When Brian Gitta fell ill, he had to undergo a series of diagnostic tests to determine what he was suffering from, all of which required blood to be drawn from his system. The process was painful as it was terrifying seeing that he was getting injections for a separate condition at the same time. He started thinking of how tests could be done without drawing blood.
“An average malaria test done in most hospitals takes around 30 minutes using microscopy. If you factor in the time spent on the queue waiting to see a doctor, an early diagnosis may just be the difference between life and death. This means there was also a need to reduce the amount of time spent diagnosing malaria.”
These discoveries prompted Brian, a Computer Engineer to team up to team up with Joshua, Simon, and Josiah to come up with a diagnostic solution that was able to diagnose and determine the severity of malaria in the least amount of time without drawing blood. Due to the gaps identified, the team expanded further bringing on Shafik and Moris. Together they came up with matibabu a device that diagnoses malaria within 2 minutes without drawing of blood. ”
“This device will have a great impact in reducing deaths by malaria in the world through early diagnosis. With the high doctor to patient ratio, it would also help reduce the amount of time doctors spent on diagnosing malaria patients in turn increasing the number of patients attended to in a day.” (Brian Gitta)
According to Teresa Were a senior pediatrician at Makerere University School of Medical Sciences an early diagnosis of malaria not only helps with early treatment but it also prevents the spread of malaria which will in turn significantly reduce the cost of treating malaria.
When Makerere University launched an initiative called the ResilientAfrica Network as part of HESN to give local innovators a platform to demonstrate their innovative solutions to local problems the team presented their prototype and they were on boarded to the Accelerator program. Under RAN they received incubation and a grant to help with developing their product.
“We took an interest to their innovation because it was novel in the sense that it was non-invasive and had the element of diagnosing malaria under 2 minutes and telling the level of malaria in the body.”
“We are really grateful for their resilience. At first most people were of the opinion that these ‘boys’ were thinking way ahead of themselves but they are still committed to delivering the product even though it has taken them a while due to regulatory issues which is common with health innovations.” Ronald Kayiwa of R.A.N.
In 2016, they applied for the E4I Challenge They had a tough time travelling to Kenya on bus and arrived minutes after the pitches were closed. After a lot of persuasion they pitched and their innovation emerged top. They went on to win $10,000 and 6months incubation from Villgro Kenya. Recently they won at Pitch Palace, they have bagged several awards including Microsofts Imagine Cup, Apirin Social Innovation Award among others.
In hindsight, the team agrees that when they were starting off they should have tried to get some training in business as they were purely computer engineers by then and they did not understand business terms.
“It took them about 6months without using a dollar of the money they received from R.A.N because they did not know how to go about it. Getting experts from Uganda to work with them was also not easy so they had to outsource.” Ronald
“We have gained very useful insights on how to commercialize and come up with the best business model for Matibabu through Villgro Kenya. It is also encouraging how we were awarded 6 month incubation but we are still on their portfolio to date. The Tangaza MBA scholarship I won at the E4I challenge also helps us manage our business part of the project.” Shafik Seketto.
One of the challenges they are facing is tight regulations for start-ups in the health sector. Asked for a solution, Brian says there should be a separate platform for start-ups because going through the current process is costly both in terms of money and time.
Currently the team is looking to go into clinical trials. They plan to build doctor’s and patients trust in the product by moving gradually from invasive to non-invasive.
India has an infant mortality rate of 39 per 1000 live births (2014, World Bank). Newborn babies, fragile and delicate, are prone to fevers and infections, which, in a resource-poor country like India, can become fatal. New parents, barely making ends meet on highly unreliable incomes, don’t have the resources to track their baby’s’ health and often wait till it’s too late to take the child in for treatment.
Like most problems in India, this is a complex one, with multiple challenges and solutions. But then again, like most problems in India, there can be simple and effective solutions and people who care enough to find them: Such as a temperature monitoring device fashioned like a wristband that beeps and alerts caregivers when a baby’s temperature drops, now available for as little as $30 (Rs 2,000) in clinics and pharmacies. And the entrepreneur and Stanford mechanical engineer who cared enough to try and treat hypothermia in newborn children to save lives and make healthcare a few steps more accessible for the poor.
When Bempu, the social enterprise founded by Ratul Narain, was incubated by Villgro in 2014, it was still developing a prototype. The company’s biggest challenges were completing the steps necessary – including risk assessment and sourcing options – to take their brand-new product to market and, subsequently, marketing the product and executing a sales strategy. A year-and-a-half later, Bempu has started selling the bracelet to private hospitals and has provided hundreds of doctors with samples of the final product. (Ratul was also selected for the Echoing Green Fellowship, while Bempu won funding from Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, and was one of 17 awardees from USAID’s Saving Lives at Birth program).
Villgro’s approach to incubating social enterprises or startups with social impact has been evolving since 2001 – when social entrepreneurship was a rarely mentioned term in India – and continues to stay agile and grow based on entrepreneurs’ needs.
Our biggest learning has been that there is no one-size-fits-all model of incubation: While a company like Bempu may need more support around marketing and sales another health startup might need a large infusion of funds infusion for R&D and prototyping and access to doctors and labs. Social enterprises working in the education space have a completely different set of needs, such as how to create awareness for their products, integrate them into the classroom, and shape policy, whereas startups working in energy and agriculture may need help with last-mile distribution.
