Skip to main content

Sanofi sets three challenges for African Start-Ups to innovate in health

(R-L) Dr Moka Lantum (CEO-Sagitarix), Dr Tanvi Sha (CEO & Co-founder-The Pill Shop) and Peter Munyasi (Sanofi Kenya Country Chair and General Manager, GEM) during the launch of the 2019 Vivatech challenge

Sanofi, a major player in innovation in Africa, is launching three challenges for African start-ups to find innovative solutions to improve access to healthcare and transform the health ecosystem throughout the continent. These will be pitched at VivaTech, an annual technology conference, dedicated to innovation and startups, held in Paris, France and will take place on May 16th to 18th, 2019.

The three challenges aim to identify, select and support the best start-ups in their desire to invent tomorrow's solutions in the health sector on the African continent. They illustrate Sanofi's commitment to contribute locally by supporting the most daring and innovative entrepreneurs in the realization of their projects.

These challenges are part of Sanofi's strategy to support and encourage innovation in the African continent, in order to create a health ecosystem at the patient's service and that includes all stakeholders in the sector: public authorities, private companies, start-ups, etc.

• The first challenge is to provide solutions to enhance awareness, diagnosis and disease management of patients suffering from diabetes. Today, over two-thirds of adults living with diabetes in Africa are unaware of their condition. Once diagnosed, a majority of patients remains untreated or uncontrolled, mainly because of access and affordability, lack of medical capabilities and patient education.

• The second challenge focuses on how to improve access to medicines in remote areas from supply chain management to alternative payment solutions. This challenge should make it possible to develop innovative and personalized solutions, for better patient care, even in the most isolated areas. Sanofi is looking for tools developing systems reaching the “Last Mile” through e-commerce, direct to the pharmacy, direct to patient and tailored payment solutions and can provide better health support for people.                               

• Finally, the last challenge looks for solutions to support decision-makers in getting better use of available health data to recognize and predict diseases, for research purposes and to improve health care management. This challenge aims to identify solutions to assist in the decision-making process and the evaluation of public-private partnerships.


The selected start-ups will be invited to present their innovative solutions at Afric@Tech, a Lab dedicated to the African continent within Viva Technology. They will defend their projects in front of a jury consisting of Sanofi representatives and industry professionals and will be able to demonstrate their solutions to the public.

A jury of professionals will select the final start-ups in February. Start-ups will be evaluated according to 5 criteria: concrete evidence of positive results in at least one African country, project maturity, the relevance of the solution, market potential and business model, skills, expertise and experience of the team and finally scientific evidence if applicable.
This call for projects is free and open to all. Registration can be done online as of now. Applicants have until February 15th, 2019 to submit their application online.

In 2018, Sanofi received 190 start-up applications and 10 were selected to join the Sanofi stand in the Afric@Tech dedicated space at VivaTech.

To participate, go to the information and registration platform:
https://challenges.vivatechnology.com/en/challenges/sanofi-in-africa?lang=en.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Visa and Halotel bring secure and convenient mobile payments for Tanzanians

Visa, the global payments technology company, has announced a strategic partnership with Halotel to enable Visa on mobile payments on Halotel’s HaloPesa wallet in Tanzania.  The service will be rolled out in early 2019 thereby enabling HaloPesa’s one million registered wallet holders to use Visa on mobile to securely make merchant payments and conduct cash deposits and withdrawals at Visa agents. Any HaloPesa customer, including those who do not have a bank account, will be able to benefit from the solution. The aim is to connect more Tanzanians to the global payment system, bringing secure and convenient mobile commerce for consumers and merchants.  “We are excited about this partnership with a key mobile service provider such as Halotel. Our partnership with Halotel will ensure that Tanzanians can pay using Visa on their mobiles at over 40,000 new retailers. It will also help expand financial inclusion for Tanzanian consumers who will now be able to benefit from pa...
Post a Comment
Read more

Bolt launches its car-sharing service Bolt Drive

Bolt, the leading European mobility platform, launches its car-sharing service, Bolt Drive. The new service allows customers to rent a car for short periods of time using the Bolt app. Bolt will invest €20 million in launching Bolt Drive in Europe this year, starting with a pilot in its home market, Estonia. Bolt is the first mobility platform in Europe to offer car-sharing, ride-hailing and micromobility with scooters and electric bikes in one app. By enabling customers to quickly and conveniently rent a car at the tap of a button, Bolt allows them to be less dependent on personal cars and encourages the use of alternative modes of transport for short-distance trips. Markus Villig, CEO at Bolt, said: “Personal cars are the primary cause of problems in urban transport. They are responsible for traffic, environmental emissions and taking up city space. Bolt’s mission is to help people give up their personal cars by providing a better alternative. For people to switch from ownership to o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Narok School benefits from a Dormitory Courtesy of Procter and Gamble

STUDENTS OF OLOIGERO PRIMARY SCHOOL POSE FOR A PHOTO WITH THE P&G TEAM AND PARTNERS OUTSIDE THE NEWLY BUILT DOMITORY Pupils of Oloigero Primary School in Narok County have a reason to smile after Procter and Gamble funded the construction of a girl’s dormitory in the school. The facility, which will accommodate 80 girls, will help support and improve the access to quality education in the area. “Access to quality education is affected by a myriad of challenges in this country. Inadequate infrastructure is one of them.  The situation is even more dire for our girls thus the reason we are here today to commission this dormitory. We believe that this facility will be a critical resource to help keep our girls in school and together with other partners we will work to ensure that we change the narrative about girls missing school due to menstruation,” said Anthony Ng’ang’a,  Associate Brand Director -Commercial Leader - East Africa at Procter & Gamble (P&G)...
Post a Comment
Read more