Reckitt and HIEx Launch WinNFUND: New Fund Creates NFT Pool to Accelerate Africa’s Women-Led Startups Tackling Health Challenges

Multinational consumer goods company, Reckitt, has announced the public launch of its purely non-profit WiNFUND NFT Africa collection, a group of unique digital artworks that will create a community of innovators, investors and supporters to champion the next generation of African women tackling some of the continent’s biggest health challenges.

Behind the coin is the new Women in Innovation Fund (WiNFUND), which was founded by the consumer goods company Reckitt and the Health Innovation and Investment Exchange (HIEx), in collaboration with the Kofi Annan Foundation and the Eco Bank Foundation. The fund aims to address two significant areas of inequality – 1 in 2 people, or half the world, lack access to essential health services, and less than 2% of venture capital funding globally goes to women despite evidence that their ventures generate stronger returns. Winfund will unlock the potential of women entrepreneurs to address both of these gaps.

Winfund will invest directly in female entrepreneurs who are already implementing home-grown solutions to some of the continent’s most pressing health challenges.

WiNFUND will be partially funded through the sale of WiNFUND NFTs, unique digital artworks designed by Rwandan artist Christella Bijou. The collection has been supported and made available in close collaboration with technology partner, Tokenproof. Additional funding will come from mission-aligned donors, partner organizations and high-net-worth individuals, who together with WiNFUND NFT holders will create a global community of mentors and supporters committed to improving access to healthcare and women’s entrepreneurship.

WinNFUND NFT holders will be given access to invitation-only events on sustainability goals and will be invited to join a mentoring scheme to directly support the successful women entrepreneurs. Since applications opened in September, WiNFUND has received more than 300 applications from women entrepreneurs in seven African countries – Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda. A shortlist of applicants will be announced on International Women’s Day on 8 March. All shortlisted applicants will receive business support to help them scale, while the selected few will receive direct funding from WiNFUND.

The shortlisted companies include the Nigerian e-health business, Famasi Africa, which was co-founded by Adeola Ayoola. The digital health platform enables users to get free follow-up visits, automate monthly refills, access their medications, get doorstep delivery and communicate with medical professionals.

Another Nigerian on the list, Dorothy Jeff Nnamani, the founder of Novo Health Africa and a healthcare entrepreneur, is also one of the top contenders. Novo Health Africa is a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) that emphasizes sustainable health services such as health insurance, health financing, health management systems and health project delivery.

Applicants also include Shamim Nabuuma Kaliisa from Uganda, who launched the Community Healthcare Innovation Lab (CHIL) to screen women in remote locations for cervical and breast cancer using artificial intelligence (AI), after being treated for breast cancer herself.

Also in Uganda, Dr Mercy Ashaba helps people manage the cost of healthcare through the fintech company she co-founded, Peleyta Health. Its micro-savings and lending platform helps low-income Ugandans afford quality healthcare.

And in Kenya, Umra Omar, founder and director of Safari Doctors, leads her team of medics who provide primary health care to some of the country’s most remote regions.

By investing in companies like these, WiNFUND will directly support female entrepreneurs to scale their businesses, expand their reach and help more people than ever access quality healthcare. WiNFUND’s ambition is to replicate this model on other continents in the future.

WinNFUND builds on Reckitt’s Fight for Access (FFA) Accelerator, a program to support and scale early-stage social enterprises worldwide, which has improved access to healthcare for 1.5 million people in its first year alone.

Patricia O’Hayer, Global Head of External Affairs for Reckitt and co-founder of WiNFUND said: “Women-led companies are already achieving amazing things: improving access to healthcare and saving lives. Winfund is an innovative model that will help entrepreneurs grow by building an engaged, global community that will provide business support and funding through the sale of unique NFTs. These entrepreneurs are tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges, and through them we believe WiNFUND can transform access to healthcare for the people who need it most.”

Pradeep Kakkattil, founder and CEO of the Health Innovation and Investment Exchange and co-founder of WiNFUND, said: “Three out of four health workers globally are women. Women on the front lines of healthcare innovate and find solutions to challenges plaguing the healthcare system. Winfund is about enabling equitable access to investment and accelerating women-led health ventures – it can be transformative. It’s a win-win as it impacts access to healthcare and builds economic resilience.”

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