Local health-tech start-up Envisionit Deep AI has raised $1.65m that it hopes will unlock the company’s next growth phase in AI-driven healthcare and diagnostics on the continent.
The company said the financial boost would fund projects to “address critical shortages in the African and emerging market healthcare sector and democratise access to diagnostic imaging using AI”.
The company was recently named “Best Newcomer” in the Southern Africa leg of the African Start-up Awards, which has been credited to the success of the company’s Radify AI platform, aimed at assisting radiologists using AI-enhanced medical diagnosis of TB, coronavirus pneumonia, breast cancer and other diseases.
One of the company’s founders, Dr Jaishree Naidoo, said there was a 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 TB and a further 127 151 pathologies. However, this is just scratching the surface – the current system can’t address the massive need and demand,” she said.
Envisionit Deep AI recently announced its investment injection by New GX Ventures SA and the GIIG Africa Fund, reports IOL, with Naidoo saying that the company was focusing specifically on introducing solutions to the mining sector, where workers had historically been at a higher risk for contracting TB due to the concentration of people in workplaces and the incidence of silicosis.
According to the World Health Organisation, while Africa carries 25% of the world’s disease burden, its share of health expenditure is less than 1%.
During the recent Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the congress organiser, the GSMA and the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention to introduce the HealthConnekt Africa initiative, intended to reduce the spread of disease on the continent.
The GSMA is an industry organisation representing the interests of mobile network operators worldwide. More than 750 mobile operators are full GSMA members and a further 400 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem are associate members.
HealthConnekt Africa plans to connect all health facilities and workforce in Africa to the internet by 2030, to provide the connectivity needed to eventually help the fight against the spread of diseases in the region.
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