A Cameroonian Tech Start-up dubbed “Klarah” has ranked 3rd out of 30 selected Tech Start-ups across Africa during the launch of the HealthTech Hub Africa, held yesterday at the Norrsken House in Kigali, capital of Rwanda.
Co-hosted and supported by Swiss organization, the Novartis Foundation, and the Norrsken Foundation, the aim of the HealthTech Hub is intended at helping startups to generate healthcare-based solutions with the use of Tech according to Anne Aerts, a representative of the Novartis Foundation.
The Novartis Foundation with the launch of the HealthTech Hub will also help African Governments to collaborate with start-ups to facilitate the integration of tech-based solutions to solve complex health issues.
For a start, the solutions that were focused on by the tech start-ups selected include those of Cardiovascular Diseases, Virtual Care, and Breast Cancer. The success of the Tech Hub is also expected to be used to determine how or if other such endeavors can equally be done by the Novartis Foundation to include other sectors.
Not putting the cart before the horse, Anne Aerts of the Novartis Foundation admitted that Tech-based solutions to healthcare solutions will face a problem of outreach. Not many parts of the African continent are connected enough to get these solutions. This however she also implied, might spur many to get connected and to benefit from them.
Rwanda Ministry of Health officials at the launch assured the Novartis Foundation that the government was ready to work with the start-ups to provide adept tech-based solutions to the people.
The Rwandan Minister of Health said, “The authorities want people with huge tech knowledge to play a major part in bringing solutions to complex issues.” According to the minister, it is very attainable because the 30 selected startups for the launch all provide feasible solutions to real-life problems.
The goal one year after, according to the Health Minister, is to concretize the ideas and render them usable, also stressing that the government will be ready to facilitate the process.
At the end of the launch, the top 5 Tech start-ups selected to the launch were handed cash prizes by the Novartis Foundation from the least to the top.
Cameroonian Start-up called “Klarah” represented by its C.E.O Innocentia Kwalar was third in the top 5 startups. Klarah is a virtual care platform that helps healthcare professionals, particularly in the diaspora to provide quality healthcare to their home countries. Innocentia Kwalar however stressed that platform is not only limited to persons in the diaspora but can also be used by local Cameroonians. However, it facilitates diasporan persons better.
The top 5 start-ups in order of merit according to Novartis Foundation are as follows:
On the fifth spot was the Lifesten Health Start-up, a Medtech company focused on providing awareness on diabetes using tech tools.
On the fourth spot was the Afia Group Limited start-up, a Certified pharmaceutical e-commerce platform (an online pharmacy) by Rwanda FDA, headquartered in Kigali,
thereby enabling patients to get a 20% discount on their medicines delivered at home with only a few clicks. The startup is on a mission to make quality medications accessible, available, and affordable to billions of people across Africa.
In second place was Medtech Africa, a medical platform that enables caregivers to use health monitoring to manage and improve the care of their patients remotely. It aims to provide easy access to continuous medical care for Cardiovascular disease management and care in Africa.
One the first spot was “Insightiv” a Platform that relies on technologists and radiologists to address the shortage of imaging diagnostics. It will develop advanced technology to detect life-threatening diseases, making medical imaging timely and accessible.
All 30 Tech Start-ups nevertheless have earned a spot at the newly launched HealthTech Hub from where their ideas will be harnessed.
Kigali-Rwanda: Cameroonian Start-up Makes Top 5 Among 30 Others Selected At Launch of HealthTech Hub Africa
