Touch Foundation

What Touch Foundation does

Touch Health (formerly Touch Foundation) is a US-incorporated nonprofit organization founded in 2004 that designs and implements health systems strengthening programs across sub-Saharan Africa, with primary operations in Tanzania, Lesotho, Kenya, and Guinea-Bissau. The organization operates an integrated portfolio of eight programs organized across three pillars: Healthcare Workforce (POA health workforce planning allocating 33,000+ workers; SimuConsult telehealth), Patient Access (m-mama mobile emergency transportation with 60,000+ emergencies transported and 27% reduction in maternal mortality; watotoCare newborn retention showing 240% increase in healthcare retention), and Hospital Excellence (Health Technology Management including Tanzania's first Centre of Excellence in Biomedical Engineering at Bugando Medical Centre serving 350,000+ annual outpatients; ROOT operations transformation; MediFIKIA non-communicable disease supply chain program with Sanofi).

The business model is grant-funded rather than revenue-generating: Touch Health operates as an implementing partner co-designing programs directly with national and local governments, funded through institutional donors including Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, Vodafone Foundation, Sanofi Global Health Unit, and M-Pesa Foundation, with no service fees charged to beneficiary populations. Programs are deployed through government health systems, embedded operational mentors in hospitals, and partnerships with implementing organizations such as Pathfinder International. The organization maintains offices in New York (US headquarters) and Mwanza (Tanzania operational headquarters), with 11-50 employees, and rebranded from Touch Foundation to Touch Health in 2024 to reflect its integrated health systems positioning.

Name

Touch Foundation

Legal name

Touch Health, Inc

Website

https://touchfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Touch Health (formerly Touch Foundation) is a US-based nonprofit founded in 2004 that operates health systems strengthening programs across sub-Saharan Africa, co-designing workforce planning, emergency transport, and hospital improvement initiatives with national governments and institutional donors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Health Systems Strengthening

NAICS

Social Assistance (624), Individual and Family Services (6241)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Social Services (8300), Electromedical & Electrotherapeutic Apparatus (3845)

akta.pro primary industry

Health Access & Social Care Innovations (Community Health, Telehealth for Underserved) (BPAGALAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Pregnancy & Prenatal Care Telehealth (OB tele-visits, prenatal monitoring) (HLALAHAC), Healthcare On‑Demand Platforms (Telehealth, Home Care, Nursing) (BPAMAHAH)

Keywords

• Health systems strengthening
• Health workforce planning
• Emergency medical transport
• Telehealth consultations
• Hospital operations transformation

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Institutional Donor Funding: Touch Health operates as a nonprofit and is primarily funded through grants and donations from institutional donors including government development agencies and international organizations.
2. Corporate Foundation Partnerships: Funding and in-kind support from corporate foundations including Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Sanofi Global Health Unit to support specific program implementations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Touch Foundation (operating as Touch Health) is a nonprofit organization that designs, deploys, and scales technology-enabled health system strengthening programs in sub-Saharan Africa. Core offerings include the m-mama emergency transportation system for pregnant women, the watotoCare newborn retention program, the POA health workforce planning strategy, the SimuConsult telehealth platform, hospital operations transformation (ROOT), and health technology management (biomedical engineering) programs delivered in partnership with national governments.

Product overview

Touch Health operates as a healthcare systems strengthening organization with a unified platform approach focused on sub-Saharan Africa. The portfolio consists of eight interconnected programs organized across three strategic pillars: Healthcare Workforce (POA workforce planning, SimuConsult telehealth), Patient Access (m-mama emergency transportation, watotoCare newborn retention), and Hospital Excellence (HTM biomedical engineering, ROOT operations transformation, Health Systems Approach). Programs share data, infrastructure, and government partnerships, with MediFIKIA adding NCD supply chain capabilities. The ecosystem emphasizes government partnership, measurable health outcomes, and private-sector efficiency applied to public health delivery.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• m-mama Emergency Transportation Mobile-based emergency transportation program that coordinates ambulance and community-based transport to ensure pregnant women and newborns in rural sub-Saharan Africa reach skilled emergency obstetric care in time.
• watotoCare Technology-enabled program that pre-schedules post-natal care visits for newborns and ensures those visits actually occur, retaining infants in the healthcare system during the first six weeks of life.
• POA Health Workforce Planning Planning and Optimization Algorithm (POA) combined with WISN, a health workforce planning strategy enabling governments to optimally finance and allocate health workers nationally based on geography, population, available budget, and facility workload levels.
• SimuConsult Telehealth consultation platform that brings physician-led specialist care to rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa that lack access to in-person specialist medical expertise.
• Health Technology Management (HTM) Program ensuring medical equipment and health technology is consistently maintained and functioning in service of patient care, including Tanzania's first Centre of Excellence in Biomedical Engineering at Bugando Medical Centre, serving 350,000+ outpatients annually.
• Hospital Operations Transformation (ROOT) ROOT (Results-Oriented Operations Transformation) model adapting private-sector operations management strategies for hospitals in low- and middle-income countries to achieve operational excellence and transformational patient outcomes.
• Health Systems Approach Comprehensive, integrated framework for health systems strengthening in sub-Saharan Africa that combines workforce, patient access, and hospital excellence interventions under a single approach.
• MediFIKIA Program addressing non-communicable diseases in Tanzania through strengthened supply chains, enhanced hospital pharmacy operations, and improved rural patient access to NCD medications; delivered in partnership with Sanofi Global Health Unit.

