10 South African Entrepreneurs Transforming Healthcare Access
10 South African Entrepreneurs Transforming Healthcare Access. The landscape of healthcare access in South Africa is characterized by significant disparities and challenges. While the country boasts a mix of public and private healthcare systems, the public sector, serving the majority of the population, is often overburdened and under-resourced. Rural areas face a particular struggle with access to medical facilities and healthcare professionals, exacerbating issues of inequality. However, recent innovations and the rise of healthcare startups are addressing these gaps. Below are ten South African entrepreneurs who are making significant strides in transforming healthcare access.
Neil Tabatznik
Founder of The Tshemba Foundation. The foundation is committed to improving access to quality healthcare for the rural populations of Limpopo and Mpumalanga, South Africa. Tshemba has developed a unique volunteer programme which enables medical professionals to diagnose and treat patients, and at the same time, to share their skills, expertise and knowledge with local medical professionals, leaving a lasting impact that benefits the region’s overall healthcare system.
Sizwe Nzima
Founder of Iyeza Health, a specialist health company committed to changing the face of public health in South Africa. Iyeza Health offer accessible alternatives to the current status quo in the health products distribution and supply chain.
Vuyane Mhlomi
Co-founder of Quro Medical, a South Africa-based digital health company using cutting edge technologies and analytics to deliver affordable, high-quality healthcare in emerging markets. The company oversees a healthcare ecosystem that brings together medical specialist oversight, clinical professional delivered treatment, evidence-based clinical protocols, patient biometrics monitoring with predictive analytics, on-demand in-home services and equipment, and rapid response protocols and resources in an urgent or emergency event.
Ifthakaar Shaik
Co-Founder of Vitruvian Medical Diagnostics. Vitruvian Medical Diagnostics is a medical technology company that develops low-cost, diagnostic assistance tools for medical laboratories. By combining biomedical engineering and state of the art AI, its mission is to make high quality healthcare services accessible to all people, regardless of income or geographical limitations.
Jacqueline Rogers
Founder of My Pregnancy Journey. This is a 100% women founded and women led tech start-up from South Africa. Already being in the pregnancy industry is how the founder identified this massive gap and need, to create an African focused maternal, postpartum, newborn, baby and family app. The digital companion focuses on the unique challenges that local women and girls face during pregnancy, parenting and beyond. The company has created a localized digital ecosystem, linking everyone in the industry to one another.
Saul Kornik
Founder of Kena Health. This is South Africa’s leading medical app and MTN App of the Year 2023! On Kena Health you can consult with a doctor, nurse or therapist from your smartphone. No appointments needed. It is designed to make getting quality medical care simple, accessible and affordable for everyone.
Laurence (Laurie) Olivier
Co-founder of LifeQ, a health information platform providing biometrics and health insights from wearable devices. LifeQ is the leading provider of biometrics and health information derived from wearable devices, helping people live healthier lives. By providing a 24/7 lens into the body, LifeQ’s solutions go beyond an everyday smartwatch, generating business-grade biometrics for consumers, athletes, and the acutely and chronically ill—detecting health problems and preventing illness.
Yaseen Khan
Founder of EMGuidance, a clinical support platform providing healthcare professionals with up-to-date medical information and guidelines. Its vision is to improve patient outcomes by supporting medical professionals at the point-of-care with locally relevant clinical information – medicines, guidelines, tools and care coordination information.
Dr. William Mapham
Founder of Vula Mobile. Vula is a medical referral app and online platform that makes it easy for primary healthcare workers to get advice from and refer patients to specialists. Vula connects clinicians to each other and their patients, with a seamless, integrated, secure platform, in order to deliver high quality, cost effective, accessible healthcare.
Sheraan Amod
Founder of RecoMed. RecoMed is the largest and fastest growing technology driven online healthcare booking platform and marketplace in South Africa that seamlessly connects practitioners, patients and other stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem. Patients can easily book appointments with a diverse selection of healthcare providers in their area quickly and privately from their phone or desktop, 24/7.
