Are you a start-up working towards the SDG’s and are based in Africa? Are you working at the cutting edge of innovation to solve real-life problems? Is your start-up innovation related to Healthcare, Life Sciences, Performance Materials, and Performance Materials and Merck’s innovation focus areas?
If you have answered yes to any of the questions above. Then we are looking for you! The Joint Start-up Programme, a collaboration between Merck Accelerator with Tech Entrepreneurship Initiative “Make-IT in Africa” is your gateway to quickly explore and validate the potential for co-creating and working in in the health sector especially in partnership with Merck.
Apply to get a chance to work on a collaboration project with existing Merck’s innovation projects.
FOCUS AREAS
- Digital Solutions in the Healthcare Sector
- Bio-Sensing and Interfaces
- Liquid Biopsy Technologies
Digital Solutions in the Healthcare Sector
Primary access to healthcare and healthcare services are key to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages. The application of technological solutions can contribute to increasing the efficiency of healthcare through enhanced access, improved affordability but also innovative diagnostic services and administration processes.
To augment the digital access solution services, we are looking for innovative and ambitious start-ups with a sustainable business model in different areas e.g.:
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- Digital patient management solutions
- Savings group i.e. fintech solutions/ healthcare financing and insurance
- Rapid diagnostic tests and e-health solutions
- Digital health education solutions for patients
- Patient support programs
- Community self-service enablement solutions
WHO SHOULD APPLY?
We are looking for start-ups that fulfil the following criteria:
- Registered in an African country and operative for at least a year
- A business model with a focus on the SDG’s and a solution in the fields of Healthcare, Life Sciences, Performance Materials and other search fields such as Biosensing and Interfaces, and Liquid Biopsy
Technologies - Start-ups with at least 2 cofounders
- The team supports gender equality and diversity
- Applicants must be fluent in English
HOW TO APPLY?
Our program will be targeting start-ups across Africa. We will have one application platform where participants will be required to specify which region they are applying from and where their business is registered: North Africa, Eastern Africa, West Africa, and Southern Africa.
Timeline
| Application Phase | June 21 – July 17 2019 |
| Selection interviews | July 11 – July 18 2019 |
| Nairobi: Bootcamp | August 5 – August 10 2019 |
| South Africa: Innovation Summit | September 09 – September 13 2019 |
| Germany: Medica and Selection Days | November 18 – November 27 2019 |
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
This is your gateway to quickly explore and validate the potential for co-creating and working in partnership with Merck and profit from the broad network of Make-IT in Africa. In addition, we have a few perks for the best start-ups:
- Business Case Development:
- Fully paid bootcamp in Nairobi for top 20 start-ups (5 per each region) to ideate and develop business cases for collaboration with Merck
- Continuous business support, technical support and online mentoring and coaching
- Scale-Up Diagnostics and Design for Scale Training
- Ecosystem Learning Journey:
- Spotlight and exhibition at the South Africa Innovation Summit in Cape Town for 4 finalists
- Spotlight and Demo Day at Merck in South Africa for 4 finalists
- Spotlight and exhibition at MEDICA conference in Dusseldorf for 4 finalists
- Corporate Collaboration: A fully paid trip to Merck Innovation Center at the HQs to pitch for a collaboration project with Merck for 4 finalists
- Connect and Community: Three meetups in each focus region will be conducted to connect with a rich community of founders and innovators in your region going through the same challenges, as you exchange ideas and build lifetime connections.
- Access to Make-IT Fellowship:
- Investor meetups
- Business opportunities
- Potential exposure measures