3 high-potential start-ups honoured with AfricTech awards

The Egyptian e-health start-up Chefaa – an AI-powered and GPS-enabled platform – counts among the three enterprises honoured as part of VivaTech’s AfricaTech Awards.

In a media release, VivaTech says the awards – the first of its kind this year – are presented as part of its international outreach alongside the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank.

Chefaa, which won the health tech award, was founded in 2017 by Dr Doaa Aref following a battle with thyroid cancer. Her Android and IOS app allows users to scan their prescription to order their medicine from the nearest pharmacy, and also give them daily reminders of dosage times.

“I live alone, so I passed through many problems. I really didn’t know how to handle medicine. And when I got better and started to do some market research I found out that everyone literally has these problems. We need a solution. That’s how I got the idea for Chefaa,” Aref told EgyptInnovate in a previous interview.

Other AfricaTech winners

Meanwhile, Kenya’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Centre won AfricaTech’s climate tech award. The centre provides e-waste management services by conducting safe and environmentally friendly operations that protect the environment and human health.

The fintech award was won by Cape Town-based insurtech company Click2Sure. It has built a cloud-based, modular and scalable insurance SaaS enabling insurance companies to deliver omnichannel distribution, reduce administrative costs and make better decisions through real-time reporting and insights.

The AfricaTech Awards is described as a pan-African initiative aimed at recognising and supporting the most innovative start-ups on the continent. VivaTech says the three high-potential awardees promote positive innovation and generate development impact.

The awards were supported by Proparco and sponsored by Cassava Technologies, New Energy Nexus, Orange and Deloitte Africa.

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