Gates Foundation Invests €5 Million in Basel’s Axmed for Affordable Medicines Distribution

Axmed Receives €5 Million Grant from Gates Foundation to Expand Access to Affordable Medicines

A Swiss HealthTech company, Axmed, has recently been awarded a €5 million ($6 million) non-dilutive grant from the Gates Foundation. The funding aims to enhance access to high-quality and affordable medicines in low- and middle-income countries through Axmed’s B2B procurement and integrated logistics platform.

This grant comes as an addition to the Foundation’s previous €4.2 million ($5 million) support. With additional backing from Founderful Ventures, Axmed has now raised a total of €11 million ($13 million) in capital.

Emmanuel Akpakwu, the Founder and CEO of Axmed, expressed his gratitude for the funding, stating, “This funding allows us to scale what already works while we bring in aligned long-term capital. With the continued support of the Gates Foundation, our focus is disciplined execution at scale: strengthening procurement systems, improving affordability, and ensuring high-quality medicines reliably reach the people who depend on them.”

HealthTech Landscape in 2025–2026

The broader HealthTech landscape in 2025–2026 showcases several rounds of capital flow into healthcare delivery and digital infrastructure. For example, Germany’s Qrago and UK-based Wanda Health have secured funding to digitize healthcare logistics and scale intelligent virtual care platforms, respectively.

Notably, UK women’s health platform SheMed closed a significant €43 million round to expand personalized preventative healthcare services.

These funding rounds amount to approximately €47.8 million in disclosed funding across digital health and healthcare operations segments, reflecting investor interest in improving healthcare system efficiency.

Axmed’s Impact and Growth

Denise Tuiime Mutambi, Director of Planning and Procurement at Joint Medical Stores, commended Axmed for its innovative approach in improving access to essential medicines in emerging markets. She highlighted Axmed’s ability to navigate global healthcare supply chain complexity and translate strategy into measurable impact.

Established in 2023, Axmed is a technology-enabled B2B marketplace and logistics platform connecting buyers, manufacturers, and distributors to streamline procurement and delivery of essential medicines in low- and middle-income countries. The company’s regional headquarters are located in Nairobi, Kenya.

The new funding will accelerate Axmed’s expansion across Africa and support procurement programs in various therapeutic areas, including family planning and malaria products.

Axmed’s Achievements

Since its inception, Axmed has developed a geo-agnostic pooled procurement and logistics platform tailored for fragmented healthcare markets. In 2025, the platform delivered over 1,800 metric tonnes of healthcare products and reached more than 4.2 million patients, showcasing significant growth from previous years.

The platform generates 30 to 35% cost savings for customers through demand aggregation, price transparency, and coordinated international logistics.

Axmed aims to operate in over 20 countries by the end of 2026, with a target of reaching 50 million patients within three years and over 100 million within five years. This ambitious goal positions Axmed as a crucial infrastructure layer for medicines procurement in underserved markets.