Norrsken East Africa, East Africa’s biggest hub for entrepreneurship, has partnered with the Novartis Foundation to launch the HealthTech Hub Challenge for the top East Africa-based innovators working on cardiovascular health, breast cancer or virtual health and care challenges. The HealthTech Hub Africa is a new HealthTech accelerator based in Kigali, Rwanda.

History of Norrsken and Norvatis Foundation
Norrsken, founded in 2016 by Niklas Adalberth, the co-founder of Klarna, is an impact ecosystem whose vision is to enable the next impact unicorn- a company that has a positive impact on one billion lives. Furthermore, the foundation manages the Norrsken Impact Accelerator, Europe’s leading accelerator program for early-stage impact start-ups. It has successfully incubated Norrsken VC; a €100 million impact VC fund investing in the best entrepreneurs that solve societal issues using technology.

Novartis Foundation is a non-profit foundation. It focuses on advancing digital and data-led approaches to population health. It transforms health systems from being reactive to proactive, predictive and preventative. Also, in all its initiatives, the foundation delivers robust evidence that informs effective policymaking and health and care delivery. Similarly, it delivers shares learnings, insights and models to advance the world’s understanding of population health; it enables the replication of best practices.
The hub, located at the Norrsken East Africa House in Kigali, Rwanda is powered by the Novartis Foundation. So, it will host up to 30 startups. They will have access to a program that includes capability-building opportunities, partner match-making with the public and private sectors; similarly, mentorship and opportunities to test and validate their solutions in the public health system.
About the HealthTech Hub Challenge
The HealthTech Hub Challenge is a competition to identify three of the most promising start-ups in Africa tackling population health challenges focused on cardiovascular health, breast cancer or virtual health and care. The HealthTech Hub Challenge is open to startups with less than $2m in prior funding and with a validated Minimum Viable Product. Teams of two or more people can apply, and those with a more positive gender balance will be prioritized. Startups must focus on at least one of the following areas: cardiovascular health, breast cancer, and virtual health and care.
Furthermore, for more information, visit https://norrsken.typeform.com/htchallenge