South African healthcare company Netcare And Founders Factory Africa (FFA) have joined forces to design, build and scale over 35 healthcare startups across Africa.
FFA, the Johannesburg-headquartered, corporate-backed tech accelerator and incubator, and Netcare, will provide a platform for entrepreneurs to build and scale health-tech startups across Africa.
The partnership includes an investment of an undisclosed amount by Netcare in FFA.
Entrepreneurs can apply for the Founders Factory accelerator programme to build a new concept from scratch.
A full-time team of over 40 digital and technical experts across Johannesburg, Nairobi, Lagos and London will build and grow the startups across Africa.
Accelerated startups will receive a £30,00 cash investment (≈$38,000) and £220,000 in support services from Founders Factory Africa, according to TechCrunch.
The tech website added that incubator health-tech ventures will receive £60K cash and £100K toward support. Founders Factory Africa and Netcare will share a 5 to 10% equity stake in each startup accepted into the program.
“We are incredibly proud to partner with Netcare. Together we will unlock groundbreaking opportunities in accessing affordable healthcare. We will deliver digitised healthcare solutions and contribute to spearheading Africa’s innovation in healthcare.,” Roo Rogers, Co-Founder, and CEO of Founders Factory Africa say.
“The time, the opportunity, and the need is now, for driving Africa’s health-tech to improve the lives of millions of people.”
Together FFA and Netcare will support investee companies and deliver innovative opportunities in healthcare in South Africa and in selected areas on the African continent. Netcare and Standard Bank will also work together to cross-collaborate across FinTech and HealthTech. Standard Bank was the first corporate to invest in Founders Factory Africa.
Netcare will play an integral role by providing access to hospitals, primary healthcare clinics and healthcare value chains, deep health technical expertise, data and IP to the startups. These resources and expertise will deliver a significant advantage to the businesses in which FFA, including Netcare, select to invest and scale. Netcare will also have the opportunity to continue investing in the new health businesses once their value propositions are proven.
“This exciting initiative enables us to stimulate healthcare innovation and development in South Africa and across the rest of the continent. We are proud to be joining Founders Factory Africa in creating a support system for entrepreneurs which will help them grow innovative healthcare businesses and will provide value to people across Africa, while also unlocking future investment opportunities for Netcare,” Richard Friedland, CEO of the Netcare Group, says.
