Axmed, awarded a $5 million grant by the Gates Foundation

The Gates Foundation has awarded a $5 million grant to Axmed, a Swiss health-tech startup modernizing how essential medicines are procured across emerging markets. The funding will operate as a matching mechanism, doubling government spending on maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) products purchased through the Axmed Medicines Platform.

Axmed’s technology-driven marketplace connects institutional buyers directly with vetted suppliers, streamlining sourcing, financing, and delivery of critical treatments in underserved regions. Despite the availability of proven interventions, around 287,000 women die annually from pregnancy-related causes and 2.3 million newborns die within their first month, often due to inefficient procurement systems, limited budgets, and fragmented supply chains.

By aggregating demand across countries, the platform enables large-scale purchasing that cuts costs and improves availability. In 2024, public-sector buyers using Axmed reported average savings of 20–30%, with some MNCH products reduced by as much as 80%. The company also coordinates global logistics, from manufacturer to last-mile delivery, with full tracking and traceability, supporting national procurement strategies across multiple low- and middle-income countries.

The grant is expected to unlock up to $10 million in MNCH purchasing across selected Sub-Saharan African countries, helping governments strengthen procurement systems, access quality-assured medicines, and benefit from pooled purchasing power.

"Through our partnership with Axmed, the Government of Rwanda has shown that meaningful improvements in the efficient and sustainable delivery of high-quality medicines across multiple therapeutic areas can be achieved. Now, through this matching fund, our partnership will expand this impact even further, reaching the most vulnerable with urgency and precision. This matching fund is a strategic step forward in reimagining procurement in a new era of global health: smarter, faster, and designed to deliver measurable results across the entire health system in collaboration with partners who are both innovative and purpose-driven" said Dr. Loko Abraham, Chief Executive Officer for Rwanda Medical Supply.

“Reducing the number of preventable deaths of mothers and babies is key to our work in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Cynthia Mwase, Director of Health, Africa, Gates Foundation. “This partnership with Axmed and local health leaders is an important step forward in ensuring that life-saving innovations reach the communities where they can make the greatest difference – so that more families can experience healthy pregnancies, safe births, and strong starts to life.”

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