s digital health transformation.
Talking Points
It is remarkable that Cura ID is tackling one of Africa’s most persistent healthcare challenges, which is the fragmentation of medical records, by creating a digital health passport that gives individuals ownership of their data for the first time.
This single innovation positions Cura ID as a transformative solution in a sector where patients routinely face repeated tests, inconsistent diagnoses, and slow emergency response due to inaccessible or missing records.
At Techparley, we recognise how a unified, portable health identity can accelerate digital health adoption across the continent, especially in regions where healthcare infrastructure is weak or under-resourced.
The inclusion of AI-driven insights, an interoperability layer, and emergency health access ensures that Cura ID is not only digitising data but actively improving care delivery, continuity, and decision-making for both patients and providers.
What stands out further is the offline and USSD functionality, a critical feature that ensures rural and low-connectivity communities are not left behind. By designing for inclusivity from day one, Cura ID strengthens its potential to scale across diverse environments.
——————-
Bookmark Techparley.com for the most insightful technology news from the African continent.
Follow us on Twitter @Techparleynews, on Facebook at Techparley Africa, on LinkedIn at Techparley Africa, or on Instagram at Techparleynews.
