Covid-19 and African tech startups roundup [13/04/2020]

A team of Cape Town innovators are looking to design and produce ventilators to help those who fall ill from Covid-19. They’ve raised R50 000 so far in a crowdfunding campaign.

This, while six African innovators are getting support from the Ghana Tech Lab and Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works, to develop solutions to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.

With the coronavirus (Covid-19) headlining news all over the world, Ventureburn has launched a regular daily roundup on the virus and how it is affecting Africa’s tech startup sector.

Those with any news releases relating to Covid-19 and Africa’s tech startup sector can send these to editor@memeburn.com.

A team of Cape Town innovators are looking to produce ventilators for those who fall ill from Covid-19 and are looking for funding

Here then is the latest on the coronavirus and African tech startups:

Ventilator inventors: A team of engineers and clinical anaesthetists with formal training in critical care from UCT’s Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, based at Groote Schuur Hospital, are looking to design and produce ventilators to help those who fall ill from Covid-19. A prototype has already been built but more hardware and sensors are needed before trials and the certification process can start. The team is running a fundraising campaign on crowdfunding platform BackaBuddy.co.za for its RescueVent ventilator and has so far raised over R50 000 so far.

LifeBank adds new service: LifeBank, a healtech startup that delivers blood and other essential medical products has launched Quip, a national register that allows hospitals to list their unused equipment to rent them out whenever needed, TechMoran said in an article. The equipment includes things such as respirators, defibrillators and hospital beds. Last year the startup, which was founded in 2016 by Temie Tubosun (pictured above) was awarded $250 000 after it was named the winner of the inaugural Africa Netpreneur Prize.

Dating app surge: Egyptian matchmaking app Hawaya has seen a surge in usage due to Covid-19, tech publication MenaBytes reported in an article yesterday. The app, which was founded in 2017 by CEO Sameh Saleh, was previously known as Harmonica. It was acquired by the global online dating company Match Group last year (see this story). The number of messages being exchanged between users grew by 40% in March over February, with users also spending 25% more time on the app.

Ghana Tech Lab challenge: Six African innovators are getting support from the Ghana Tech Lab and Mastercard Foundation’s Young Africa Works, to develop solutions to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, tech publication Disrupt Africa reported in an article today. The six innovators, who have each netted $10 000 grants to help them to develop their innovations further, will present their innovations online next month.

Read more: Covid-19 and African tech startups roundup [10/04/2020]
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Featured image: Lifebank founder Temie Tubosun (Africa Netpreneur Prize via Facebook)