“I sell drugs in Africa,” Gregory Rockson, co-founder and chief executive officer of mPharma, said to a room of Silicon Valley investors.
The Ghana-based founder of the e-prescription startup, who wore a dark sweater with a gold print of Africa growing from roots, grabbed the attention of the venture capitalists before pitching his opportunity. The value of pharmaceutical spending in Africa will reach $45 billion by 2020, he said.
mPharma was one of several for-profit companies featured at the recent Emerging Markets Venture Forum, hosted by the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group in Napa, California, on June 14-15.