Healthcare startups are disrupting the status quo, making world-class healthcare more accessible than ever to the people.
Even the most promising startups need expert guidance to navigate regulatory landscapes, secure funding, and scale their solutions: That is where mentorship comes in. Through mentorship, professionals can help founders and their teams avoid costly mistakes and accelerate growth while innovating.
Here are 10 top mentors in HealthTech on the VC4A Mentorship Marketplace, ready to guide entrepreneurs in building sustainable, impactful healthcare businesses.
Aya Ziad (Cairo, Egypt)
- Expertise: Pharmaceutical management and public policy.
- Background: Pharmacist with 11 years of experience in multinational pharmaceutical companies, focusing on management and public policy analysis. She has participated in several mentoring programs within corporations and for young women in STEM fields.
- Contribution: Offers guidance in business development, strategic planning, and market growth.
- Connect to mentor: Aya Ziad.
- Marian Kutsoati (London, United Kingdom)
- Expertise: Business modelling, team, healthtech
- Background: Marian is a trained medical professional, health and fintech consultant with a background in International Business, Accounting and Finance.
- Contribution: Provides guidance on personal and company growth, business consulting.
- Connect to mentor: Marian Kutsoati
Maina Lawrence (Nairobi, Kenya)
- Expertise: Market readiness, investor preparation, startup strategy, and scaling HealthTech solutions
- Background: Maina is a research associate at Adanian Labs, with extensive experience supporting startups across HealthTech, FinTech, AgriTech, and Web3 sectors. He has worked with early-stage:
- Contribution: Expertise in early-stage growth strategies helping startups transition from prototype to scalable solutions.
- Connect to mentor: Maina Lawrence.
Loukmane Yahaya (Niamey, Niger)
- Expertise: Business strategy and health innovation.
- Background: Loukmane is a regional coordinator at LKM Innovation Lab and a business development expert with over five years of experience in Africa’s startup ecosystem. He has worked extensively in Niger and Senegal, helping entrepreneurs design scalable and sustainable business models.
- Contribution: Helps healthtech founders refine their business models, conduct market research, and commercialization.
- Connect to mentor:Loukmane Yahaya.
Mustafa Sharif (Zanzibar, Tanzania)
- Expertise: Fundraising, growth strategy, impact measurement, private sector partnerships, and healthcare investment.
- Background: Mustafa is a specialist in entrepreneurship, leadership, and social innovation, with a strong focus on organizational capacity building and impact-driven healthcare solutions.
- Contribution: Assists HealthTech founders looking to secure investment, develop strategic partnerships, and measure their impact.
- Connect to mentor:Mustafa Sharif.
Rana Mohsen (Alexandria, Egypt)
- Expertise: Digital Marketing and healthcare branding.
- Background: Rana is a pharmacy graduate with 12+ years of experience in digital marketing for healthcare businesses. She is the founder of Marklinica, a branding agency for pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, and medical enterprises.
- Contribution: Assists HealthTech startups with branding, marketing strategy, and competitive positioning, particularly in pharmaceuticals and healthcare services.
- Connect to mentor: Rana Mohsen.
Bright Kugbenlu-Akaba (Accra, Ghana)
- Expertise: Business development, financial management, access to finance, digital brand management, strategic management, and learning & development in HealthTech and related sectors.
- Background: Bright is a management consultant by training and an entrepreneur by passion, with over 16 years of experience in consulting and entrepreneurship.
- Contribution: Founders building MedTech solutions or medical devices can benefit from Bright’s expertise in product-market fit, regulatory compliance, and scaling in Africa’s healthcare sector.
- Connect to mentor: Bright Kugbenlu-Akaba.
Tariro Matanga (Harare, Zimbabwe)
- Expertise: Healthcare operations, entrepreneurship, strategic planning.
- Background: Tariro is a versatile professional with a foundation in pharmacy and a diverse career spanning healthcare, entrepreneurship, and finance. She has worked as a pharmacist in various healthcare settings, engaged in healthcare commissioning, and served on the board of a large hospital. Tariro has also founded a pharmaceutical import/export business and a fintech payment company in Zimbabwe.
- Contribution:Offers mentorship in business development, customer experience optimization, corporate governance, and financial analysis.
- Connect to mentor: Tariro Matanga.
Jon Popke (New York, USA)
- Expertise: Neuroscience, biotech investing, business modelling, fundraising, market assessment, strategic planning.
- Background: Jon is a neuroscientist and biotech investor with an MBA from the University of Michigan. He serves on the executive committee of a New York-based angel investing group and is a limited partner in Ajim Capital, an Africa-focused VC fund.
- Contribution: He mentors HealthTech and biotech startups on business planning, fundraising, and market expansion, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.
- Connect to mentor: Jon Popke.
Onesmo Petro (Mwanza, Tanzania)
- Expertise: Mental Health, business modelling, impact assessment, team development, growth strategy.
- Background: Onesmo is a psychologist and founder of Mental Health Tanzania (MHT), a nonprofit dedicated to expanding mental health services in Tanzania.
- Contribution: He mentors startups focused on mental health services and social impact ventures, helping them launch and scale mental health initiatives.
- Connect to mentor: Onesmo Petro.
Mentoring begins with a fulfilling connection that guides transformation for a committed cause to someone’s destination
— Marian Kutsoati, Founder – Teskof Health.
Find any mentor tailored to your professional and startup needs on VC4A’s Mentorship Marketplace. Connect with top mentors in fundraising today and gain access to their insights and networks.
Explore other tools on the VC4A platform, such as the Startup Academy, where you can sharpen your entrepreneurial or mentoring skills, or the Deal Room (returning soon), where you can showcase your business to investors. Combined, these resources form a powerful ecosystem designed to help you achieve your business growth ambitions and succeed.
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