AI start-up raises $1.65m to democratise healthcare access

South African health-tech start-up, Envisionit Deep AI, has raised S$1.65 million from New GX Ventures SA with an additional undisclosed amount from the GIIG Africa Fund. The funds will be used to unlock the company’s next phase of growth to address the critical shortages in the African and emerging market healthcare sector and democratise access to diagnostic imaging using artificial intelligence (AI).

The start-up was founded in 2019 and builds innovative medical solutions that harness the power of AI to transform how healthcare professionals diagnose and treat patients. Its RADIFY AI technology is improving the speed, accuracy, quality, and affordability of medical imaging diagnosis in the early detection and treatment of various diseases, including tuberculosis, coronavirus pneumonia, and breast cancer, among others.

The combined investment will help Envisionit Deep AI address critical staffing and resource shortages mainly in public healthcare systems and under-served communities across Africa.

Africa is home to 1.2 billion people, yet the continent on average hosts only one physician per 10,000 people. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), while Africa carries 25% of the world’s disease burden, its share of health expenditure is less than 1%. These challenges make it more difficult to retain skilled workers, provide essential services, and prevent deaths from treatable diseases.

Envisionit Deep AI’s mission is to solve these challenges, and Dr Jaishree Naidoo, its chief executive, explains 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.”

The start-up’s innovation presents a positive-sum scenario, where advanced technology makes it easier for doctors to provide quality care at scale, offers deeper insights into how to better treat patients, and in the long-run, improves the feasibility of both healthcare facilities and the systems they operate in.

The 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 widen 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.

Envisionit Deep AI is focusing specifically on introducing its solutions to the mining sector in South Africa, where workers have historically been at 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.

“Solutions like RADIFY AI have shown not only their market value, but their human value too, offering the potential to improve both the wellbeing of Africans and the industry as a whole. To this end, we’re looking forward to working with the Envisionit team as they scale their solutions to the world.”

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