By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Entrepreneurs willing to partake in the Qualcomm Make in Africa 2025 programme can now begin to submit their entries, the organisers have disclosed.
The 2024 edition was won by Kenya’s Aurora Health Systems, getting the Wireless Reach Social Impact Fund after it beat the other nine finalists to the prize.
The finalists were drawn from six African countries, including Nigeria, which had Kitovu, founded by Nwachinemera Emeka.
Kitovu is revolutionizing agriculture with its WareGuard smart warehouse management solution, designed to reduce post-harvest losses and enhance food security for millions of farmers.
The 10 startup owners were chosen and supported because their products addressed challenges in healthcare, agriculture, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and industrial sectors.
The Make in Africa Startup Mentorship Program showcases the energy and innovation emerging from the African technology scene, demonstrating Qualcomm’s commitment to supporting startups as part of the broader Qualcomm Africa Innovation Platform.
The Wireless Reach Social Impact Fund is provided by Qualcomm through its Qualcomm Wireless Reach Initiative to supports startups in scaling their societal and market impact.
Aurora Health Systems was selected for its innovative wireless, portable ECG device with LTE connectivity.
This device assists patients with cardiovascular disease by enabling remote data transmission of ECG data to healthcare providers, even in rural areas.
The firm is the first in East Africa to train ECG AI models on locally sourced data, resulting in more accurate algorithms and improved AI-powered diagnostics.
“The Make in Africa startups are disrupting traditional industries and tackling socio-economic challenges, crafting innovative solutions with global market reach by using AI, advanced connectivity, and IoT,” the President of Qualcomm MEA, Wassim Chourbaji, stated.
“This startup mentorship program reflects Qualcomm’s commitment to supporting promising early-stage deep tech startups, empowering local talents, creating jobs and driving economic growth,” Chourbaji added.
Business Post reports that the 10 finalists for the 2024 edition were Aurora Health Systems which provides AI-based cardiovascular healthcare tools, CropScan from Kenya which uses solar-powered smart farming IoT devices, Cure Bionics from Tunisia which makes smart 3D printed prosthetic devices, DevisionX from Egypt which provides AI-based low-code computer vision tools, and Kalio from Cameroon which builds AI tools for Agricultural IoT.
Others were Kitovu from Nigeria which provides tools and software for smart agricultural warehouse management, NextAI Studios from Kenya which builds AI-based emotion detection into toys for children’s mental healthcare, RIM Nextgen from Kenya which uses smart tools for monitoring propane consumption, Sparcx from South Africa which uses AI for enhancing radar signal processing, and ViZmerald from Tunisia which works on AI-based textile industry inspection.