Are you an entrepreneur committed to building inclusive, equitable, and resilient health systems in Asia?
Villgro Philippines is seeking entrepreneurial individuals who are dedicated to developing inclusive, equitable, and sustainable healthcare systems in Asia. Villgro Philippines is interested in innovative approaches that will revolutionize the way sexual, reproductive, and maternal health, as well as epidemic and pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response are handled in South and Southeast Asia.
RELEVANT SUSTAINABLE GOALS
AI4Health Asia
The AI4Health Asia is a 10-month accelerator program designed to promote and nurture innovations in Responsible Artificial Intelligence (AI) in South and Southeast Asia. The objective of the program is to fund and support startups that integrate AI innovations to solve health challenges across the region still reeling from the impact of COVID-19, particularly in the areas of (1) Sexual, Reproductive, and Maternal health, and (2) Epidemic and Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response. The program will work to create and enable a robust ecosystem of support and catalyze responsible development, scaling, and support for AI innovations in healthcare.
AI4Health Asia aims to
Identify
Innovative startups working on AI integration in health, particularly SRMH & pandemic response in South & Southeast Asia
Provide
Hands-on commercial / technical / ethical training and support from domain experts to Asian AI entrepreneurs on product development, go-to-market, and growth strategies
Catalyze
Promising entrepreneurs with seed funding to grow talent and capacity in the region to support the local design, development, and deployment of responsible AI for health innovations
Connect
AI-enabled innovations with appropriate capital providers to improve health systems in South and Southeast Asia
What the program offers
- Tailored support
A customized 10-month program designed to help validate and scale the innovations toward growth and impact
- Seed Funding
Each startup will receive a grant of up to USD 6,250 to be used to conduct lean experiments to validate business models during the program
- Peer Learning and Coaching
Startups will go through intensive virtual ‘learning labs’ facilitated by global experts through a high-impact curriculum and deep dives with peers through sharing circles
-
Mentoring
Access to one-to-one mentoring by business and domain experts to support lean experimentation and business model validation & growth
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Technical Assistance
Tailored technical assistance from sector experts in the fields of digital health, ethics in data and health, gender-disaggregated data, AI designed for gender-specific concerns
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Investment Readiness
Each startup will receive bespoke investment readiness support from our in-house investment and finance experts to build/strengthen their financial management systems, refine financial models and investment asks, and craft pitch decks and data rooms
-
Follow-on Funding
Startups that are ready and have investment potential will have the opportunity to get matched and pitch to Villgro’s partner investors at the end of the accelerator program
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Impact Showcase
An opportunity for the startups to showcase their solutions to investors, funders, peers, and stakeholders
Who can apply?
Startups that are AI-enabled and offer data-driven products or services that improve health outcomes around:
(1) Sexual, Reproductive, or Maternal Health; OR
(2) Epidemic & Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness & Response
Founder/co-founders of a startup with a legal entity in South and Southeast Asia in any of the following countries:
(1) Philippines
(2) Cambodia
(3) Indonesia
(4) Thailand
(5) Vietnam
(6) Bangladesh
(7) Nepal
Underrepresented founders and women-led startups are highly encouraged to apply
Timeline of Activities For AI4Health Asia
Deadline of Applications March 3rd, 2023 (11:59 PM +8 GMT)
Screening and Selection March 2023
Accelerator Program March – December 2023
Impact Showcase January 2024
How to apply?
Submit a completed application form via our application portal along with:
● CVs of core team members (Required)
● An updated company pitch document (Required)
● A link to a 2-minute max video that describes the innovation (Optional)
This work was carried out with the aid of a grant from the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.
For more information, check here
ABOUT THE ORGANISERS
Villgro Philippines is a women-owned and led, gender-smart incubator that funds, mentors, and supports impact startups building innovative solutions to address the most urgent social and environmental challenges. It now has a direct portfolio of 39 startups across health, education, agriculture, affordable housing, and women and girls in Southeast Asia. To bridge the gender financing gap in the ecosystem, Villgro co-founded Impact Pioneers, the first impact angel investment platform in the Philippines, and WE Rise Community, an access-to-finance platform for women entrepreneurs to connect to capital, content, and a community of peers and ecosystem enablers. Villgro’s programs have won multiple awards from UN Women Empowerment Principles in 2020 (Youth Gender Champion), and 2021 (SME Champion for Gender Responsive Marketplace).
As part of Canada’s foreign affairs and development efforts, the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) champions and funds research and innovation within and alongside developing regions to drive global change. We invest in high-quality research in developing countries, share knowledge with researchers and policymakers for greater uptake and use, and mobilize our global alliances to build a more sustainable and inclusive world
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