Merck Accelerator Nairobi Satellite Program in conjunction with Mettā Nairobi selected ten startups for a 4 day coaching and mentorship bootcamp between 15th to 18th May, to provide an opportunity for startups innovating in healthcare, life science and performance materials sectors to quickly explore and validate the potential for co-creating and collaborating with Merck.
The 10 startups selected, out of a pool of 135 applications, included: ConnectMed, UjuziKilimo, Noobites, SoilCares Africa, Lily.Health, Micrive Infinite, Majik Water, Healthix Solutions Kenya, Tambua Intelligent Diagnostics, and Kaaro Health.
Tambua Intelligent Diagnostics emerged as the winner of the program taking home a $3000 no-strings-attached cash prize, a fully paid trip to Merck Innovation Centre in Darmstadt, Germany for a chance to pitch for a collaboration project with Merck, a 1 year full membership at the premier entrepreneurs club Mettā Nairobi among other benefits.
The startup is a cross platform mobile application for diagnosing tuberculosis (TB) and pneumonia that utilizes sound waves, deep analytics (AI) and an expert system to record a cough and profile whether a person has symptoms of these respiratory diseases. The solution seeks to address the lack of cheap early diagnosis tools of TB & pneumonia