HealthTech Hub Africa Accelerator Program

Founded by the Novartis Foundation and supported by the Global Fund and the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, HTHA aims to address these challenges by actively integrating innovations into public health systems through collaboration with key government stakeholders. Together with its managing partners, the accelerator aims to offer entrepreneurs a powerful platform to create sustainable businesses and meaningful health impact.

Thematic Areas

• Cardiovascular health – Reducing cardiovascular disease deaths on the population level through improved screening, referral, diagnosis, and management.
• Breast cancer – Reducing breast cancer deaths on the population level through improved screening, referral, diagnosis, and management.
• Virtual health and care – Improving quality, access to equitable care, and digital literacy through remote delivery of preventative and curative health and care services.
• Optimization of data-driven decision-making – Improving health system capabilities and epidemic preparedness through stronger integrated health information.

What you get?

Participation in 10-Month Accelerator Program, which includes:

• For the Growth Startups:
  • Mentorship with strong expertise in population health and technology.
  • Coaching and access to an interactive platform for growth level support allowing for structuring and refinement of existing and new business models and preparing executive summaries.
  • Expert masterclasses.
  • Pitch practice sessions.
  • Community support.
  • Startup solution demos and opportunities to pitch during the two annual HealthTech summits in Kigali, Rwanda.
  • Invitation to networking meetups and hybrid events across Africa and beyond.
• For the Scale ups:
  • Access to all the above benefits offered to growth startups.
  • Free access to world-class legal services, accounting, marketing, talent acquisition, and accelerated fundraising.
  • Media training and exposure.
• Membership in The HealthTech Public-Private Partners Network, Which Includes:
  • Free expert-level support from established local and global organizations in the form of advisory, facilitation, match-making with prospective partners, consulting, and more
  • Perks in the form of free and/or highly discounted infrastructure credits, software licenses and technical and design services
  • Access to the hub’s investor circle
  • Access to various opportunities shared by the network
• Funding Opportunities for Innovation Acceleration in Public Health
  • Through the digital platform of the hub, all selected startups will be able to apply for grant funding and in-kind benefits exceeding USD 1M.
  • The funding will serve the startups to test, refine, validate, integrate and, accelerate and/or scale their solutions inside the public health systems to drive forward health equity in the continent.
  • Following the projects’ completion, the solutions successfully integrated into the respective national health systems will be spotlighted and will have the opportunity to seek further support in the future.
• Full-Year Access to A State-Of-Art Co-Working Space
  • The membership comes with 12 months of serviced office space, meeting and conference spaces, and an invitation to startup community events hosted by the Norrsken East Africa House in Kigali.
• Lifetime Access to The Hub’s Alumni Network and Open-Source Resources
  • All startups and scale-ups who have completed the program will receive a Participation Certificate and a lifetime Alumni membership to the HealthTech Hub Africa’s resources and future opportunities.

Who should apply?

• For the 2024 Cohort, they are looking for Growth Startups and Scale ups from the whole African continent with innovative business models allowing for collaboration with local and national governments, and aiming to support health systems in their digital transformation journeys.
• For each of the two tracks the key criteria of evaluation for the applicants are based on their ability to demonstrate the innovation potential to successfully address challenges in one or more of the four thematic areas of focus for the hub, their product excellence, team, fit-to-market, sustainability and scalability model in relation to working with the public system.

Eligibility Criteria

The HTHA Challenge is open to all HealthTech startups with the following mandatory conditions:

• For growth startups:
  • African Registration: Startups must be registered in an African country.
  • Team Composition: A co-founding team with at least two members, including one African founder.
  • Thematic Alignment: The startup’s product or service should align with one or more of HealthTech Hub Africa’s four thematic areas: cardiovascular health, breast cancer, virtual health and care, and Optimisation of data-driven decision making.
  • Revenue Stage: Startups can be either pre-revenue or post-revenue.
  • Funding Stage: Pre-SEED to SEED stage startups are eligible.
  • Operational Duration: Startups should have been in operation for a minimum of one year.
• For scale ups:
  • African Registration: The startup must be registered in an African country.
  • Team Composition: A co-founding team with at least two members, including one African founder.
  • Thematic Alignment: The product or service should align with one or more of HealthTech Hub Africa’s four thematic areas, which include cardiovascular health, breast cancer, virtual health and care, and data for decision making.
  • Evidence-Based Solution: The startup’s product or service should be evidence-based and demonstrate positive health benefits.
  • Impact Monitoring: A rigorous approach to monitoring the solution’s impact on individuals is essential.
  • Revenue Stage: Startup’s must be post-revenue.
  • Funding Stage: Pre-Series A or Series A.

For more information, visit Novartis Foundation.