Artificial intelligence presents unique opportunities for leap-frog solutions in healthcare, which is especially useful in the African context where we face unique and significant challenges. With this in mind, Villgro Africa and partners recently put out a funding call looking for businesses that are utilising artificial intelligence and making a positive impact in healthcare in Africa. We were very excited to receive AI for health applications from across the continent, showing continued growth and innovation in the AI space in Africa.
Meet Our AI for Health Portfolio Companies
The awardees chosen for our AI for health portfolio were announced in early June and tackle health challenges across the healthcare spectrum, from radiology, diagnostics, and pathology to sex education and maternal and infant health.
Rology's main product, Rology Connect, offers a zero-setup cost, end-to-end, high-quality, and integrated tele-radiology solution to the diagnostic imaging facilities in the MEA region, especially in underserved healthcare communities and distant geographical areas. Neural Labs Africa uses Deep Learning and Computer Vision technology to enhance medical images for radiologists and hospitals in real time to identify diseases such as Pneumonia, TB, and lung cancer. By this, the solution empowers doctors to aid accurate diagnoses. Diagnosoft provides an accurate (93%), fast, African-focused, AI-powered diagnostic tool that assists radiologists in accurate diagnosis, reducing the turnaround time, automating and streamlining workflow. It’s tested using African data to reduce bias against the African population
Intixel is a web-based CAD software system for breast cancer detection in screening mammography. The solution seamlessly integrates with the PACS system in hospitals, supply initial diagnosis markups and draft reports to the image data from the imaging modality. Vectorgram Health enables early diagnosis of breast cancer using an AI model, Deep Neural Networks trained on augmented Mammography datasets to execute scalable Computer Vision inference accessible anywhere in the world on an online platform. Saratani AI is a flexible and user-friendly cervical cancer diagnostic device made using deep-learning techniques, trained with quite a large cervical PAP smear cytological image with plans of making it offline. The model can be replicated to diagnose other forms of cancer
The Pathology Network connects doctors, hospitals and the patients they serve to a global network of pathologists. Leveraging technology to enable doctors to order patient’s tests, tests samples are picked, processing arranged, and the samples distributed to a network of pathologists for reporting. Palindrome Data has created predictive, analytic AI models that facilitate triage of HIV patients who need more support and those who need less intensive support. The algorithms do this by identifying characteristics of patients that are likely to cause adverse health outcomes
Sophie Bot is an artificial intelligence persona to answer users' questions on sexual health. Think of her as "Siri for sexual health". We take great care to feed her with curated verified information from our partner/investor UNFPA Kenya. Wekebere uses machine learning to allows for improved healthcare delivery by enhancing early detection of foetal well-being, thus increasing mother and infant safety, preventing maternal and neonatal morbidities, and lowering healthcare costs.
What Excites Them About AI for Health Solutions?
Here's what a few of our companies' founders say makes them most excited about the use of artificial intelligence in African healthcare.
"It excites us that we can build powerful tools customized for the African context and scale up sustainable change to solve the problems of the millions who need it the most."
"AI-based screening is a ground breaking fusion of technology with healthcare which empowers early detection and saving lives. This is where SarataniAI is tapping its potential." - SarataniAI
"The most exciting aspect of AI in medical imaging is its potential to revolutionize diagnostic accuracy, improve patient outcomes, and enhance healthcare efficiency. AI has the capability to analyze vast amounts of medical imaging data with incredible speed and precision, assisting radiologists in detecting diseases, identifying patterns, and making more informed treatment decisions. This technology has the power to transform the field of medical imaging by augmenting human expertise, reducing errors, and ultimately saving lives. Additionally, AI in medical imaging holds great promise for empowering healthcare professionals and providing quality care to individuals in low-income countries, bridging the gap in healthcare disparities and contributing to better health equity on a global scale.""I am most excited about AI's transformative potential across industries, its capacity to drive innovation and solve complex problems with efficiency. Its ability to continuously learn and adapt, along with its powerful memory, makes it a truly groundbreaking technology that holds immense promise for the future.""The pace of innovation and the potential for social change. When we started out on this journey in 2016 the technology we use now didn't exist. I read academic papers just to keep up with the changes in the ecosystem. AI has gotten better at understanding how we talk and write, natural language as it was at finding hot dogs in photos. That unlocks whole new areas of application, like for us and sexual health.""What excites us most about AI is its immense potential to revolutionize healthcare and save lives. AI has the ability to analyze vast amounts of medical data, identify patterns, and make predictions with high precision. This opens up new possibilities for early disease detection, personalized treatment plans, and improved patient outcomes. We are thrilled to be at the forefront of this transformative technology and witness the positive impact it can have on healthcare globally."
Artificial intelligence presents unique opportunities for leap-frog solutions in healthcare, which is especially useful in the African context where we face unique and significant challenges. With this in mind, Villgro Africa and partners recently put out a funding call looking for businesses that are utilising artificial intelligence and making a positive impact in healthcare in Africa. We were very excited to receive AI for health applications from across the continent, showing continued growth and innovation in the AI space in Africa. 
The Pathology Network connects doctors, hospitals and the patients they serve to a global network of pathologists. Leveraging technology to enable doctors to order patient’s tests, tests samples are picked, processing arranged, and the samples distributed to a network of pathologists for reporting. Palindrome Data has created predictive, analytic AI models that facilitate triage of HIV patients who need more support and those who need less intensive support. The algorithms do this by identifying characteristics of patients that are likely to cause adverse health outcomes
