After working in technology across Africa for a number of years, Joanna Bichsel began to notice a trend. Women, especially those in rural areas, were being left behind. One key element of this was a lack of access to health products such as contraceptives and menstrual care combined with a social stigma about these resources. “Everyone says we should optimize for women, yet women still have a really hard time getting the basic health products they need,” Joanna says. “In East Africa there’s a very high mobile phone penetration across urban and rural areas and mobile money is more advanced than in other areas of the world. This enables a solution where women can confidentially order products in privacy.”

Joanna founded Kasha in 2016. The platform allows women to use their mobile devices to order the products they need and have them delivered directly, cutting out intermediaries and potentially uncomfortable in-person experiences. It now has more than 65,000 customers, and the company has expanded into Kenya while continuing to grow in Rwanda. Kasha aims to be the largest platform in the world for women’s health and self-care products and is specifically built for emerging markets.

After receiving initial angel funding from small-scale investors, Kasha has received additional investment from a number of impact-focused VCs, including Sorenson Impact Foundation, East Africa Investments, The Case for Her, VestedWorld and Optimizer Foundation. The company is currently closing a multimillion dollar Series A round led by FinnFund. 

Main Photo by: Joel Gisagara