Investing in Innovation Africa (i3), a pan-African initiative for startups building the future of healthcare supply chains, has made a pivotal change to its third cohort selection to prioritise the immediate support for between five and seven growth-stage companies building the future of pharmacy care in Africa.
Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and sponsored by MSD, Cencora, Endless Foundation, HELP Logistics, Sanofi’s Global Health Unit and Chemonics, i3 is dedicated to facilitating the commercialisation of promising early- and growth-stage companies.
Selected startups receive introductions to leading potential customers in industry, donor agencies and governments, grant funding, and tailored investment readiness support from leading accelerators Villgro Africa, IMPACT Lab, Startupbootcamp Afritech, and CcHUB.
Disrupt Africa reported last week applications had opened for the third edition of the programme, but a major change has now now been announced, with the programme to focus on growth-stage companies rather than a mix of early-stage and growth-stage as originally planned.
This comes in response to the United States (US) State Department’s “stop-work” directive for foreign aid issued on January 25, which is anticipated to impact the distribution of essential medicine in Africa’s healthcare supply chains. The order highlights and intensifies the need for locally-driven, market-creating approaches to health product distribution and service delivery across Africa.
Applications are open here until February 28.
