Nigeria’s Lifebank Wins 2018 MIT Solve Finals

Nigeria’s healthcare technology and logistics start-up, Lifebank has won 2018 MIT Solve Global Challenges. LifeBank and the other Solve finalist teams pitched their solutions to Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Peter Sands and other judges at the Solve Challenge Finals in New York City.

LifeBank won under the Frontlines of Health category which is targeted at start-ups developing technology for health workers and services to improve communities’ access to effective and affordable healthcare.

This category received 265 start-ups of which 8 teams were selected for the finals. The teams were: LifeBank (Nigeria), Ada4CHW (Germany), Akiba ya Roho (Kenya), E-Heza Digital Health Record (Rwanda), MediCapt (USA), Neopenda (USA), Refugee Health Workforce Answer To Global Skill Shortage (Switzerland), and Sexperto (Mexico).

See Also: Moroccan Health-tech start-up, DabaDoc Secures Investment From Axa Insurance

Founded by Temie Giwa-Tubosun in 2016, Lifebank is a health start-up that facilitates the transmission of blood from labs across the country to patients and doctors in hospitals. It had delivered over 2,000 imperial pints (1,100 l) of blood to patients in need across Nigeria as at January 2017.

For winning this challenge, the start-up would be receiving up to $50,000 in equity-free funding to accelerate its expansion timeline.

Organized by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Solve Global Challenges targets solutions for prominent issues by supporting and funding concepts around the world.

The challenge is divided into four major categories and it includes;

Work of the Future: focused on identifying those affected by technology-driven transformations and providing them alternative opportunities.

Teachers and Educators: focuses on innovators supporting teachers and offers more accessible and personalized learning experiences.

Coastal Communities:  this focuses on how coastal communities can reduce and adapt to climate change even as they industrialize.

Frontlines of Health: which targets start-ups developing technology for health workers and services that will help improve community’ access to effective and affordable healthcare.

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