Three teams of health professionals and entrepreneurs have emerged the winners of the recent Health Hack Accra, and will receive six months’ incubation by global science and technology company Merck and Impact Hub Accra to develop their solutions.
Disrupt Africa reported the first Health Hack Accra asked attendees to come up with innovative business ideas and models with the potential to improve health outcomes in Ghana, West Africa, and the continent.
The event was co-hosted by Merck, Hack for Big Choices, and Facebook, and took place at Impact Hub Accra.
150 participants – ranging from students to entrepreneurs, biomedical engineers and surgeons – joined in the hackathon, forming 29 teams.
The hackathon focused on three core challenges, as identified by Merck experts: reproductive and maternal health; connectivity and access to health; and non-communicable and infectious diseases.
During the 48-hour event, teams worked on their solutions, and also took part in workshops hosted by the organising partners, around topics such as business model canvas, and design thinking.
On Sunday, teams presented their work, and the top three teams working in each challenge category were selected. They then pitched to a jury of investors, serial entrepreneurs and Merck senior managers.
The three overall winners were Crowdfrica, a crowdfunding platform for healthcare; condom delivery service dYnaMix; and Peach Technologies – an AI-powered mobile electronic health record system.
The three winning teams will receive six months’ co-working space at the Merck Entrepreneurial Development Space at Impact Hub Accra, as well as support from Merck experts; Unreasonable Lab incubation; and access to Facebook features such as enrolment on the Bootstrap track of FbStart, and access to Free Basics.
“The spirit of the Health Hack Accra was truly unique and inspiring. To experience so many young and passionate people work very hard over the whole weekend to solve some of the biggest challenges in healthcare on the continent was great. It is amazing how much can be achieved and created within one weekend,” says Karina Fassbender, innovation facilitator at Merck.
