Insightiv Technologies, a Rwandan company, won the inaugural competition for African health start-ups and will receive a financial prize and other support to develop its technology. Insightiv’s innovative teleradiology and AI platform is designed to have a major impact in democratizing access to medical imaging diagnostics. The HealthTech Hub Africa is part of a new investment push that aims to revolutionize the development of health technologies designed by Africans for use in Africa.
30 health technology start-ups from sub-Saharan Africa were chosen through an open competition, with the top five start-ups winning financial support. The first-place winner will receive USD 30,000, second place receives USD 20,000, third place receives USD 20,000, fourth place receives USD 10,000 and fifth place receives USD 5,000. Winners have come from Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria as well as Rwanda.
Audace Nakeshimana founded Insightiv and began developing the technology in 2019 while completing his studies for a Computer Science degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the U.S. He established the company in Rwanda to involve local talent in the development of the technology and ensure the solution can focus on solving the problem in an African context. This is particularly important as the regulatory and market constraints in Rwanda and other sub-Saharan countries are different from those in the global North.
Supported by the Novartis Foundation, in collaboration with the Norrsken Foundation, the initial focus will be on technologies helping in the fight against heart disease, breast cancer, and in developing virtual health and care.
About the Novartis Foundation
The Novartis Foundation is a non-profit organization based in Switzerland. For over 40 years, the organization has helped improve the health of low-income populations, initially supporting disease elimination in areas such as leprosy and malaria. Today, it tackles the burning issues of the current time, cardiovascular diseases and health inequity. Novartis takes a population health approach, which means bringing together existing but disconnected data to help authorities understand the root causes of unequal health outcomes, and define the best ways and best partners to remediate those. This empowers governments to transform their health systems from being reactive to proactive, predictive and preventative, and achieve health equity among the populations they serve.
About the Norrsken Foundation
The Norrsken Foundation is a non-profit organization founded in 2016 by the co-founder of Klarna, Niklas Adalberth. Its mission is to help entrepreneurs solve the greatest challenges facing the world today. Norrsken is non-religious and non-political — and has a strong belief in effective altruism.
The Foundation runs the award-winning hub Norrsken House in Stockholm, Sweden and in 2021 Norrsken is opening East Africa’s biggest hub for entrepreneurs in Kigali, Rwanda. The Foundation successfully incubated Norrsken VC – a €100 million impact VC fund investing in the best entrepreneurs that solve societal issues using technology and manage the Norrsken Impact Accelerator, supporting early-stage impact startups with funding, mentorship and growth support.