Quantifiable outcome

• 27% decrease in maternal mortality in regions using the m-mama emergency transportation system
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SafaricomcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Safaricom is a key implementation partner for m-mama expansion to Kenya in 2024, contributing telecommunications infrastructure and mobile technology capabilities alongside funding from M-Pesa Foundation.
• Pathfinder InternationalcoreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2024Pathfinder International is an implementing partner for m-mama in Kenya alongside Touch Health, contributing maternal health expertise and implementation capacity for the 4-year program expansion.
• Sanofi Global Health UnitcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTouch Health partners with Sanofi's Global Health Unit through the MediFIKIA program to address non-communicable diseases in Tanzania. The initiative strengthens supply chains, enhances hospital pharmacy operations, and ensures rural patient access to NCD medications.
• Jacaranda HealthminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTouch Health partners with Jacaranda Health to improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes in Tanzania through collaborative programming and shared expertise in healthcare delivery.
• Bugando Medical CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBugando Medical Centre in Tanzania hosts Touch Health's Centre of Excellence in Biomedical Engineering, the first of its kind in Tanzania. The hospital serves 350,000+ outpatients annually and is a key implementation site for HTM programming.
• CUHAS (Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCUHAS produces 1,000+ health workers annually across 13 cadres of medical specialties as a result of Touch Health support, representing a 12x increase in health worker production capacity.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Pathfinder International: Global reproductive and maternal health nonprofit that is the named co-implementing partner with Touch Health on the m-mama Kenya expansion. Operates similar maternal and neonatal health programs across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia with comparable government-embedded delivery models.
• Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI): Large global health nonprofit that works with governments in LMICs to strengthen health systems, workforce, and supply chains. Comparable in its multi-country ministry partnership model, data-driven program design, and donor-backed operating model in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Partners In Health: Nonprofit health systems strengthening organization operating hospitals and clinical programs in low-resource settings across multiple countries. Comparable in its integrated approach to workforce, facility operations, and patient access, and in long-cycle government partnership delivery.
• Last Mile Health: Nonprofit focused on training, equipping, and deploying community health workers in rural Africa. Closely comparable to Touch Health's healthcare workforce pillar and its use of technology to support health worker coordination in low-resource settings.
• AMREF Health Africa: Africa-based health development nonprofit addressing health workforce, maternal and child health, and health system strengthening across the continent. Comparable in scope, regional focus, and the model of partnering with ministries of health to deliver national-scale programs.
• IntraHealth International: Nonprofit focused on health workforce planning, training, and management in LMICs, including WISN methodology adoption that overlaps with Touch Health's POA+WISN offering. Comparable in donor base, ministry partnership model, and Africa workforce footprint.
• VillageReach: Nonprofit focused on health system logistics, supply chains, and last-mile delivery in LMICs. Comparable in its supply-chain focus areas (relevant to Touch Health's MediFIKIA NCD program) and in its data-driven approach to health system performance.
• Jacaranda Health: East Africa-based nonprofit improving maternal and neonatal health outcomes through facility-based programs and digital tools. Named Touch Health partner in Tanzania and directly comparable in mission, geography, and target beneficiary population.
• Riders for Health: Nonprofit that manages reliable transportation networks for health workers and medical supplies across sub-Saharan Africa. Directly comparable to the m-mama emergency transportation model in addressing last-mile access barriers in rural African health systems.

Emerging players

• Living Goods: Nonprofit supporting community health workers with digital tools and performance-based financing in sub-Saharan Africa. Comparable in the use of mobile technology to drive health worker productivity and last-mile health outcomes in similar geographies.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/touchfoundation
• Facebookfacebook.com/TouchFoundationInc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/touch-health-inc
• Instagraminstagram.com/touchhealth_

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Touch Foundation