By Stanley Ugagbe
The nation’s flag has again been raised high as Mobihealth International, a Nigerian startup and telehealth platform has emerged winner in one of the categories of the AfriTech 2020 Healthcare Challenges sponsored by Sanofi a biopharmaceutical company.
The Nigerian startup and four others won the competition in different categories. The five winners were announced at the finals held online on June 11.
Mobihealth International emerged as winner in its category of challenge. Other category winners include: EYONE, a Senegalese startup; MamaPrime from Kenya; Teheca, a Ugandan startup; and the University Agency Innovation (from Cameroon).
The Nigerian Canadian News gathered that the challenge on ‘How to help healthcare systems leapfrog from manual to smart logistics solutions at point of care’ was won by Mobihealth International which is Africa’s first fully integrated telehealth electronic medical records and video app.
The foremost Africa’s fully telehealth, Mobihealth International’s mission is to use telemedicine to provide people in developing countries with access to quality healthcare services in the most cost and time effective way, anytime, anywhere.
We gathered that a total of 11 startups pitched their projects before an online jury which was composed of experts internal and external to Sanofi and audience at the live virtual event.
At the end of the finals, the jury, composed of experts internal and external to Sanofi, announced the five winning startups:
EYONE, a Senegalese startup which offers a shared medical file where patients have access to their medical records in real time everywhere and are connected to 35 online health professionals that have partnered with the startup won the first challenge which was ‘How to support patients with a digital health book in order to access information and make decision’.
Kenya’s MamaPrime, a health fintech company that enables mothers and their families to prepay for their prenatal and postnatal care and child wellness services in installments throughout their pregnancy won the third Challenge titled ‘How to improve financing and impact of innovative health solutions in Africa’.
Meanwhile, two winners emerged from the ‘Sanofi Espoir Foundation: How to improve maternal and neonatal health in sub-Saharan Africa’ challenge. They were Teheca, a Ugandan startup which connects new and expectant mothers to qualified nurses for at home post- natal checkups and supports by using low cost and low-tech solutions; and the University Agency Innovation (from Cameroon) which is a hub of scientific, technological and enterprise-based innovations.
It would be recalled that early in the year, Sanofi called on startups and techpreneurs across Africa to submit applications to its four healthcare challenges.
We gathered that 268 applications were received from 34 African countries, based on five criteria: project maturity, early results, relevance of the solution, market potential and business model, as well as the skills and expertise of the team.
According to the organizers, AfricaTech is a commitment by Sanofi to encourage and accelerate innovation in Africa, improve access to healthcare and transform the health ecosystem throughout the continent.
