i3, a pan-African initiative financed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is providing equity-free capital to 29 businesses functioning in Africa’s healthcare supply chain. These startups are working to improve the continent’s healthcare system.
The programme, which is now in its second year, is run in collaboration with companies such as Cencora (formerly known as AmerisourceBergen), Merck Sharpe & Dohme, Microsoft, and Chemonics.
The startup companies that are chosen will each receive a grant of $50,000 in addition to connections to potential clients working in business, donor organisations, and government.
In addition to the award, the organisations CcHUB, Villgro Africa, IMPACT Lab, and Startupbootcamp Afritech will provide the selected entrepreneurs with investment-ready support.
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38 per cent of these new businesses are being run by women, and they come from 21 different nations in Africa.
Kieran Daly, Director of Global Health Agencies and Funds at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation made the following comment in a statement that was released on Monday:
“As countries and global health institutions work to expand access to priority products, we face an urgent need to leverage solutions across the public and private sectors to improve health outcomes and strengthen local health systems.”
“Programs like i3 help us understand, support, and engage with technology-driven solutions emerging across Africa, hand-in-hand with our partners,” he said.
Read also: Investing in Innovation Africa (i3) calls for applications from innovators
The choice i3 has made
These companies have been chosen to participate in the competition: Afia Group Limited, Aimcare Health, Bena Care, BioCertica, Chari Pharma, CheckUps Medical, Chefaa, Dawa Mkononi, Drugstore Nigeria, Famasi Limited, Field Intelligence, Inc., GICMED, Grinta, Healthtracka, Kapsule, Medical Diagnostech, Medpharma Alliance International Limited, Octosoft Technologies Limited, Pharmarun, Pharmaserv Health Project Nigeria
Yusuf Rasool, who is the Director of Global Market Access and Sustainable Access Solutions at Merck Sharpe & Dohme, made the following observation:
“We are excited to have a second cohort of 29 innovative changemakers in African healthcare enter the program. Investing in these companies is a means of delivering lifesaving solutions and empowering communities through the access of critical medicines across the continent.”
During the first cohort, 31 new businesses were given funding, expanding their reach to 24,000 medical institutions in 26 different African countries.
i3 is not the only programme funded by the Gates Foundation that is concentrating on improving healthcare in Africa. The month of August saw the selection of 29 African researchers to work on the development of artificial intelligence applications for use in healthcare solutions across the continent.
About Investing In Innovation (i3) Africa
The Investing in Innovation (I3) in Africa initiative is a Pan-African consortium of sponsors, implementers, and coordinators that are working together to provide assistance to sixty African health technology businesses operating in a field relevant to supply chain over a period of two years. This assistance will be provided through the Investing in Innovation (I3) in Africa initiative.
i3 is providing financial assistance to businesses in the African healthcare sector that are engaged in the data-driven distribution of pharmaceuticals, consumables, medical equipment, assistive technologies, and medical waste.
i3 is sponsored by a global network of industry leaders, donors, and African institutions. These individuals and organisations accomplish two things:
1) facilitate the systematic deployment of funding to selected companies.
2) help develop access to market mechanisms to connect selected firms to consumers who can drive their effect at scale. i3’s mission is to empower entrepreneurs in Africa.
i3 is looking for high-potential entrepreneurs who have the ability to help improve the availability, accessibility, cost, quality, and visibility of health goods at scale, thereby generating a positive impact on health and prosperity.
i3 is working to improve access for entrepreneurs who have historically been excluded from funding and support. This includes businesses that are run by women and founders in Francophone Africa.