Envisionit Deep AI ,a South African health-tech start-up, has secured S$1.65 million from New GX Ventures SA with an additional undisclosed amount from the GIIG Africa Fund.
The investment will be used to address critical staffing and resource shortages mainly in public healthcare systems and under-served communities across Africa.
Envisionit Deep AI’s mission is to solve these challenges, and Dr Jaishree Naidoo, its chief executive, indicated that “there is huge demand for healthcare services in Africa, particularly in the field of medical diagnostics.
“In 2022 alone, we screened and triaged 64 351 patients, including 44 529 cases of pneumonia, 1 635 cases of tuberculosis, and a further 127 151 pathologies. However, this is just scratching the surface – the current system just isn’t able to address the massive need and demand.”
Founded in 2019 ,the startup builds innovative medical solutions that enhance the power of AI to transform how healthcare professionals diagnose and treat patients.
The company makes different products that it intends to sell outside of South Africa. One of these is the Radify AI platform, which provides speed, accurate, quality, and affordable medical imaging diagnosis in the early detection and treatment of various diseases, including tuberculosis, coronavirus pneumonia, and breast cancer, among others.
The combined investment by New GX Ventures SA and the GIIG Africa Fund will play an integral role in Envisionit Deep AI’s next stage of growth by financing research and development into new solutions for early diagnosis in the medical field.
These funds will also support the company’s efforts to deepen its reach in the African market, ahead of securing Conformite Europeenne (CE) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorization to expand into Europe and the United States.
The company also intends to introduce its solutions to the mining sector in South Africa, where workers are exposed to a higher risk for contracting tuberculosis due to the concentration of people in workplaces and the incidence of silicosis.
The company is looking to partner with mine operators to expand and enhance their screening capabilities and improve the wellbeing of their employees.
Co-founder of the GIIG Africa Fund, Jo Griffiths, says: “Access to quality healthcare is recognized as a universal human right, but this remains out of reach for millions of Africans across the continent.