Our pioneering success – over 120 innovators supported in 15 years – is also reliant on factors like deep-dive portfolio management and enabling access to experts and resources within niche sectors, and more importantly:
a) Innovative techniques for an evolving space
From an entrepreneur-in-residence program to an accelerator style year-long program with classroom sessions to ‘diagnostic panels’ that bring together business and sector experts and entrepreneurs to brainstorm and develop strategies, we have continuously experimented with and then scaled (and occasionally discarded) tools and techniques that seek to magnify our portfolio companies growth and impact.
b) High-touch mentoring for customised solutions
Time and again, whether it’s through a formal survey or in casual conversations, we have heard that mentoring – especially the brand of high-touch sector expertise offered at Villgro – is the most valuable service they receive. We run a highly engaged mentoring program that recruits former senior executives or experienced entrepreneurs and pairs them to work closely with portfolio companies. This has shown impressive results for the long run.
c) Building an ecosystem
No company or entrepreneur can work in isolation. Where there is funding, they need talent; where there is expert guidance, they need labs. An ecosystem of support – from events that bring people together to mentors to early-stage funding and more, you need an ecosystem to raise a start-up.
In the next phase of Villgro’s incubation model, these techniques and knowledge are being taken to a global context, to be replicated in other markets where social enterprise is on the rise, such as Kenya and Vietnam. New regions but similar contexts, where innovative market-based solutions are needed for age-old problems.
This partnership between Villgro and USAID’s Partnering to Accelerate Entrepreneurship (PACE) Initiative will help catalyze the implementation of what has been a highly effective approach into Villgro Kenya, a health-focused incubator set up in partnership with The Lemelson Foundation, and an incubation and investment program in Vietnam along with the Lotus Impact and local angel investor networks, such as the Mekong Angel Investor Network.
This partnership combines the knowledge and implementation of Villgro with the expertise and networks of PACE, setting the stage for even greater successes in the coming years. There will be new lessons to learn which will help us refine our approach, as we continue to grow our work and our impact.
This blog post is part of USAID’s Global Entrepreneurship Week Blog Series, which focuses on the importance of entrepreneurs for development, the challenges they face, and innovative models being developed to address them.
The burden for communicable and non-communicable diseases has always been heavy on Africa. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) further lay heavy emphasis on need for health innovations to solve the acute healthcare issues in the region. The goals focus on improved health for all groups with priority for better access to maternal and child health, low incidences of HIV/AIDS, better healthcare delivery through innovations in diagnostics and as well as tackling of rise in non-communicable diseases, which all individually contribute to high death rates. From Mr. Ban Ki Moon, United Nations General Secretary to Secretary General Dr Mukhisa Kituyi (UNCTAD), members of United Nations have emphasized the role of private sector in pushing the implementation of SDGs and the opportunity that they provide for business-led solutions to be developed and implemented to address the world’s biggest sustainable development challenges.
In the past, most efforts have been devoted to increasing access to healthcare services. Today the diseases and problem areas are much more complex, exposing the region to far greater health hazard. Though access to healthcare has improved due to large investments in technology however little has been done to promote scientific and technological breakthroughs required to address the complex diseases. The focus should be on to invest in low cost devices which are affordable, portable, less dependent on human resources and training and require less infrastructure and energy to operate.
Current focus areas:
1. Reduction in communicable diseases incidence rates:
2. Affordable, portable and low cost medical devices: The global diagnostics technologies currently available, unfortunately, do not meet the need of African markets. These technologies heavily rely on energy, time consuming, difficult to transport and costly. An accurate and timely diagnostic can help prevent spread of diseases and fatalities. In order to reach the masses, it is important to develop diagnostic technologies which are portable, off-grid, single platform to diagnose multiple diseases and affordable. There is also a need to focus on improved maternal and neonatal healthcare. The maternal and neonatal fatalities are caused due to various independent medical conditions and thus the current need to is develop low cost fully integrated medical suite with facilities including ultrasound, appropriate diagnostics, safe birthing kits and post-delivery care.
3. Curbing the rise of non-communicable diseases (NCDs): Years of development aids and work towards creating awareness has led to strengthening of healthcare systems, curbing communicable diseases in East Africa. However, economic growth, urbanization and unhealthy lifestyle has given rise to another threat – non-communicable diseases such as high blood pressure, obesity, cardiovascular diseases etc. The cardiovascular diseases itself accounts for 35 percent of the deaths in sub-Saharan Africa. For the time being, the efforts should lie in increasing awareness and encouraging people to live more healthy lifestyle. It is also important to provide affordable nutrient-dense complementary food for infants as many nursing mother may not have access to the required diet during breastfeeding period.
The need of these technologies and innovations provide a huge opportunity for social entrepreneurs. Looking at this need, Villgro Kenya was started in early 2015, supported by Lemelson Foundation, to incubate sustainable businesses in health innovations. Villgro Kenya is a replication of Villgro Innovations Foundation (VIF) model based in India. Over the past year, Villgro Kenya has built its expertise in supporting innovators and entrepreneurs in health and life sciences sector. We support incoming entrepreneurs by building their model through coaching and providing access to right networking opportunities for growth. We invite innovators and social entrepreneurs who are equally passionate to work towards healthier Africa through breakthrough technologies listed above.