Entrepreneurship Zone: 13 February 2023 :: Building Kenya’s ‘Uber for ambulances’

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Entrepreneurship Zone: 13 February 2023 :: Building Kenya’s ‘Uber for
ambulances’

 

	
 


·          


In a medical emergency, finding the right care quickly can be the
difference between life and death. Flare is a Kenya-based technology company
that connects emergency service providers with people in need of immediate
assistance. Jeanette Clark talks to co-founder and managing director Caitlin
Dolkart about the steps taken to establish the business and the growth
opportunities in the region.


While working for the Clinton Foundation in Kenya, Caitlin Dolkart noticed
the lack of accessible healthcare for people in the country.

Dolkart and Maria Rabinovich, co-founders of Flare, zeroed in on emergency
care services and asked, “Why was it so difficult to find an ambulance when
you needed one?”

“We became obsessed with this question. When we checked whether it was a
lack of supply… we were shocked: Nairobi has more ambulances per capita than
London.” But most of the ambulances were owner-operated and -managed. It was
a very fragmented market.


Field research to build a business case


In the early days of Flare’s existence in 2017, Dolkart spent weeks riding
in the back of ambulances to understand where the issues were. “The demand
was there, and the supply was there, but something in the system wasn’t
working,” she says.

Flare didn’t need to change consumer behaviour; people in a car accident
wouldn’t choose whether to use an ambulance or not. They just needed to be
able to find one. “We had patients in need of care and excess demand, all
that was missing was the technology to link the two,” she says.

Flare developed a response system, which includes a hotline and mobile apps
for users as well as a backend platform for ambulance companies: almost an
Uber for ambulances. When a subscriber records an emergency, either through
the app or via the call centre, the nearest ambulance is dispatched.


Subscription based model


One of the most significant challenges was solving how subscribers would
cover the cost of the service.

“An Uber trip in Kenya would cost you around 300 Kenyan shillings or
US$2.40. Ambulances are a lot more expensive and we, very early on, decided
that we never wanted to ask anyone calling the service: ‘How are you going
to pay today?’ That question, that friction, just could not exist,” she
says.

The solution was a subscription model, which spreads the risk across
multiple users and makes the service more affordable. Users pay a
subscription fee to access Flare’s Rescue.co platform, with different levels
of coverage starting at approximately $32 per year for an individual and
around $103 per year for a family of four.


Organic growth


Initially, Flare signed up individual users to the service, gradually
building a client base. “If the service assisted in, for example, saving a
life, the client and his or her family would tell all their friends and
colleagues about it. The service markets itself,” says Dolkart.

As the user numbers increased, conversations with businesses became easier,
and now Flare is the largest provider of emergency services in Kenya, with
over two million subscribers. Larger corporates, NGOs, and even the
government have signed up and subsidise their employees.

She lists transport and mobility clients as a large potential market for
Flare, due to the prevalence of road accidents in the country. “Bolt, one of
the largest providers of e-hailing taxi services in Kenya, is a big
customer. Any passenger or driver can press an emergency button in the Bolt
app when needed,” says Dolkart.

When Flare started it could take up to three hours to get an ambulance to
an emergency site. Today, says Dolkart, it takes 15 minutes.

Doctors and hospitals have also started using Flare to enable more
efficient referrals and transfers between medical facilities, or to make
sure patients can be transported from home to hospital or vice versa.


Branching out


In addition to its ambulance service, Flare has added roadside assistance
and offers this as part of a bundled package. Dolkart explains, “We take
care of your vehicle in case of a road accident and also offer support if
you experience a breakdown on the road.”

“Many products can easily be added to what we already offer. Emergencies
and their related service needs don’t occur in isolation, and there is an
interconnected nature to different emergencies that we can cater to in the
future,” she says.

As for its geographical reach, Flare is currently only operating in Kenya
but hopes to expand in the region and into West Africa by the end of the
year.


Artificial intelligence and the future


As a technology company that connects supply and demand, Flare is aware of
the significance of the data it collects continuously.

“In every call, we have approximately 1,000 data points – the time of the
call, the type of emergency, the response time, the call duration, and so
on. We currently use machine learning to determine which hospital would be
better suited to handle a particular case,” says Dolkart.

While using AI to predict the next emergency is still far off, Dolkart
recognises the potential of technology to enhance emergency service
delivery.



Flare co-founders, Maria Rabinovich (left) and Caitlin Dolkart

 

-Howwemadeitinafrica

 


 


 


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