While working as a scientist, Robert realized that many scientists struggle to commercialize their ideas – leaving valuable research confined within university walls. In 2015, he co-founded Villgro Africa to change that.
His mission: help innovators build viable and scalable health and life science solutions that improve quality of life for people across Africa.
Impact So Far
When asked how he defines success, Robert shared:
- For Biolinx Africa and Villgro Africa, success means achieving sustainable social impact by leveraging market forces. The goal is to align profit incentives with public good —encouraging entrepreneurs and investors to develop and scale products that improve health outcomes commercially. This requires addressing systemic gaps: Africa accounts for 24% of the global disease burden but generates less than 1% of global pharma revenues. Understanding this disconnect is crucial for startups to achieve product-market fit and scale effectively.
- For social enterprises, success means accelerating progress. With the right mix of capital, networks, technical support, and mentorship, we aim to shorten the typical Series A fundraising timeline from 4–5 years to 2–3 years.
Over the past decade, Villgro has helped build a thriving health innovation ecosystem across 30+ countries. Together with partners, the impact includes:
- $4M+ in seed funding and $44M+ in follow-on funding
- 150+ startups supported
- 20M+ lives positively impacted
Explore more in Health Innovation in Action.
3 Key Factors to Success
What set successful entrepreneurs apart? Robert identified three traits:
- Vision
They’re driven by a mission greater than themselves — focused on solving real problems, not just making money. They can clearly communicate that vision to attract talent, capital, and early adopters. - Self-Awareness
They understand their strengths and weaknesses and build teams with complementary skills to cover gaps and execute effectively. - Perseverance
Success isn’t instant. Resilient founders embrace failure, learn from it, and persist. As Robert says: “Plan A never works — if you’re lucky, it’s Plan E, F, or G that gets you close.”
Recommendations for Social Entrepreneurs
Looking to better understand the startup journey? Robert recommends Zero to One (book) and The Startup Kids (documentary).
‘Startup life has highs and lows. Don’t get too worked up by either – keep an even head (stoicism) and keep going.’
What’s Challenging – and What’s Next?
‘Get funding is still a major challenge’, Robert said.
There’s a persistent culture gap: expat founders often raise more funding than local ones. Traditional venture capital prioritizes quick returns, but Africa needs patient, impact-driven capital — investors willing to take a 15–20 year view to build both startups and ecosystems.
In response, Robert is launching Biolinx Africa — a venture studio and ecosystem platform focused on Genomics and BioPharma innovation. Its mission is to tap into East Africa’s rich genetic diversity and underutilized biomedical research in academia to develop transformative health technologies.
How You Can Help
If Robert’s journey inspires you, here are three ways to get involved:
- Invest in African health innovation
Know a fund or manage one aligned with this mission? Robert would love to connect. - Share your journey
Have experience building or scaling a Genomics or BioPharma venture? Your insights could make a difference — reach out to Robert. - Launch your venture
Are you an entrepreneurial scientist with genomics or AI/ML expertise interested in diagnostics, drug, or vaccine R&D in Africa? Contact Robert.
Building a health startup? consider applying to Villgro’s incubation program.
References – Why Biolinx Africa?
AI and ML are reshaping healthcare, with next-generation drugs and vaccines increasingly based on precision medicine—tailoring treatments to an individual’s DNA to optimize drug metabolism, efficacy, and safety.
Yet today, less than 3% of the genetic data available to the pharmaceutical industry represents people of African descent. Only 4% of global clinical trials are conducted in Africa. This creates an urgent health security risk, as technologies developed elsewhere may be less effective for Africa’s 1.3 billion people.
Biolinx Africa was created to close this gap—building Africa’s capacity for genomics research and innovation to develop and commercialize health technologies that serve its own populations.
Progress
Biolinx Africa is spinning off from Villgro Africa, building on the momentum of its pilot, The East Africa Biosciences Studio. The pilot launched a cancer genomics challenge that attracted 25 applications from five countries. Two innovations emerging from the program are now advancing under Biolinx Africa:
- Regulatory sandbox
Partnering with regulators, academia, and the private sector to create an enabling environment for AI/ML in biomedical research and innovation. - Novel diagnostic for prostate cancer
Building on a successful MVP developed during the studio program to launch Biolinx Africa’s first biotech startup and commercialize the diagnostic.
Measuring Success
At Biolinx Africa, success is measured at every stage of venture building—from ideation to scale.
We focus on attracting top talent and ideas through scientific challenges aimed at solving critical health problems. Domain expertise and innovativeness are prioritized over entrepreneurial experience, with Biolinx providing the support needed to bring solutions to market.
A well-designed challenge targets a commercially viable problem, making it easier to build a business case and attract investment—reversing the common scenario of startups with a solution in search of a problem.