Redbird Health Tech aims to ease the burden on Ghana’s public healthcare system by utilizing the existing pharmacy network. The e-health service supplies selected pharmacies with rapid on-site tests for chronic and acute conditions including hypertension and diabetes. Patients can take five minutes to pop in for a test, instead of spending more time trying to access a hospital or doctor. The outcome is that patients have quicker results, there is reduced demand on doctors and pharmacies can potentially increase overall revenue. “I never lived in a place where I didn’t want a service like Redbird,” says cofounder and CEO Patrick Beattie. 

The company was founded in 2017 and is a combination of its three founders’ skills and experiences. Before Redbird, Patrick cofounded Diagnostics For All, a US nonprofit diagnostic company, and led the expansion of Pacific Diagnostics, a Tanzanian medical-supply company, into Ghana. He and CTO Edward Grandstaff met in 2004 while they were both serving in the Peace Corps. Edward is a computer engineer with expertise in development and digital strategy. COO Andrew Quao is a Ghanian-born pharmacist who met Patrick at a health hackathon in 2016. Redbird’s service is in over two hundred pharmacies and has over 27,000 registered patients.

In 2017, Redbird entered the University of Oxford Saïd Business School’s Skoll Venture Awards. The team landed the runner-up spot and won a £7,500 ($9,400) grant.