Skip to main content

VivaTech: Sanofi to hold AfricaTech pitch session online


Following the cancellation of the 2020 edition of VivaTech that was to be held in Paris, Sanofi will on June 11th organise an online pitch session as part of its AfricaTech Challenge.
The objective is to ensure that Sanofi is continually committed to encouraging innovation in Africa, improving access to healthcare and transforming the health ecosystem throughout the continent.
For this 3rd edition, Sanofi received 268 applications from 34 countries across the continent registering a 20.7% increase in applications as compared to 222 applications last year. 11 finalists were selected based on their project maturity, early results, the relevance of their solution, market potential, business model and the skills and expertise of their team.
This year, a total of 22 applications were made from East Africa with 18 applications received just from Kenya, three from Uganda and one from Tanzania.
Mama Prime, a Kenyan health fintech company has been selected to take part in the finals of the competition which will be held online on the 11th of June 2020. Mama Prime is a flexible, automated financial planning platform where pregnant mothers and their friends or family can make flexible piecemeal payments that go towards meeting the cost of their delivery, and, optionally, post-natal care. Mama Prime provides a targeted financial planning facility that enables pregnant mothers and their friends or family to own the process and plan for their delivery.

The 4 challenges and the 11 selected startups are:

Challenge #1: How to support patients with a digital health book in order to access information and make decisions?
  • Bypa-ss (Egypt) is digitizing healthcare information exchange through its platform HealthTag that allows patients to get their diagnosis, latest check-ups, medical scans as well as test results.
  • Keeplyna (Tunisia) is an eHealth platform for telemedicine. It offers a free digital medical book to all African citizens and includes all health information of all family members.
  • EYONE (Senegal) offers a shared medical file. Patients have their medical records in real-time everywhere and are connected to 35 online health professionals that have partnered with the startup.

    Challenge #2: How to help healthcare systems leapfrog from manual to smart logistics solutions at the point of care?
  • Doctor 4 Africa (India) is an integrated online platform offering a digital health solution in African countries. It connects patients to health care professionals in underserved communities where there is a shortage of specialists, so they can receive affordable quality care.
  • Mobilhealth International (Nigeria) is Africa’s first fully integrated telehealth electronic medical records and video app. Its 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.


    Challenge #3: How to improve financing and impact of innovative health solutions in Africa?
  • SOSO CARE (Nigeria) is a low-cost digital tool enabling 100 million Nigerians to access health insurance and care in 1,170 clinics.
  • MamaPrime (Kenya) is a health fintech company that enables mothers and their families to prepay for their prenatal & postnatal care and child wellness services in instalments throughout their pregnancy.
  • JokkoSanté (Senegal) is a digital payment platform that secures the use of money intended for health, with a new payment method. It can also be used to manage drug traceability and online prescriptions.


    Challenge #4 - Sanofi Espoir FoundationHow to improve maternal and neonatal health in sub-Saharan Africa? 
  • Teheca (Uganda) connects new and expectant mothers to qualified nurses for at home post-natal checkups and supports by using low cost and low-tech solutions. The accessibility increase to post-natal cares aims a timely identification and a referral of life-threatening complications during the post-natal period.
  • The University Agency Innovation (Cameroun) is a hub of scientific, technological and enterprise-based innovations. Its spin-off AUI Techno designs and produces an interactive infant incubator connectable to doctors’ smartphones, in order to reduce the neonatal mortality rate.
  • Natal Cares (Nigeria) is an integrated solution providing healthcare, medical monitoring and emergency services to at-risk pregnant women and nursing mothers belonging to disconnected rural communities.


    The 4 winning startups will be announced at the end of this event and Sanofi will then evaluate long term partnership opportunities. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

British Airways launches new reward app for executive club members

British Airways has launched a brand new app for members of its Executive Club. Members can use the app to discover new ways to collect and spend Avios, find new offers and see personalised ways to spend Avios based on the member’s Avios balance. The Executive Club Reward app will complement the current British Airways app, which is designed to help all British Airways customers book and service pre- and post-travel needs. The app has a simple, intuitive design, to help members navigate its different features. These features include the ability to access and make purchases through the British Airways Avios eStore – an important way many members collect Avios. Customers can also see different ways they can spend their Avios including a helpful tool which says how many more Avios are needed until a member can book reward flights to different destinations. As well as this, customers can see the latest Avios deals, view their last five transactions, and buy Avios, view accou

Column: Caleb Otieno: Make empathy a reflex

‘Empathy is about standing in someone else 's shoes, feeling with his or her heart, seeing with his or her eyes. Reflection is the means of processing thoughts and feelings about an activity, incident, or day. It gives us a chance to come to terms with our thoughts and feelings surrounding it”  People who understand how to watch, listen and observe the actions and emotions of those around them are often perceived as the most successful in life. A conscious alignment of one’s self with others starts with the development of empathy in the early years.  In the early years of life from age two to seven, young children are naturally ego-centric and are very much inclined to think mostly about themselves and their immediate needs. They are not yet ready to consider the needs and feelings of others. Developing a sense of empathy is an important developmental process for young children. It is at the heart of good relationships, and it begins with valuing others and their perspectives.  Tea

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). FR