French multinational pharmaceutical company Sanofi has chosen 10 innovators to take part in its Afric@Tech e-health startup challenge, aimed at identifying and rewarding innovators in the African healthcare space.
Sanofi is running the Afric@Tech challenge across the continent, with the goal of identifying and rewarding the startups revolutionising practices in the health sector.
The company has partnered Viva Technology, an international event dedicated to the development of startups, global digital transformation and innovation. The event will be held in Paris, France, on May 24-26.
Ten startups have been chosen to take part in the Sanofi in Africa Lab at the Afric@Tech installment of the event, where they will present their projects to a jury. Winning projects will be offered the opportunity to benefit from financial support, coaching and mentoring from Sanofi, in order to prepare an eventual collaboration with one of Sanofi’s departments in Africa.
The 10 selected startups are Appenberg Digital Publishing (South Africa), Vula Mobile (South Africa), Bisa (Ghana), GiftedMom (Cameroon), Infomed Healthcare (Egypt), KEA Medicals (Benin), MedTrucks (Morocco), Otrac (Nigeria), Sagitarix (Kenya), and Yapill (pan-African).
“We are glad to see the enthusiasm triggered by this contest, which perfectly corresponds to Sanofi’s strategy of encouraging open innovation in Africa. We want to provide concrete support to entrepreneurs concerned by healthcare stakes on the continent, by contributing to the development of the most innovative local initiatives,” said Jon Fairest, director of Sanofi in Africa.
Dr William Mapham, founder of Vula Mobile, said the opportunity to be part of the Africa@Tech challenge was “an incredible platform to showcase South African innovation”.
“We look forward to learning and sharing from others at the event. Collaboration improves healthcare quickly. We hope to connect with people from governments, organisations and businesses to have an even greater impact in our country,” he said.
