Grace Ashiru
Cameroonian healthtech company Waspito has won the $250,000 Grand LEAP Award at the Rocket Fuel Pitch Competition during LEAP 2026 in Riyadh, securing the largest prize awarded through this year’s startup contest.
Founded in 2020 by Jean Lobe Lobe, Waspito emerged as the overall winner from a competition that distributed $1 million in equity-free prizes across several categories.
The $250,000 award is non-dilutive, meaning Waspito does not have to issue shares in exchange for the prize money.
The company says its victory makes it the first African startup to win Rocket Fuel’s overall Grand LEAP prize since the competition was established.
Waspito operates a digital healthcare platform that connects patients with doctors, laboratories and other healthcare providers.
Its services initially centred on telemedicine and access to remote medical consultations, but the company has been expanding into a broader healthcare infrastructure platform.
Waspito says its network now reaches around 1.1 million patients, 2,100 doctors and more than 500 healthcare providers across Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire.
Among its newer products is Health Wallet, which allows employers and insurers to finance and monitor healthcare expenditure.
The startup has also developed an artificial-intelligence-powered service known as the African Health Intelligence Model, or AHIM, which can be accessed through WhatsApp.
The company has previously raised venture financing as part of its efforts to expand beyond Cameroon.
However, the LEAP prize differs from conventional startup investment because Waspito receives the funding without surrendering ownership.
That gives the company additional capital that could be used for product development, expansion or customer acquisition while preserving the ownership stakes of existing shareholders.
The victory also provides Waspito with international visibility at a time when African healthtech companies are increasingly seeking markets beyond their home countries.
Its longer-term ambition is to build digital infrastructure connecting patients, healthcare providers and organisations responsible for paying for care across multiple African markets.
Achieving that goal will require Waspito to navigate regulatory requirements, healthcare-provider partnerships and the different payment systems operating across each country it enters.
