Malaica: Fixing Pregnancy Care with 30% Lower Costs and 100% Better Outcomes

Maternal care in Sub-Saharan Africa is broken—fragmented, expensive, and deadly. Malaica is rewriting the playbook with a hybrid model that blends AI, community, and in-person care. The result? 30% cost savings for insurers, an NPS of +82 (vs. an industry average of -5), and outcomes that outperform Kenya’s average by every metric.

We asked Co-Founder Pascal Koenig (CFO & Chair) how they’re turning a moral crisis into a scalable business—and why investors should take note.

OOMNIUM: Pascal, when you left your last femtech startup, Ava, as CEO in 2019, the company generated 8-digit USD revenue. What is your strategy for achieving the same level of success with Malaica?
Pascal Koenig (P.S.): Kenyan insurance companies spend $130 million per year for pregnancies. We help them reduce the cost of pregnancy by 30%, at improved health outcomes. It took a few years to build the evidence - but now that we have it we see massive traction. I am convinced that we can get 10% of this market over the coming years, which will be getting us to 8 digit USD revenues.

OOMNIUM: Hospitals and insurers are stuck in a cycle of short-term revenue over long-term health. You’re breaking that. What’s the one thing they refuse to fix that you’ve solved?
P.S.: Kenyan insurers tell us that they see up to 80% C-Section rates! Over the last few years we have been able to prove that we can significantly reduce this, leading to better health outcomes, lower cost and happier mothers.

«I am convinced that African countries will follow the path South-East Asia, China and India went through over the last decades, and the numbers support this: 6 of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world are African.»

OOMNIUM: Insurers are lining up to partner with you. What’s the single biggest reason they’re switching—and how do you avoid becoming just another cost-cutting tool for them?
P.S.: While the financial aspect is crucial for insurers, the collaboration is only sustainable if the end customers - pregnant women - are happy.

We have invested a lot into making this happen by providing lots of services besides the physical checkups and the delivery of the baby. We run a large community, organize webinars, provide mental health support, organize events and so on. These efforts seem to pay off: Our Net Promoter Score (= measure of customer satisfaction) is +92, much higher than competitive offerings. Insurers are taking notice.

OOMNIUM: You’ve built Kenya’s largest pregnancy community. Community-driven growth is hard to scale. How do you keep it personal?
P.S.: True - scaling fast and keeping it personal is a challenge. This is where tech and specifically AI comes in handy: Basic work - onboarding, providing feedback to standard questions, quality control etc. can be done by the AI, with our team focusing on the personal aspects of the program. Of course, recruiting and training a great team remains crucial in this aspect.

OOMNIUM: Maternal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa is up to 100x higher than in Europe. You’re tackling a crisis, not just a market. How do you measure impact in a way that satisfies both investors and your mission?
P.S.: Maternal and neonatal mortality are focus areas in global development: The UN has included them prominently in its Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.

It is super motivating for our team to work on such a crucial topic. We are measuring dozens of health parameters and will be publishing our first annual impact report at the beginning of 2026.

OOMNIUM: While we talk a lot about the challenges of the African continent, the massive opportunities are often neglected. How do you see this?
P.S.: Most people underestimate what is currently happening on the African continent: There is massive urbanization, the emergence of a tech-savvy and well-educated middle class, and lots of entrepreneurial drive in places like Nairobi and Lagos.

I am convinced that African countries will follow the path South-East Asia, China and India went through over the last decades, and the numbers support this: 6 of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world are African.

OOMNIUM: You’re a female-led team in a space where funding still skews male. Has that been a tailwind, a headwind, or both? And how do you use it to your advantage with investors?
P.S.: Great question - probably both head- and tailwind. While most investors would probably say that they love to invest into startups with female CEOs, the statistics are still shockingly bad.

At the end of the day most investors will behave rationally: Whether male or female-led, they want to see attractive business cases with strong traction. This helps us. Plus, our setup - with my Co-Founder Lorraine as the CEO and myself driving strategy, fundraising and finance - seems to be working well so far.

OOMNIUM: Pediatrics and general gynecology are next. How do you decide when to expand?
P.S.: Many of our clients ask us whether they can come back if their baby is sick, or if they have gynecological concerns that are not pregnancy related.

So far we are laser focused on pregnancy. However, we have a huge opportunity to grow into pediatrics and gynaecology: We will start this in 2027, once our core business is break-even.

OOMNIUM: Talking about revenues: You are targeting to reach $10M by 2028. What is your strategy to get there?
P.S.: The current setup - maternity care in Nairobi based on partnerships with insurance - allows us to get to $10m revenues. The key drivers are de-risked - it is now all about hard work and operational excellence to get there.

OOMNIUM: What about getting to $100m revenue?
P.S.: Getting to $100m requires us to offer the service in additional Kenyan cities and expand from pregnancy into pediatrics and gynecology.

While Kenya’s $2.7bn market size in women’s health and pediatrics provides sufficient depth for a $100m business, we will be exploring internationalization options over time.

OOMNIUM: What will you do with the raised funds once this round is closed?
P.S.: The fundraising round will get our core business to break-even, which is a crucial step on our path to a profitable organization creating impact at scale.

OOMNIUM: Pascal, thank you for your time and for the excellent work your team and you are doing at Malaica! We are thrilled to see where the journey goes!