The global disability innovation hub and AMREF enterprises limited have unveiled five local entrepreneurs selected as finalists to the first cohort of the innovate now accelerator program.
The five start-ups were picked from a total of 30 applicants who presented their assistive technology solutions to improve the overall wellbeing of persons with disabilities.
The innovate now accelerator will support entrepreneurs through expert mentorship, user-centered design, user-testing through a network of live labs, as well as access to seed funding.
The five selected on Tuesday which is also the World International Day of persons with disabilities, include, Vijana Reloaded, Hope Tech Plus, Linccel Technologies, Syna ConsultancyandToto Sciltd.
Bernard Chiira, the Director of Innovate Now asserts that the majority of the businesses fail due to lack of funding since investors are unwilling to engage in businesses that have undefined costs and undetermined demand. This is the gap that this accelerator program will help increase the demand for these technologies and ultimately help the businesses grow.
Innovate now is part of the UK aid-funded at2030 program and is Africa’s first assistive technology innovation ecosystem and start-up accelerator. During the next three years, innovate now will support 60 start-ups a quarter of which will track to scale.
