Healthbotics Limited: digitalizing the health sector in Africa with blockchain technology

Imodoye Abioro, CEO of Healthbotics Limited, defines himself as a serial innovator and entrepreneur. He is also a self-taught IBM Cloud software developer. The 27-year-old Nigerian medical doctor is developing game-changing solutions to advance healthcare infrastructure in Africa. These include Lend An Arm, Nigeria’s first smart blood bank solution, and Mediverse, Africa’s first AI-powered cloud-based Electronic Medical Records system built on the blockchain.

Imodoye Abioro studied medicine at the University of Ibadan and decided to start his entrepreneurial career in med-tech after graduating in medical surgery, with ambitions to help build a sustainable healthcare infrastructure in Africa using artificial intelligence (AI) and data.

In an interview with Pan African Visions, Imodoye explains that his innovation journey began when his best friend bled to death in the Emergency Room in which he was working as Doctor-on-Call. “That loss almost broke me and so I was motivated to do something about some of these perennial problems facing our hospitals and care delivery system,” he explains.

This tragic event fueled Imodoye’s determination to save people’s lives through innovation and prompted him to create Healthbotics Limited, a health tech startup committed to solving Africa’s healthcare access challenges through AI-driven solutions.

The company has two flagship products. The first, Lend An Arm, is designed to ensure patients are able to access the blood supplies they need. Imodoye hatched the idea of Lend An Arm at University. It started out as a youth-led initiative to encourage students to donate blood. The project has since evolved into a mobile App that uses geolocation algorithms to connect hospitals and patients who need a blood transfusion with blood banks. “With an app & AI bot, we help hospitals with patients in need of a blood transfusion get blood from blood banks,” Imodoye explains.

The initiative was a nominee at the 2020 Digital Entrepreneurship Competition, and was one of the winning innovations at the 2021 World Summit Awards of the UN WSIS.

Imodoye’s second flagship innovation is Mediverse, Africa's first voice-controlled Electronic Health Records software backed by blockchain technology.

Mediverse allows healthcare workers, including those in remote areas with or without Internet access, to input and retrieve patient records with their voice on any device. “One of the things we wanted to do was to allow doctors to dictate the notes on their PC, laptop, tablet, or phone. We built an AI assistant called Luku that made it possible,” Imodoye explains, noting that with Mediverse “patient data can be captured and updated offline, even via SMS.”

Imodoye has won a number of awards for his work. These include first prize at the 2020 African App Launchpad Cup Competition. His medical startup was also recognized at The 2020 Digital Entrepreneurship Competition. In 2021, he won third prize at the African Young Innovator for Health Award, from the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFMPA).

Video: Watch how Lend An Arm is revolutionizing the delivery of blood and blood products in Nigeria.

With plans to expand his work beyond Nigeria into Benin, Ghana and South Africa in 2022, Imodoye continues to translate his ambition to improve the quality of care in Africa with data into reality. “I am constantly thinking about the future and what we could be doing differently to save people’s lives”, he says.

Imodoye Abioro is featured in the World Intellectual Property Day Youth Gallery.