Temie Giwa-Tubosun became a mother about six years ago. Although the birth was difficult, she had immediate access to a lifesaving operation. Her experience contrasted starkly with that of a young mother she had met a few years earlier in Kano, Nigeria, who nearly died after three days in labor. The disparity between their experiences led Temie to think seriously about maternal healthcare. “I found out that about 34 percent of all maternal deaths in Africa are from postpartum hemorrhage. Basically, a mother gives birth and then she starts bleeding, and within a couple of hours she’s dead. Although I didn’t have postpartum hemorrhage myself, I felt it was such a huge cause of maternal death that if we could solve this we would save a lot of mothers.”

Temie started LifeBank in 2016 to bring vital medical supplies, including blood, to people who need them, when they need them. In addition to blood products, LifeBank delivers products like emergency medical oxygen cannisters, platelets, plasma, and vaccines. “LifeBank is a medical distribution company,” she says. “We help hospitals find critical supplies and deliver them in the right condition and on time, round the clock, in three cities in Nigeria.” The company can get blood to any hospital in its service area within 55 minutes, day or night, so doctors can focus on treating patients rather than on the logistics of locating blood.

LifeBank concentrates on what Temie calls “the four Ds,” data, discovery, delivery, and donors. “First, we gather inventory information,” she says. “There are 60 blood suppliers in Lagos. Every day we ask what products they have available and they tell us their stock.  Second is discovery. Hospitals call in to our call center and tell us how many pints of blood they need. And then we deliver using motorcycles or boats. Last year we started using drones to deliver in Ethiopia.” For the final ‘D,’ LifeBank has created a platform that helps members of the public become blood donors. The company also has built a system that uses block chain technology to record and preserve the integrity of information about the blood supply.