WATCH THE VIDEO HERE Investing in Innovation Africa (i3), a pan-African initiative to support African health-tech startups to commercialise and scale their offerings has decided to make a pivotal change to its third cohort selection to prioritise the immediate support for 5-7 growth-stage companies building the future of pharmacy care in Africa. This comes after the US State Department’s “stop-work” directive for foreign aid issued on January 25, which is anticipated to impact the distribution of essential medicine in Africa’s healthcare supply chains. President Donald Trump issued the executive order freezing US foreign development assistance for 90 days upon assuming office. One of the affected by the order is the US Agency for International Development (USAID), which offers humanitarian and development assistance to other countries, primarily by giving fundings to non-governmental organisations, governments, and others. USAID is crucial in combating HIV/AIDS and other health matters. According to a statement shared with Business Post on Monday, i3 says the order highlights and intensifies the need for locally-driven, market-creating approaches to health product distribution and service delivery across Africa. So now the programme funded by the Gates Foundation, MSD, Cencora, Endless Foundation, HELP Logistics (a subsidiary of the Kühne Foundation), Sanofi’s Global Health Unit and Chemonics, will concentrate its immediate efforts on helping innovative growth-stage startups unlock major partnerships to rapidly expand access to patient care. Fifteen leading startups will be selected for this cohort including 10 early-stage startups innovating in healthcare delivery or product distribution and five growth-stage startups building the future of pharmacy care. Early-stage startups will receive a $50,000 grant and growth-stage startups will receive a $225,000 grant to unlock major partnerships that can expand patient access across the continent. For startups in the cohort, i3 aims to facilitate at least 150 relationships with key healthcare organizations, worth at least $30M, which will expand patient access while creating valuable local jobs. Entries for the 3rd cohort are open until February 28 after which the selected startups will be announced on April 30. Launched in 2022, i3 has empowered 60 African health innovators across 16 countries, exceeding expectations with 43 per cent women-led and 20 per cent Francophone-led ventures.
i3 Shifts 3rd Cohorts Focus to Growth-Stage Healthtechs After Trump’s Orders
