Lifebank is a blood sourcing and delivery service set up to tackle the problem of blood shortage in Nigeria. The platform was founded by Temie Giwa-Tubosun, a Nigerian-American health manager and a 2017 Quartz Africa Innovators honoree. She set up Lifebank to facilitate the delivery of blood across different hospitals in Nigeria amidst the problems that plague the healthcare system.
The One-Percent Project and the Inception of Lifebank
Prior to launching Lifebank in 2016, Temie worked at various health organisations in the country. She was committed to finding solutions to the problems facing the healthcare system in Nigeria. After experiencing a difficult pregnancy and discovering that the biggest cause of maternal mortality in Africa is due to a condition called Postpartum hemorrhage, she got the inspiration to found a platform that would help reduce the incidence of blood shortage in Nigerian hospitals.
To implement this idea, she launched the One Percent Project, a non-governmental organisation, which served to improve the efficiency of blood distribution across blood banks in Nigeria and educate Nigerians on the importance of blood donation.
The platform transformed into Lifebank in 2016, a technology-driven startup that aims to improve blood supply to hospitals. Lifebank is based in Lagos and is currently incubated at the Co-creation Hub in Yaba.
Achievements and Accolades
Since its inception, Lifebank has earned recognition all over Nigeria and abroad. When Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg visited Nigeria in 2015, he commended Temie’s efforts to improve healthcare in Nigeria
“This is a thing that needs to exist…. if she can actually pull it off then she’ll show a model that will impact not just Lagos, and not just Nigeria but countries around the world.
“…If everyone had the opportunity to build something like this, then the world would be a better place… I’ve been to a lot of different cities… people around the world are trying to build stuff like that. If she actually pulls it off, then she’d show a model that will impact not just Lagos, not just Nigeria, but countries all around the world,” he said.
In addition to her accolades, Temie appeared on Ynaija’s list as one of the 100 Most Inspiring Women in Nigeria for 2017. Two years after, her startup Lifebank closed a $200,000 seed round from investors such as EchoVC Partners and Fola Laoye.
Lifebank has gone on to launch a subsidiary service know as Airbank, an emergency oxygen delivery service.
Featured Image Source: Innovation Village
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