Editor’s note: African-Startups is a sister publication of EU-Startups, bringing trusted coverage of startups, venture capital, and innovation across Africa.
Alan, the French prevention insurance unicorn, has acquired Tanel, the Dakar-based digital health company operating in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire.
The deal marks Alan’s first entry into Africa and a notable exit for Francophone Africa’s HealthTech ecosystem. Deal terms were not disclosed.
Mouhamed Ndoye and Makhtar Diop, co-founders of Tanel, added, “When we started Tanel, we quickly realised that much of the healthcare infrastructure we needed was missing. Building the company felt like trying to build cars where the roads did not yet exist, so we began creating the infrastructure ourselves – first for pharmacies and then across the full patient journey, to give businesses and their employees simpler, more transparent access to care. Alan has backed us since 2024 and understands both the problem we are solving and the size of the opportunity. Joining forces gives us more technology and resources to move faster.”
Founded in 2021 by Mouhamed Ndoye and Makhtar Diop, Tanel provides digital tools for businesses to manage employee health coverage and gives employees simpler access to care.
The company covers approximately 70,000 members across more than 400 companies and connects users to a network of over 1,200 pharmacies and healthcare providers.
Tanel was built to replace fragmented, largely paper-based systems for managing health insurance in the region.
Alan first invested in Tanel during its 2024 Seed round and has worked closely with the founders since. Together, the two companies plan to reach more than one million members across Africa by 2030, strengthening operations in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire before expanding into Anglophone markets across West and East Africa.
Users will continue working with Tanel’s existing team while gaining access to new services including telehealth and preventive healthcare.
“Tanel has done the hard work of building relationships with users, companies, healthcare providers and regulators in Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire. Combining that knowledge with Alan’s platform gives us a strong base from which to build in Africa,” said Jean-Charles Samuelian-Werve, CEO and co-founder of Alan.
The acquisition provides an exit for Tanel’s founders and investors, including Ventures Platform, AAIC Investment, and angel investors Dr Mussaad M. Al-Razouki, Alyune-Blondin Diop, and Charles Slaughter.
Ndoye and Diop will continue to lead Tanel’s operations and Alan’s development in Africa, with Tanel’s full team remaining in place.
“African tech still sees too few exits, particularly in Francophone Africa, which makes this deal an important milestone for the ecosystem. Ventures Platform backed Tanel early, when Mouhamed and Makhtar were building a company grounded in the realities of healthcare delivery,” said Dotun Olowoporoku, managing partner at Ventures Platform.
Alan combines health insurance, preventive care, and healthcare services in one platform. Its approach focuses on prevention, aiming to address potential health issues before symptoms appear.
With footballer Kylian Mbappé as an investor, Alan serves more than 1.2 million members across France, Spain, Belgium, and Canada through a model that integrates insurance, prevention, and care into a single platform.
In 2026, the company generates over $927 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) and is valued $6.38 billion.
