Investing in Innovation (i3) Africa 2024 for African Health Entrepreneurs
When is Application Deadline?
- 14th August 2024
- 21st August 2024 (South Africa only)
Tell Me About Award:
If you are an African entrepreneur creating a solution to a health product distribution challenge in Africa, we invite you to apply for the 2024 cohort. You stand the chance of receiving a $50,000 grant as well as access to leading donors, industry and institutional players who will support introductions to customers. Up to 30 companies will be selected this round.
Which Fields are Eligible?
Services that minimize supply chain inefficiencies and provide critical linkages between manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, providers, and consumers, to reduce stockouts and ensure the availability of essential medicines, consumables and devices are needed.
- HEALTH PRODUCT AVAILABILITY
- ACCESSIBILITY OF HEALTH PRODUCTS
- HEALTH PRODUCT QUALITY
- HEALTH PRODUCT AFFORDABILITY
- VISIBLITY OF HEALTH PRODUCT MOVEMENT
- WASTE MANAGEMENT IN HEALTH SUPPLY CHAINS
What Type of Scholarship is this?
Entrepreneurship
Who can apply?
- Representative of the business must be a founder / co-founder, and at least 18 years old with a valid ID document.
- Company must be owned, led or operated by an African(s). We define this as having an African national with long-term control and management of the business, an equity stake and an active role in both strategic and day-to-day decision making. Organization does not need to be headquartered in Africa.
- Business must have a legal presence on the African continent.
- Business offerings must be focused on serving the needs of African customers
- Business must be in the early or growth stage as defined below. Nascent/idea stage companies, or mature companies (e.g. mature incumbent distribution businesses) are not be eligible.
EARLY STAGE – You must have clearly defined your market, validated customer demand, developed a working prototype and product map, and begun to generate revenue, with a strong plan to scale and sustain growth
GROWTH STAGE – You must have strong, well-defined revenue model, sales, and operational capabilities. Your Products and service must be primed to scale, and customer acquisition costs must be declining. You must have evidence of customer acceptance of your products (reflected in sales volumes, beyond early adopters).Innovators must offer data-driven products or services focused on the distribution of health products, which includes over-the-counter medicines, prescription medicines, health care consumables, medical devices, assistive health technologies, and the movement of medical waste. This includes but is not limited to companies that are building data-driven approaches to health product distribution including medicines, consumables, devices, and more; cold chain technology; track-and-trace; direct-to-consumer delivery of health products; online pharmacies; digital marketplaces for product resupply; vendor-managed inventory for health products; counterfeit drug detection; waste management solutions, and more. Business lines do not need to focus solely on health product distribution to be considered. We will also consider non-health businesses with documented plans to offer data-driven products or services focused on health product distribution in the short-term (2-3 months).
Nonprofits, consultancies, intermediaries, and consortiums are not eligible.
You must show good management and governance. We are looking for efficient use of funds and a strong plan to generate further income and attract additional investments. Participants must have sustainability embedded within plans and practices.
Which Countries are Eligible?
All african countries
How Many Scholarships will be Given?
Not specified
What is the Benefit of Award?
- I3 connects innovators to leading local and international industry players as well as to financing, donors, and governments – in an attempt to help companies establish partnerships, pilot projects, contracts and investment.
- I3 provides systematic grants of $50,000 to all participating startups for investments in commercialization and impact.
- i3 provides participating startups with tailored investment readiness support, delivered by leading innovation experts at CCHub, Startupbootcamp AfriTech, Villgro Africa and IMPACT Lab.
How to Apply for Scholarship?
Applications must be made in English or French and submitted before the 14th of August, 2024. If you have concerns or challenges applying, please let us know via mail at aida.elkohen@innovationsinafrica.com
Visit Award Webpage for Details