Intro
Maritest is building automated diagnostic infrastructure to make high-quality medical testing accessible, fast, and scalable across underserved healthcare systems in Africa.
The Problem
Across many African countries, access to diagnostics remains one of the most critical bottlenecks in healthcare delivery. Testing is typically concentrated in a limited number of centralized laboratories, often located in major cities. For patients in rural or peri-urban areas, this means long travel distances, delayed sample processing, and waiting times that can stretch from days to weeks.
These delays are not just operational inefficiencies—they directly impact clinical outcomes. Late or missed diagnoses contribute to disease progression, higher treatment costs, and avoidable mortality. At the same time, laboratories are often overburdened and reliant on manual workflows, which further limit throughput and introduce risks of inconsistency and error. The result is a system that struggles to scale in the face of growing demand.
The Solution
Maritest addresses this structural gap by decentralizing diagnostics through automated, point-of-care systems that can be deployed closer to patients. Its platform combines integrated hardware and software to streamline the entire diagnostic workflow, reducing reliance on centralized labs and manual processes.
By enabling rapid, on-site testing, Maritest significantly shortens turnaround times and allows healthcare providers to make timely, informed decisions. Automation also improves consistency and scalability, making it possible to expand diagnostic capacity without proportionally increasing human resource constraints.
In doing so, Maritest is not just improving efficiency—it is redefining how diagnostic infrastructure is distributed, making reliable testing available where it is most needed.
The Team
Maritest is led by Hakeem Kakooza (Founder & CEO) and supported by a multidisciplinary team that brings together clinical expertise, product development, and operational execution, including Dr. Hamza Dhabuliwo (Chief Medical Officer) and leaders across engineering, design, business development, and growth.