Nicholas Sowden

Penda Health

Big Idea: 

Why we chose them as a Fellow

Nicholas always knew he wanted to be an entrepreneur; so when he graduated from college, he immediately moved to Kenya to start a solar company. A few years later, he found himself wanting to work on basic healthcare in Kenya, in support of his belief that high-quality primary care was necessary to break the cycle of poverty. After working for Jacaranda Health, Nicholas co-founded Penda Health in Nairobi to deliver high-quality care for affordable prices.

In poor countries, people have a hard time finding quality health care, and when they can, it is too expensive. Compounding the problem is that patients don't – and often can't – know the difference with good and bad quality care: the result is that they don't want to pay what it takes to produce the former and so they usually get the latter. Penda Health is working to get them the best care at the lowest possible price – and provide an experience that gives them a sense of good value. So far, it looks like people are willing to pay, and that result bodes well for the industry at large.

Rainer Arnhold Fellows