Backed Healthtech Unicorn Alan Makes First African Acquisition
French healthtech unicorn Alan has acquired Senegalese digital health provider Tanel to expand its operations into Africa. This move marks Alan's first entry into the African market and follows a significant funding round that valued the company at €5.5 billion.
Why it matters
The acquisition highlights growing European investment in African technology sectors and signals a strategic push by healthtech firms to scale in emerging markets.
The French digital health insurer Alan, whose backers include football star Kylian Mbappé and technology investor Prosus, has acquired Senegalese digital health coverage provider Tanel, marking the company’s first expansion into Africa and signalling growing interest among European athletes in the continent’s technology sector.
The acquisition, announced on Tuesday, comes months after Alan raised €580mn in a funding round that valued the company at €5.5bn. Financial terms of the Tanel transaction were not disclosed. Tanel was valued at $7.5mn in a 2024 fundraising round.
Alan, which serves more than 1mn members across France, Spain, Belgium and Canada, provides insurance packages to corporate clients including Volkswagen Spain and France’s finance ministry. Tanel operates a similar business model in Senegal and Ivory Coast, covering approximately 70,000 people through clients such as ride-hailing platform Yango and fast-food chain KFC.
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