Advancing African Healthtech — Meet i3 at WHA 77 in Geneva 

Over the last 21 months Investing in Innovation (i3) has supported 60 African-led innovations in supply chain with $50K USD in grant funding and over 450 bespoke introductions to major public health customers. Nearly half of i3 startups are led by women, underscoring our commitment to supporting diverse leadership in the health sector. 

The i3 team, alongside the CEOs of Figorr and Kapsule, will be in Geneva alongside the 77th World Health Assembly (WHA) to shine a spotlight on African-led innovation in healthtech, and advocate for a new model of collaboration between industry, aid, and innovators to advance product access. We have 3 key messages for the global community:  

• Home-grown innovators supported by i3 already impact 150 million patient visits annually – and there is strong potential for greater impact.  

• Global health institutions and donors have not typically worked with local, data-driven innovators, and procurement and partnership processes are not designed to do so effectively. 

• We urge institutions to adapt their processes to contract more innovative local companies and invest ambitiously in tech-driven service delivery innovations led by Africans, alongside local manufacturing. Set targets, and track your progress. Only by pursuing an ambitious vision for building more effective health markets for the future will we succeed. 

i3 will participate in two key spotlight events and hold one-on-one sessions.  

i3 Innovation Dinner with Global Health Leaders and Innovators: We are hosting a small, invitation only Innovation Dinner on May 28^th, bringing together leaders from governments, global health agencies, industry, and donors to build relationships, share information, and advance the impact of African-led healthtech. We will spotlight two i3 innovators – Figorr and Kapsule. 

Panel at Devex Checkup @WHA 77: Scaling Health Innovations in Africa: On May 29, we will be featured in a panel discussion at the Devex Checkup event titled "From spark to scale: Supporting Africa's booming health innovation landscape." The session will highlight lessons from i3’s efforts to support 60 promising companies leveraging technology to optimize supply chains and address challenges of availability, accessibility, and affordability of health products in Africa. The panelists include David Chen, co-CEO, Kapsule; Oghenetega Iortim, CEO, Figorr; and Mara Hansen Staples, Founder, Salient Advisory. You can register for onsite or virtual participation here.  

In addition, i3 is arranging one-on-one meetings throughout WHA 77. If you're attending and would like to meet with our team, Kapsule or Figorr, please get in touch. We would love to share more. 

We look forward to building partnerships that will continue to scale health innovations and create lasting impacts in Africa. Join us!