Investing in Innovation Launches Inaugural Cohort of 31 African Health Supply Chain Startups

The Investing in Innovation (i3) is proud to announce its first cohort of 30 companies.  

The 30 startups have been selected from 14 African countries; nearly 50% of the start-ups are women-led, and 30% of the companies operate in Francophone Africa. Operating in early, and growth-stages, the companies are delivering novel solutions for device and medicines distribution, stock management and financing, authentication, traceability, medical waste management and more – demonstrating that African-built solutions are poised to help transform access to health products in many ways. 

The selected startups are, in alphabetical order: Chekkit Technologies, Disrupt Pharma Tech Africa (Medsaf), DrugStoc Ehub Limited, Erith Health Services, Gricd, LifeBank, Lifestores Healthcare, OneHealth, ClinicPesa, Damu Sasa, The Pathology Network, Negus Med, Signalytic,  Viebeg Technologies, Zuri Health, Xetova, Cure Bionics, DeepEcho, Dr Sett, Infiuss Health Limited, Medevice, Meditect, Sobrus, Valorigo, Azanza Health, Appy Saude, Aviro Health, Contro, VaxiGlobal, Zinacare.

 You can read more about the selected companies here. 

Dr Abdullahi Sheriff, Associate Vice President of Global Market Access at MSD noted “The innovation represented by the start-ups selected is inspiring. At MSD, we are excited by the opportunity to collaborate with these leading innovators through i3, to help transform health care supply chains and improve access to medicines across Africa.” 

i3 is coordinated by Salient Advisory, SCIDaR, and SouthBridge A&I and is operationalized by leading technology hubs across the continent: CCHub for West Africa, Startupbootcamp Afritech for Southern Africa, IMPACT Lab for North and Francophone Africa, and Villgro Africa for East Africa. These hubs are responsible for the selection process and the follow-up of the startups throughout the program. 

Jason Dinger, SVP, Strategy and Innovation, Amerisource Bergen also commented:  

“Start-ups can play a major role in digitizing supply chains in Africa to help ensure they are resilient, agile, and responsive to the needs of patients. At Amerisource Bergen we are thrilled to support the growth and commercialization of the selected companies, as they work towards impact at scale.”  

Efosa Ojomo, Director, Global Prosperity at the Clayton Christensen Institute, and member of the i3 Steering Committee also commented:   

“i3's focus on African ingenuity is long overdue – supporting locally-led, market creating innovations to scale will equip the continent to achieve health gains, generate prosperity and weather future crises.”  

Prashant Yadav, Senior Fellow, Centre for Global Development, and INSEAD Professor who is Chair of the i3 Steering Committee also commented:   

“The breadth of innovation represented by the cohort of companies selected is confirming that technology-led business model innovations can play an important role in rapidly improving the effectiveness of African health supply chains.”  

Watch the announcement video introducing these incredible innovators here.