TREP Labs

TREP LABS is a healthcare startup that designs low-cost, simple-to-use and accessible medical devices and Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) applications. Its stated focus is clinical tools that use connectivity to shift healthcare from curing sickness toward enabling wellness, beginning with infusion (IV) therapy. The company name reflects its development approach: products are "TREPped" — tested, refined, evaluated and prototyped.

The company's main offering is the RealDrip platform, which helps clinicians monitor and regulate flow rate during gravity infusion, track dosage administration, and automate processes through alarms, SMS and automated calls. The platform comprises the RealDrip device, which applies internet-of-things connectivity and machine learning at the point of care to monitor dosages and flow rates and track the time indicated on a treatment plan for blood transfusion and drip treatment; the RealDrip Dashboard, an embedded screen showing aggregated infusion data with web-service-powered alerts; and the RealDrip mobile app, which provides mobile visualisation and control of treatments, machine-learning-based analysis, and infusion documentation. TREP LABS also distributes DripX, a free standalone mobile application for calculating, measuring and tracking infusion flow rate with alarm functionality.

An earlier account of the company describes a broader operation structured as an IoT and AI talent accelerator, organised into four units: LabAfrik (a training lab for IoT and AI skills), Afrigarage (an innovation lab building indigenous IoT/AI solutions for African problems), Afrimakers hub (fixed and mobile maker hubs for students, hobbyists and small hardware startups), and ByteShop (an online and offline retail outlet for hardware kits and services). The team was described as combining "hackers," "makers" and "hustlers," with technical consultancy delivered through a client-specific plan-build-test-launch process.

Founding story

TREP LABS was launched in February 2018 by co-founders Alayande Abdulwaheed Abiola and Taofeek Olalekan. The founders, from Osogbo in Osun State and Ibadan in Oyo State, Nigeria respectively, framed the venture around Africa's shortage of hardware and STEM talent, graduate unemployment, and the difficulty startups face accessing affordable technical skills, alongside a goal of maximising and improving existing infrastructure through tools that increase operational efficiency.

Business model

The company builds and sells hardware-plus-software clinical tools, led by the RealDrip infusion platform (device, dashboard and mobile app), and offers DripX free of charge. In its earlier accelerator configuration, it reported revenue from training courses priced from about $10, membership subscriptions for its makers' lab, paid access to its innovation labs, sales of hardware kits and other innovation-lab products, and technical consultancy and talent outsourcing for businesses.

Reported revenue lines include course fees (from roughly $10 per course), makers' lab membership subscriptions, paid usage of its innovation labs, hardware kit and product sales, and consultancy/talent-outsourcing engagements with businesses.

Traction

About four months after starting the training operation, the company reported 57 students in its training lab, nine businesses served in and outside Akure with indigenous solutions and talent outsourcing, and more than 160 orders of electronics kits delivered in Akure. Directory data records roughly 2,600 monthly website visits, 1,160 likes, and 293 and 395 followers across social channels, with eight press mentions and 11-50 employees.

Latest developments

Co-founders Abiola Alayande and Taofeek Olalekan discussed building TREP Labs and RealDrip in a February 2021 podcast episode. The company website continues to present the RealDrip platform and the free DripX application.