Google Selects 5 African Startups for its AI for Well being Accelerator Program

5 African startups specifically Eden Care from Rwanda, iZola from Kenya: mDoc from Nigeria, Pharmarun from Nigeria and Zuri Well being from Kenya have been chosen among the many 2023 cohort of the Google for Startups Progress Academy: AI for Well being after an intensive choice course of that began in Might.

The 5 startups from Africa, among the many 30 transformative startups from throughout Europe, Center East, and Africa will be a part of Google’s Google for Startups Progress Academy: AI for Well being, a hybrid program devoted to supporting high-potential startups utilizing AI expertise to develop and innovate responsibly within the healthcare and well-being business.

The startups may have three months of workshops, mentoring, and networking occasions, founders develop data-driven methods for buying new prospects and partnerships, innovate responsibly with rising applied sciences, and increase to new markets.

In keeping with Yuval Passov, Head of Google for Startup and lead of this system: “Africa’s progressive spirit within the AI for Well being area is profoundly inspiring. These startups stand as a testomony to the continent’s potential to develop international well being options. We goal to face alongside them, providing assist and partnership as they attempt to scale and disseminate their groundbreaking options.”

The 30 startups will obtain three months of equity-free assist, mixed with entry to Google merchandise and assets, mentorship, d AI professionals to harness AI as a transformative instrument, addressing important challenges from early illness detection to making sure data accessibility. Their improvements not solely enhance billions of lives but in addition drive sturdy financial progress.

Eden Care merges AI and digital well being to reshape medical insurance and company well-being whereas Kenya’s iZola enhances assist for households with neurodivergent youngsters by way of an AI-integrated therapeutics platform. Nigeria’s mDoc elevates private well being practices by digital well being mentorship and Nigeria’s Pharmarun unifies regional pharmacies with an progressive, patient-first platform. Kenya and Nigeria’s Zuri Well being desires to revolutionize affected person care with an all-inclusive digital toolkit.

Among the many chosen startups exterior Africa, Biocam has launched a capsule that scans the digestive system in real-time to establish potential threats. Mindstep presents an app targeted on enhancing mind and psychological well being, whereas Rayscape gives radiologists with a digital assistant outfitted with AI instruments for higher decision-making.

This initiative aligns with Google’s broader imaginative and prescient to assist startups and speed up their progress. In August Google introduced a broader program, the Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First, a 10-week fairness free accelerator geared toward supporting African startups wanting to make use of synthetic intelligence to unravel native challenges.

Since introducing the Google for Startups Accelerator packages in Africa in 2018, Google has supported 106 startups from 17 African international locations and these startups have collectively raised over $263 million in funding and created over 2,800 jobs.

Not too long ago Google revealed the institution of an AI analysis centre as a part of its efforts to fight meals shortages in Africa. Google’s initiative contains the institution of an AI centre targeted on addressing meals insecurity in Africa and the allocation of $25 million in funding for 15 AI tasks, together with these in Kenya and South Africa, as a part of its World Targets Influence Problem on AI for the SDGs.

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