Cameroonian healthtech startup Waspito won the $250,000 Grand LEAP Award at the LEAP 2026 technology conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Founded in 2020 by Cameroonian entrepreneur Jean Lobe Lobe, Waspito took the top prize in the Rocket Fuel Pitch Competition on September 2. The competition awarded $1 million in equity-free prizes across seven categories, with the Grand LEAP Award carrying the largest individual prize at $250,000.
Waspito said the win made it the first African startup to secure the competition’s Grand LEAP Award since the contest was launched five editions ago. According to Lobe, 100 startups competed in Rocket Fuel, with 10 reaching the final.
The award comes as Waspito expands a business model connecting patients, healthcare providers and organizations that finance healthcare services. Lobe said the platform currently connects about 1.1 million patients with 2,100 doctors and more than 500 healthcare providers across Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire.
Beyond online medical consultations, Waspito operates Health Wallet, which allows employers and insurers to finance and track healthcare spending. It has also developed the African Health Intelligence Model, AHIM, an artificial intelligence-based health service accessible through WhatsApp.
In a September 2026 interview with Invest Time, Lobe said Waspito’s business model extends beyond telemedicine consultations to building infrastructure that connects patients, payers and healthcare providers.
He said Health Wallet allows employers and insurers to fund healthcare and track spending, while providing the digital infrastructure linking patients, payers and providers.
From Startup Funding to Continental Expansion
The latest cash prize adds to financing Waspito has secured during its expansion. In 2022, the company raised $2.7 million in seed funding to expand its operations, including into Côte d’Ivoire. A further $2.5 million seed extension followed in 2023, backed by investors including Newtown Partners, Saviu Ventures, AAIC Investment, Axian Ventures and CFAO’s Health54.
In 2025, Waspito reached the top 10 of Africa’s Business Heroes, a competition that received 31,763 applications that year. The company received a $100,000 cash prize. Waspito’s expansion strategy centers on building a broader digital healthcare platform across Africa. In the September 2026 interview with Invest Time, Lobe said the company aims to become the “operating system” for healthcare in Africa. He also identified clearer telehealth regulations and stronger public confidence in digital healthcare as important factors for further expansion.
The company was created after Lobe’s father died while being transported to another town for specialist cardiac care, an experience Lobe said highlighted the difficulty of accessing specialist medical services.
Waspito also received €150,000 from Orange Ventures Africa in 2020 after winning the MEA Seed Challenge as it began developing its telemedicine operations. The company was also included in Bloomberg’s 25 African Startups to Watch in 2026.
Mercy Fosoh
