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TechCabal Daily – MIT Solve invests $900,000 in Kenyan e-health startup

Olumuyiwa Olowogboyega 26th May 2020

MIT Solve, an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of technology has invested in the Kenyan health startup, Acess Afya. Its $900,000 investment in Access Afya is one of its first investments in its mission to solve world challenges.

According to Disrupt Africa: “Launched by Solve last year, Solve Innovation Future is a philanthropic venture vehicle that uses debt,
equity, and alternative structures to invest in entrepreneurs driving social and environmental impact.”

“Startups are selected annually through Solve’s open innovation challenges, and backed with amounts ranging from US$75,000 to US$250,000. The initiative has announced its first three investments, and among them is the Nairobi-based Access Afya, which has raised US$90,000 from Solve as part of a US$900,000 bridge financing round.”

Despite the global COVID-19 pandemic, African startups did well in terms of funding in Q1 2020. While this a broad positive, TechCabal’s Kay Ugwuede looks at how women-led companies across the continent have fared in Q1.

Although funding is hardly a metric that shows how well a startup is doing, it is still worth looking at.

Here’s an excerpt from Kay’s article:
“According to a new Britter Bridges report, of all the monies raised in Q1 2020, startups led by women were able to raise only 3.2% of the total. In Q1 2019, they raised 5.7%.”

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TechCabal Daily – MIT Solve invests $900,000 in Kenyan e-health startup

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