Amref Health Africa proudly presents its “Innovative Six 2018”: The six African start-ups that have been selected to join the Innovate for Life Fund Accelerator programme this year. The start-ups have been selected out of over 300 applications coming from all over sub-Saharan Africa.
The selected ventures are:
Baby Grubz is a social enterprise which empowers women financially through the distribution and sales of our unique baby food products which are targeted against malnutrition in the African child and they are 100% natural, African inspired, low cost and nutrient dense. We have a huge potential. Baby Grubz has grown from an initial investment of $10 to $25,000 within 3 years as well has scaled from Nigeria into 3 other West African countries.
Baobab Circle is an African grown health technology company creating health solution for the Africa. With its best in class health service called Afya Pap, Baobab has helped to reduce diabetes and hypertension by equipping patients in the following areas; on patient education, diet, physical exercise, health monitoring, mental wellness and medication. Afya Pap has both smartphone and feature phone versions, meaning it works with 100% of phones and all people with diabetes can user the app.
JOELEX makes water, sanitation accessible and affordable for the urban poor in Kampala, Uganda by building and operating toilets, showers and then safely disposing off the waste collected by turning it into cleaner-burning charcoal briquettes used as cooking energy within slums and markets.
Tiny hearts Technology was founded by Virtue Oboro in 2016 when she had a sad experience with her jaundiced son. It is a medical manufacturing company that produces the ”Crib A’glow” Phototherapy Unit, a device used for the treatment of neonatal jaundice in newborn babies especially in rural areas were electricity and access is near impossible. In 2years, the Crib A’glow Unit has saved more than 150 babies and sensitised more than 1,500 rural women about jaundice in newborn babies.
We are a workforce development center. We offer training on caregiving. We have a worldwide bench- marked curriculum and is e-learning as well as practical learning . We also provide internships at partner hospitals. We then deploy , employ and outsource caregivers to hospitals, retirement homes and individual homes.
Wastinnova is a new and innovative company targeting to decrease biohazard waste disposed and increase recycling through an environmentally sustainable methods. Wastinnova was established in 2017 after the realization that Zimbabwe had no mechanism to transport health-care waste. This waste is generated within health-care and research centers and, medical laboratories. Wastinnova currently operates as a transporter and distributor of medical waste for proper recycling and disposal.
All of the start up ventures are developing an innovative solution to improve health care in Africa and their leadership is African-driven.
This year’s innovative solutions are highly diverse and include: a”Crib A ‘glow” Phototherapy Unit, a device used for the treatment of neonatal jaundice in newborn babies; a diabetes and hypertension self-management app; a digital hospital waste management system; a health workforce development centre; and, highly nutritious baby food from local produce.
Five-month accelerator programme
The Innovative Six 2018 vetting process was conducted by a health panel and a selection committee, consisting of African health care stakeholders and key investors in African ventures. Through Innovate for Life’s five-month accelerator programme, specifically designed for the African health context, the six entrepreneurs will be embedded in the Amref Health Africa organisation.
Dr Charles Akhimien, founder of Nigerian-based MOBicure, was among the first six entrepreneurs to take part in the Innovate for Life Fund programme when it launched in 2017. “The Innovate for Life Fund is unique because it is the only programme specific for African start-ups in the health sector and it offers unrivalled knowledge of the health ecosystem and business coaching to help health start-ups achieve scale faster,” he says. Through his experience in the Innovate for Life Fund programme, Charles has been able to increase the number of users on MOBicure’s OMOMi (maternal and child health) app to 40,000 and on-board its first set of paying customers on OMOMi’s Chat with a doctor service.
Second year
Now in its second year, the Innovate for Life Fund aims to support African entrepreneurs to accelerate home-grown health solutions for the African market. Amref Health Africa believes that African-based, local innovations, with the realities of each country and each community embedded at their core, are vital for lasting health solutions.
“Local entrepreneurs know all ins and outs of the market and therefore their solutions are often very appropriate and sustainable,” says Dr. Githinji Gitahi, Group CEO, Amref Health Africa. “Local solutions for local challenges is in the DNA of Amref Health Africa, which makes the Innovate for Life Fund programme such a good fit. For over 60 years we have partnered with communities and governments to improve health in Africa. This experience is invaluable for entrepreneurs.”
The Innovate for Life Fund is supported by the Elsevier Foundation. “The Innovate for Life Fund has proven how critical an African health tech accelerator is, bridging a very real gap between brilliant ideas and investors in Africa.” said Ylann Schemm, Director of the Elsevier Foundation. “The 2018 cohort of entrepreneurs will further stimulate tech-driven health solutions for and by Africans.”
