Dakar-based digital health startup Eyone Medical has secured an additional 1 billion CFA francs ($1.7m) from Oyass Capital, the investment vehicle backed by Senegal’s sovereign wealth fund (FONSIS).

The funding marks a significant milestone in the deployment of Senegal’s Shared Single Patient Record (DPUP) — a state-led initiative to digitize and centralize medical data across the country. This latest capital injection follows an earlier tranche, bringing Oyass Capital’s total commitment to Eyone to approximately 1.7 billion CFA francs (~$3m).

Solving the “Paper Trail” Problem

Founded in 2015 by Henri Ousmane Gueye and John Diatta, Eyone Medical develops interoperable software that allows clinics and hospitals to share patient data securely in real-time.

In Senegal, as in much of Francophone Africa, healthcare is often hampered by fragmented record-keeping. Patients frequently carry physical folders from one facility to another, leading to:

• Redundant testing: Patients paying for the same blood tests or X-rays at different clinics.
• Information gaps: Doctors treating patients without access to their full medical history.
• Delayed care: Administrative bottlenecks in manual data entry.

Eyone’s platform addresses these inefficiencies by creating a single digital profile accessible to authorized providers. The company already serves over 60 clients, including the Senegalese telecoms giant Sonatel, which participated in a previous $1m funding round via its Venture Innovation Fund.

Launched in early 2024, Oyass Capital is a 52 billion CFA franc ($89m) fund designed to support high-potential SMEs that often fall into the “funding gap” — too large for microfinance but too small or “risky” for traditional commercial banks.

The fund is part of a broader shift in West Africa where governments are moving beyond regulation to become risk-sharing investors. Similar moves have been seen in Côte d’Ivoire, where the state-owned CDC-CI Capital recently backed the neobank Djamo.

Regional Expansion and AI Integration

With the new capital, Eyone plans to move beyond its core record-keeping functions. CEO Henri Ousmane Gueye noted that the funds will be used to:

1. Scale Technical Infrastructure: Bolstering the platform to handle increased national traffic as the DPUP scales.
2. Integrate AI Tools: Developing predictive diagnostics and automated administrative tools.
3. Expand Geographically: While Dakar remains its hub, Eyone is already operational in Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Cameroon, and Gabon.

The investment aligns with the priorities of Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko’s administration, which has prioritized the digitalization of the healthcare system to lower costs and improve rural access.

By backing “national champions” like Eyone, the Senegalese government aims to create a more resilient, vertically integrated economy. For the tech ecosystem in Francophone Africa, this suggests that the next wave of growth may be increasingly driven by sovereign priorities and institutional partnerships rather than purely private venture capital.