30 African e-Health Startups Eligible for $50k Grant, Support From i3 programme
The pan-African Investing in Innovation (i3) program has chosen thirty African e-health firms to participate, providing them with a US$50,000 grant and access to market opportunities to spur growth-driven relationships with donors, industry, and institutional stakeholders.
The i3 program, supported by Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD), the World Health Organization Regional Office for Africa, AUDA-NEPAD, and AmerisourceBergen, was introduced in June, according to a report by Disrupt Africa.
The first 30 firms, which come from 14 different African nations, have now been chosen with the intention of investing in the continent’s most promising early to growth-stage startups in the health care supply chains. 30% of the startups are run by women, while nearly 50% are based in Francophone Africa.
The chosen entrepreneurs will get a grant of $50,000 USD and assistance to help them forge growth-driven alliances with institutions, businesses, and donors. OneHealth, ClinicPesa, Damu Sasa, The Pathology Network, Negus Med, Signalytic, Viebeg Technologies, Zuri Health, Xetova, Cure Bionics, DeepEcho, Dr. Sett, Infiuss Health Limited, Medevice, Meditect, Sobrus, Valorigo, Azanza Health, Appy Saude, Aviro Health, Contro, VaxiGlobal, and Zinacare are among them
“Innovations that are locally driven and digitally enabled have enormous promise to address the problems with patient access to medications in Africa. Since we know that innovation ecosystems are improved by diversity, we are thrilled to see strong women leaders at the helm of several of these firms, said Ann Allen, senior program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
